Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion and thank the Labour Party for bringing it to the floor of the Dáil. It links in well with the statements on gender-based violence we will have this afternoon.

It is clear that the State provides a level of services and supports that actively endangers women. Successive Governments have not funded domestic and gender-based violence services properly and they have not provided the infrastructure we need. These are political decisions that make Ireland a less safe place for women.

As has been said, one in four women in Ireland is subjected to domestic abuse. Women's Aid received over 40,000 disclosures of domestic abuse in 2023, the highest ever recorded in the charity's 50-year history. Nine counties have no refuge. Under the Istanbul Convention, we need at least 512 new refuge places to fulfil the need for one family refuge place for every 10,000 of population. This figure is far higher than the planned 280 places. This is not good enough. At the launch of Cuan earlier this year, the Minister for Justice stated we had to be realistic about how many refuge spaces we could create in the next two years. Being realistic, when we combine the lack of refuge spaces built by the State, the housing crisis caused by a lack of public funding by the State and rising domestic violence rates, we can see a serious failure of the State to protect women.

The Mercy Law Resource Centre report last year into social housing and domestic violence showed that domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness. Despite this, the Government does not record those families in the homelessness data. They are not considered. This is another example of the immiseration the housing crisis imposes on vulnerable people.

The Government is allowing women facing violence and abuse from their partners to choose between keeping a roof over their head or risking homelessness in a broken housing system. Of course, the less access you have to resources, the less wealthy you are and the fewer options you have. Any Government that is serious about tackling this issue would recognise that we are in the middle of an unprecedented housing crisis and that, at a minimum, we need to meet our requirements under the Istanbul Convention, if not much more.

This lack of serious is also reflected in the legal system. This is seen in the shocking sentencing in Natasha O'Brien's case and the continuing leniency shown towards abusers and perpetrators. However, it is also seen in family law. I salute all the women who are affected by abuse.

A report earlier this year by the Department of Justice showed that domestic violence is not considered in custody decisions, as though, somehow, domestic violence and the welfare of the mother have no relevance to the welfare of the child. Meanwhile parental alienation, a phenomenon which is used in custody decisions, has no real basis in fact and is being pushed by independent experts with no real qualifications or experience. This shows the clear difference in who is listened to in the courts system. It is a case of "Yes" to unqualified independent experts and "No" to women experiencing domestic abuse. This is directly facilitating post-separation abuse which, research suggests, is experienced by 76% of women who have left an abusive partner. It also shows the clear lack of seriousness with which the issue of gender-based and domestic violence is treated.

A number of recommendations were made recently. They include establishing a panel of State-employed, qualified, regulated and accountable experts overseen by a board; the provision of an increase in pre-court supports for separating parents, including parenting when separated courses; and the establishment of a children's court advocate to inform children about the legal process and assist them in having their voices heard.

Will the Minister implement that? Whether it is the courts, police or funding of gender-based violence supports or family refuges, what we see is a system that, at best, provides totally inadequate levels of support and care, and, at worst, reinforces violence.

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