Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. I never heard anyone say, "Ah, it’s only a domestic." I do not see how anyone could say that when reflecting on the level of violence, homicides and killings of women that, regrettably, have taken place on the island. It is simply an unacceptable aspect of violence in this country that a significant amount of the violence is targeted against women. Of course, what distinguishes violence against women from violence against men, predominantly, is that it is vastly the case in violence against women that they are killed, murdered or assaulted by people with whom they are in a relationship, or were in an intimate relationship, or, indeed, a family member. It is that connection that makes it possible for us, as policymakers, to try to focus on solutions to identify how we can protect women from those who are close to them.

In the circumstances where the Deputy mentioned the issue of An Garda Síochána, the statistics were set out. As I said in reply to Deputy McDonald, the majority had a positive experience of their engagement with An Garda Síochána. Part of the problem, however, is that while the Garda has specialised officers who deal with domestic sexual and gender-based violence, sometimes it is the case that when a woman initially contacts An Garda Síochána, she does not meet a person within the force who has that level of expertise and training. It is the case that everyone in Templemore goes through basic training in respect of domestic violence but that advanced, heightened level of training that certain gardaí have only comes as a result of their focus on that certain area of expertise. When women I have spoken to, who have contacted and engaged with An Garda Síochána, come into contact with gardaí who are expert in the area of domestic violence in particular, they have a very positive narrative. I am sure we all recall situations where we see on the news in the evening a victim coming out of court and expressing their gratitude to the members of An Garda Síochána and how professional they were in dealing with this.

It is an ongoing issue and there is no simple solution in respect of it. However, it is also important, as I have stated repeatedly, that there is huge benefit to recognising it. We should not compartmentalise this as a woman's issue. It is a societal issue. It is more of an issue for men and boys than it is for women because, regrettably, my sex is the sex that perpetrates this violence against women to a large extent. We have to start warning boys and young men about the unacceptability of using violence in a relationship.

Of course, other aspects of influence are imposed upon young boys and men now. Pornography must be having an extraordinary impact on young men because it presents women in a very submissive, malleable manner. We need to warn people at a young age, educationally, that it is unacceptable to use violence in a relationship. Not all the solutions are through the criminal justice system.

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