Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Labour Party on bringing this well-thought-out motion before the Chamber. It allows us to pay tribute again to the fantastic Natasha O'Brien and the focus she has ensured has been placed on this extremely important societal matter. I also pay tribute to all the victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I commend the great courage and bravery they have shown in surviving.

I listened to the Minister earlier and it was important to hear that there is a greater need within the criminal justice system for collaboration. I must criticise a lack of training in domestic, sexual and gender-based violence among our judges. They take the bench because they are legal experts but their expertise in the life-long ramifications of these crimes is sorely lacking. The judicial system needs to catch up and mandate training. I am astounded that this gap exists. It adds testament to the fact that simply not enough regard is given to victims in the courts or afterwards. This is simply not good enough and I feel this issue needs to be addressed urgently.

In talking about collaboration, I feel it is apt to mention that there is an urgent need for strict collaboration between local authorities to ensure women have somewhere safe to go. Far too often, we are experiencing cases where there are zero opportunities for step-down accommodation when they must leave the refuge services. I hope to expand on this issue in my statement later today. In the context of this motion, I point to the increases in the number of domestic abuse calls registered in the Garda PULSE system. There were nearly 60,000 calls, which is a rate of one being received every ten minutes.

Locally, at the most recent meeting of the JPC, we heard that victims come from all social classes and we are seeing a year-on-year increase, with 242 cases in the first quarter of this year alone. In the briefing, it was alluded to that it can take victims up to eight attempts before they succeed in leaving such a domestic violence situation. Every single return caused by the lack of a safe bed is a failure.

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