Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I first pay tribute to Natasha O'Brien and Bláthnaid Raleigh for speaking out about the violent crimes perpetrated against them, and in Natasha's case for the injustice she endured in our court system. I was disbelieving when I heard that court decision first of all. I was so angry afterwards as were so many women throughout this country. Unfortunately, Natasha is not the only one who does not get justice in our court system. We need to see improvements. I acknowledge there have been some improvements on gender-based violence and support services for them but they are not moving fast enough. For example, there are still nine counties in this country without a refuge. Two of those counties are Cavan and Monaghan, which I represent. Our court system needs immediate reform. The sentences being handed down are not acting as a deterrent to this type of behaviour. I am regularly contacted by women who are living in fear of a court decision. Violent former partners are frequently granted unsupervised access to the children.

Mothers have informed me their children are crying. They are begging not to be sent on the visit with the father. They are anxious for days leading up to it. However, if the mother does not send the child, she is the one found to be in contravention of a court order. Mothers have told me a toddler has been left in a dirty nappy for the day, of children not being properly fed and about psychological abuse. The court decisions need to be child-centred. It must be about what is best for the child. A child has a right to see a parent, but a parent does not have a right to see a child if that is not in the best interests of the child. I have been told by women in a certain part of the country that if they need, for example, to go to the family law court for an extension to a barring order and they find out a certain judge is presiding that day, they do not bother because the judge always sides with the man. I am not talking about the judge in Limerick, I am talking about a different part of the country. This is happening throughout the county. There needs to be a more robust and accessible complaints procedure and some sort of oversight of decisions in this case. Rape victims are not reporting the rape in many cases as they feel they will not get justice. The fact is the victim of rape must testify and the person accused of rape has a choice and they still have access to a victim's notes from a counselling session. That is totally unfair. The time it is taking to bring these cases to court is far too long.

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