Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his new position. I welcome his remarks earlier, when he promised to work in a non-partisan and fair way. I have always known him to be a gentleman of that character throughout his tenure in the House and also in his private life.

I welcome the many people in the Gallery who have experienced domestic violence. They have emailed us, as elected Members, and both shared their difficult experiences and enlightened us.

I wish to speak about the aspect of domestic violence that remains totally unrecognised in the context of the housing problem. Women stay in refuges. We already heard that there are no refuge centres in nine counties. In the entire north Cork region from Mallow across to Fermoy, we have no refuge centre. That needs to be addressed. We need to come up to and exceed what is set out in the Istanbul Convention.

I also want to raise how women who have been victims of domestic violence are unrecognised by the housing authorities and local authorities. Quite often, women who are the victims of domestic violence have nowhere to go. Some of them have to return to the home where they have been violated, where their children have been abused and where they have told they will be murdered and attacked. Yet, local authorities look for more information from women and say that they are not on the emergency or priority list or that if they are at a certain desk looking for social housing, they are not on any priority list. Then, they ask questions straight out about how the woman already owns a home and, quite often, her name is down as a homeowner. Therefore, they will not place women on the lists. People are continuously having to provide more information in order to prove to local authorities that they are victims of domestic violence and that they are entitled to be on a social housing list to qualify for the housing assistance payment, HAP, get out of the oppressor's way and secure accommodation for themselves and their children. That is not acceptable.

Training for gardaí has been mentioned, but what about training for local authority staff and the staff of housing bodies across the country? What are they doing? Is staff training provided? Is there a national guideline on how to deal with somebody who is in a situation of domestic abuse who comes to the counter? Very often, people come to the counter and are dismissed. They are informed that they are not in the list and that the local authority is not interested in them and cannot talk to them. That has to be addressed. We have to have training for our local authorities. Given that there is a list for disabled people or those with medical needs in city and county council areas, there equally must be a priority list for those who are victims of domestic violence to be housed to secure them and their families.

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