Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

The need to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence has never been more urgent. It is not merely a matter of rising numbers; it is an epidemic. Women and children across the country are facing violence in their homes, which should be their safest space. Recent research shows us one in four women in Ireland, as well as one in seven men, will experience violence over the course of their lives. Every ten minutes there is a call to the Garda relating to domestic abuse. These are not isolated incidents but deep symptoms of a problematic system that demands immediate and sustained action. We are witnessing the devastating consequences of stigma, inaction and reactive policy. We know from the most recent reports released by Women’s Aid and Safe Ireland that 275 women have been violently killed in Ireland since 1996 and 20 children have died in incidents where women were violently killed. Some 63% of these women died in their homes, a place they should have felt most secure. In 87% of solved cases the victim knew her killer. Shockingly, one of the biggest risks to pregnant women in the first 12 months post-partum is violence from their partner. Most alarming of all, rates of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence have risen significantly since 2020.

We cannot allow more lives to be lost to such silent stigma or slow systems. Each woman killed violently is an outrage but behind every statistic there is a name, a woman, a mother, a daughter or a friend. Most of all, they were someone. We need an urgent, co-ordinated and well-funded intervention at every level from housing and justice to education and social protection. This violence does not respect borders. Increased numbers of women and girls are being killed in the North, which has become one of the most dangerous places for women in the EU. It is time for an all-island approach to this emergency.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women in Ireland yet nine counties still have no refuge. Local authorities like mine in Dublin Fingal West are in desperate need of their own refuge within the area. The rise in cases coming to me as a TD compared with when I was a councillor has been exponential. It is one of the most shocking issues I have dealt with since coming here. It is the biggest change I have seen in my caseload. Most women who stay in refuges exit them into homeless hubs. The stark reality is women are often trapped in violent homes because they simply have nowhere else to go. We must recognise victims of domestic violence as a priority housing category. We must support victims’ choice of location, especially to avoid uprooting children from their schools and support systems. We must make the housing assistance payment easier to access and more reflective of market rates. We must support faster name removals from joint tenancies. We must recognise and count the scale of the problem.

Local authorities should be reporting on housing needs due to domestic violence. In Dublin Fingal West, we have a new priority welfare category for housing whereby victims of domestic violence are being prioritised, but we need a faster response on this. We must recognise domestic violence refuge accommodation in national homelessness statistics. These women are homeless and should be counted as such.

We must take financial abuse into account in assessing means-tested supports. Too often, women have no access to money because they remain classed as a dependant of their partner. We need separation of social welfare payments. Leaving abuse should not mean having to choose between safety and poverty. We must look to introduce a safety fund that would offer a cash grant, similar to the UK model, to help cover the high costs of escaping abuse and setting up a new home. The Department of Social Protection could deliver such a grant, much like it delivered the temporary rent supplement for victims of domestic violence during the pandemic.

Laws need to be strengthened and modernised, particularly in the online space where misogyny is thriving and algorithms promote toxic and harmful content that distorts reality. This is fuelling violence and abuse. It could be effectively tackled by ensuring recommender systems are turned off by the various social media websites to combat the spread of hateful material. These systems fuel and push violent and reactionary content to users. It is concerning that this proposal was notably absent from the online safety code brought forward by Coimisiún na Meán last May. I urge that there be a reconsideration in this regard.

We must be brave and introduce the necessary measures. We must enact a Jennie's law to ensure perpetrators are named and held accountable and that breaches of protection orders carry real consequences. We need to educate young men and boys about consent, respect and gender equality. We must focus on the responsibility of the perpetrator rather than the victim. Media coverage is often deeply uncomfortable and we must not become desensitised. The media have a responsibility to centre victims' voices and avoid sensationalised commentary on perpetrators. There must be a conscious effort to stop unconscious silencing of women who suffer abuse.

Domestic violence services should be funded sustainably by the State. Services having to rely on donations and the kindness of people doing fundraisers is an absolute farce. Services must be integrated into the housing and health systems. We need to strengthen links between local authorities and communities that are able to advocate for victims effectively.

We must expand and upgrade refuge spaces, not just for crisis response but to provide real long-term stability. While refuges are essential, they are not a permanent solution. Our aim should be to allow survivors to remain safely at home wherever possible and to hold perpetrators accountable, including through emergency removal powers such as those in operation in New Zealand and the UK.

We must move beyond zero tolerance. It is about not only calling out violence or misogyny when we see it but actively working to prevent it in every community.

See this speech in context