Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Ireland is becoming a more violent place. The rates of domestic violence, sexual violence and rape are all increasing. The society we have created over the past number of decades has led to Ireland becoming more violent for women. Day in, day out, lives are being destroyed. In 2011,1,958 sexual offences were recorded. In 2021, this figure had increased by 75%, to 3,433. In 2011, 447 rapes were recorded. In 2021, that figure doubled to 983. I submitted a parliamentary question to the former Minister for Justice in relation to domestic violence. The Garda Síochána provided results from the PULSE database on reports of domestic abuse in this State. In 2014, there were 14,264 cases where domestic abuse was considered a motive. In 2023, it was 46,439. The figure for domestic abuse in just the first quarter of 2024 was nearly the same as that for the whole year of 2014. Domestic abuse call-outs to the Garda have quadrupled in the space of four years. The number of women who have been raped in Ireland is almost treble the rate in the EU. In 2022, the average number of women reporting rape in Ireland stood at 34 per 100,000 women. That is significantly higher than the 12 per 100,000 across six EU countries with comparable statistics. These are shocking figures. I do not believe the State even recognises what is happening at the moment regarding domestic violence and domestic assaults against women. The perpetrators of these crimes are getting younger and younger. Children at Risk in Ireland, CARI, a specialist and professional therapy service for children, found that child-on-child abuse has increased by 44% in the past two years. Marina Porter, the manager of the Donegal Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre, said, "What we have observed is that the level of physical violence accompanying sexual violence has seriously escalated over the last couple of months ... We have also seen that [there are] multiple perpetrators in one crime ... and this is highly concerning." The culture of this country is radically changing. That has to be recognised. Between 1996 and today, 275 women have died violently in this country, 180 have been killed in their own homes and 20 children have died during the incidents where these women died violently. Each one of these deaths is a catastrophe and an absolute disaster.

I have no doubt the Minister is personally appalled by all of these aspects. I respect that the Minister is dedicated to trying to resolve some of these issues that are happening in the country at the moment. The Minister spoke about challenging the norms leading to sexual violence. Another Fianna Fáil TD spoke about zero tolerance. I have no doubt the norms leading to this violence are not being challenged. I have no doubt there is not a zero tolerance approach by this Government. The criminal justice system is not being used to shut down the perpetrators of these crimes. Today, eight- and nine-year-olds are accessing explicit hardcore materials that would have been illegal for viewing by adults just a generation ago. Research at the school of psychology in the University of Galway has shown that almost 60% of teenage boys in this State had consumed hardcore pornography before the age of 13. Pornography has become so easily accessible that many parents find it virtually impossible to exercise control over what their children consume. I spoke to a parent recently who told me that over Christmas their ten-year-old was on their iPad, which they checked. There were two searches. The first search was about Santa Claus and the second was a violent display of oral sex. This is the situation for young children in this country. It is happening at a younger age. It is altering the perceptions of sex and the understanding of healthy relationships. It is leading to physical and mental health problems and addiction. There is no doubt the repeated consumption of violent scenes is changing the nature of young boys and young men in relation to relationships. There is an ocean of evidence now pointing in that direction. Even the children's ombudsman in England has written extensively about how this is a significant cause of sexual violence. We have seen high-profile cases in this country such as the case of Ana Kriegel. It was a heartbreaking, shocking case where the perpetrators - young boys - had accessed horrific violence on their phones. There were thousands of images of murder and sexual violence. That should have been enough for the Government to be kick-started into action but it was not.

I introduced a Bill that would ban the provision of hardcore violent pornography to young children.

I have raised it with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the previous Minister for Justice. All of them have responded in measured tones but all of them have shrugged their shoulders and nothing has happened. Not only is there not zero tolerance of this; there is an absolute tolerance of this in respect of the Government's approach to what is happening. The Government has enough cop on to ban the advertisement of junk food to kids because it knows it leads to behavioural change but it does not have enough cop on to ban the provision of hardcore, violent pornography to those same young boys.

We talk about zero tolerance and I think of Clodagh Hawe, who was a teacher in Oristown National School in County Meath. In 2016, Alan Hawe murdered Clodagh and her three sons Liam, Niall and Ryan. Eight years later, they are still only at the start of a site selection process for building a refuge in Cavan. If a woman wants to get out of a violent domestic situation in that county, she has very little option to do that. There are nine counties across the country at the moment with no refuge: Carlow, Cavan, Leitrim, Laois, Longford, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon and Sligo. I do not see where the zero tolerance exists if there are nine counties where there is not an opportunity for a woman to be able to get out of a violent situation. At the moment, we are aiming for 280 refuge beds by 2026 but the Istanbul Convention says there are supposed to be 450 refuge beds. We are not even near the target as we should have been a few years ago.

With regard to zero tolerance, we have seen the fall in the per capitanumber of gardaí in this country. There are 58 Garda stations around the country where there is not a registered garda. The criminal justice system is breaking down because there are currently no spaces to put prisoners. I found out that 1,000 prisoners were released last year within 24 hours of being put behind bars. This is not zero tolerance. We had the longest Covid lockdowns in Europe where many women were imprisoned with their abusers. We have a housing crisis that entraps women in the situations they are in. Many women have a choice: do they leave the violent situation or do they put their children into a homeless situation? We saw the push to get rid of cash out of society in recent years. Cash gives women a really an important opportunity to have the financial wherewithal to get out of domestic violence. Aontú campaigned vigorously against this. We see young girls in State care who are going missing from unregulated and unvetted special emergency accommodation, who are then being preyed upon by gangs for sexual exploitation. That is not zero tolerance. I have been raising those cases for years and it is still happening.

I recognise there have been developments. I welcome Cuan and the fact that there are many people working in the sector who are doing really good work. I recognise that the Minister has a different approach to this and I wish him luck in it, but it is not zero tolerance with regard to what is happening in this country.

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