Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Domestic abuse remains rife in Irish society. A senior garda revealed last week that a staggering 26,000 reports of domestic abuse have been made to gardaí since the beginning of June. Gardaí receive a call about domestic abuse every ten minutes across the State. I have seen first-hand the incredible work done by Saoirse Women's Refuge in my area. It informed me of the stress a woman has to go through in the legal system. The process of obtaining a safety order can be difficult logistically as well as mentally. Often, a physically and mentally abused woman will have to bring her already traumatised children into the family law courts. There is no privacy or space and they often feel unsafe. We need to make court proceedings more survivor friendly.

I also want to welcome Natasha O'Brien to the Gallery, and thank and commend her on the selfless work and campaign she has started. I thank her for highlighting the systemic problems in our legal system.

We also have a dark history in this country of systemic industrial and cultural sexual abuse. I want to speak about the courageous women who came forward this week and spoke about the sexual abuse and homophobic and misogynistic behaviour from senior coaches in the FAI. The State has a responsibility to these women and girls, as some of the trainees were on Ireland's first State-funded all-women's soccer course. That such a culture of sexual, emotional and predatory abuse existed in Irish football is truly horrific. I commend the women on the courage and dignity they have shown.

The legacy of this investigation must be that this is not allowed to happen again. We owe it to these courageous women and future generations of Irish footballers to make sure that Irish football is a safe place for everybody. What was striking about the investigation was the complete lack of oversight and procedures in place for people to be able to come forward. No stone must be left unturned to make sure that those who abused their position and power are held to account for their actions.

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