Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is an epidemic but there is a point in saying, as Deputy Catherine Connolly did, it is unacceptable criminality that has to be called out in every way it can. There is a requirement on all of us to do it. The nicest way I can put it is unfortunate pieces online - we know the characters I am talking about - cannot be given the sort of space they have at the moment to poison young men's minds in particular. None of this is acceptable, particularly in this State, when there were 45,765 disclosures of domestic abuse to Women's Aid helplines in 2024. The Dublin Rape Crisis helpline had 22,700 contacts in 2024. The Garda recorded 49,230 domestic abuse incidents in 2024. That is up from 35,668 in 2020. The Garda recorded 65,225 domestic abuse calls in 2024, up from 44,782 in 2020. It is utterly unacceptable. We hope some of those figures are because people feel freer to come forward but there are still issues. We know the logjams for those seeking protection orders of all kinds, even down to the set-up in Garda stations, which are not necessarily suitable for somebody making a disclosure. I welcome the specialist teams like that in Castlebellingham and others throughout the State. They are absolutely necessary. Wraparounds supports need to put in place around people, women in particular, who find themselves in really desperate circumstances. We all know the horror stories of the violence and we have also seen the absolute tragedies where women have lost their lives. We need to ensure we give the protections and mitigate as much as possible to ensure we do not allow this to happen.

There is a huge issue regarding data. It is critical we have all the data possible so we know where we are at and can be provided. In my constituency, like many others, I welcome the huge work done by Women's Aid in Dundalk, the Rape Crisis Centre North East, Dundalk counselling service, the Garda and local authorities but the tools needed are not necessarily available. Tusla officials were before the children's committee. It will not be a major shock that they said, "Wider societal issues such as global movement, poverty, homelessness, domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, drugs, criminality and exploitation, and social media continue to significantly impact the demand for our services." It is impacting families across the board. The tools and services must be provided but they are not available. That is before talking about homelessness and how it has a huge impact.

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