Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute. I begin by calling out the actions of the man who assaulted Natasha O'Brien, the man who gave him a reference and the man who decided beating a woman unconscious was not worthy of a custodial sentence. The Tánaiste said yesterday we need to see a change in culture to end domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and he is right. That change of culture has to happen at every level of society. A change in culture has to mean women are not treated as second-class citizens and that women are not viewed as powerless. Since 9 April, 11 promotions have been made by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and ten of them have gone to men. Last week, the Tánaiste promoted five men and not a single woman. He is talking about cultural change, but we need more women in senior positions in government, we need their voices at the Cabinet table and we need women to be front and centre of government. We need to send out a clear message to the men who view women as second-class citizens that they are not and we need to show that. It is time for change and it has to start with a change in culture led by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and by all society.

The other issue I wish to touch on is that women who flee domestic and gender-based violence with their children often feel they have no choice but to leave their home county. I have dealt with a number of such cases. In one case in particular, a lady fled with her children from Kerry to Cork, only to be refused access to the housing list because she had no local connection. This needs to change. There should not be a local connection clause stopping women and women with children fleeing domestic abuse from being housed. That would be only one small step in helping them get help when they are fleeing abuse.

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