Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Coppinger for the comprehensive motion on gender-based violence. It will further the State's response and our society's attitude to this insidious harm in virtually all walks of life. The statistics are startling as mentioned by my colleagues here. Substance abuse and poverty play their part in the domestic and gender-based violence and disturbingly our homeless figures do not include those who are accessing safe havens. We welcome the inclusion of criminal behaviour which was previously not recognised and abusive coercive control, revenge porn and marital rape. In my role as a mental health nurse and just talking to women about why it was always women that were referred to and not the perpetrator, women, especially older women, said to me that they did not know they had rights. They were told they made their bed and had to lie in it. We have moved on from that but we have so much more to do. A zero-tolerance policy for these crimes shows 52% of women and 28% of men reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime.

This underscores the need for the Cuan governmental agency to address all aspects of tackling domestic and sexual violence. I ask the Minister of State to consider that local authorities must be supported to provide priority accommodation for victims fleeing life-threatening situations, an emergency flee fund must be introduced to allow people to set up new lives and shelters must have access to emergency medical services and local GPs. Sinn Féin has submitted to the civil legal aid review that the €18,000 threshold for legal aid remains far too low. Additionally, while the Irish courts refer convicted domestic abusers to rehabilitation programmes, there is no obligation on them to complete them. Only 10% did so in 2023. Completion of these schemes should be a condition of sentencing and we should also discuss whether all such convictions should be referred to the rehabilitation programmes and a Jennie's law register. I thank the brave women and men in the Gallery who spoke out and in doing so call attention to the plight of other victims. I also recognise those voiceless victims who have yet to come forward and cannot do so for fear for their safety. We will continue to demand action on their behalf.

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