Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo agus beidh Aontú ag tabhairt tacaíochta dó. I very much welcome this Bill. It makes sense that according to the courts a victim of sexual violence should be able to get the protection order automatically upon the conclusion of the court proceedings.

It is appropriate we are having this debate on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. I wish to reference the annual report produced by Women's Aid earlier this year. Its contents have stayed with me since I read it and it is obvious the problem we have is getting worse by the year. That report stated more women contacted Women's Aid last year than ever before in its history, which is a 50-year period. The report found some women experienced abuse so severe it resulted in them having miscarriages. Some said they were threatened with weapons, subjected to surveillance and had the lives of their children threatened. Women spoke about experiencing homelessness and hypervigilance as a result of the domestic abuse they had been victims of. A third of the women had been subject to abuse by their ex-partners and according to research from a reply to a parliamentary question I received recently there has been a 45% increase in the number of domestic abuse reports made to the Garda in four years.

That is startling information. It shows the deeply problematic situation that is unfolding in our country right now. Between 1996 and 2024, 269 women died violently in this country. Some of these cases have not been solved but 87% of those were killed by men. That is another startling fact and atrocious figure. Behind each one of these individual figures, there is a real person, a citizen who has had her life ripped away from her.

Aontú wants to see gardaí trained to make sure they can deal with domestic violence properly. One of the findings of this report is that 44% of women said that gardaí were not able to help them. That is unacceptable. If we are to be honest with the victims and survivors of this crime, we need to make sure there are more gardaí. There are 53 Garda stations around the country that currently have no assigned garda. In some cases, women feel trapped and unable to disclose their abuse to officials. It takes courage for these individuals to escape the abuse they are suffering. We need enough gardaí and gardaí who are trained properly to deal with anybody who has mustered up the courage to speak out.

If a partner abuses a woman to the point that she miscarries, threatens her life or the lives of her children, or seeks to prevent her from disclosing that abuse, that individual deserves more than the current maximum prison sentence of three years. This Dáil should look at minimum sentencing legislation to deal with grievous abuse. Sentencing for sexual assault in this country has been far too lenient. Many perpetrators do not receive any custodial sentence whatsoever. How many times have we read in the newspapers or heard on the news about an individual who has been found guilty of a grievous assault getting a fully suspended sentence? It is an incredible situation. We have a responsibility here. We cannot just say that judges are not making the right decisions. The truth is known. Prisons are significantly overcrowded. I have no doubt that is having an effect on how judgments are being made.

I recently held a public meeting on crime and antisocial behaviour in Meath. Two women who work in a local shop found two boys involved in shoplifting. When they approached them, those two boys threatened to rape those women if they went to the gardaí. These women now get a lift to the door of their workplace and back every day. It is in incredible that citizens would have to live with such a level of fear in their lives that they cannot go about a normal provincial town feeling safe and secure.

According to the Rape Crisis Centre, 40% of people in Ireland will experience sexual violence in their lifetime. Some 30% of people experience childhood sexual violence. There is growing evidence of a link between children consuming violent hardcore pornography and the increase in sexual violence. The Garda Commissioner has stated there is a growing link. It is incredible that we have been talking about that link for years but are doing nothing about it. The Government is banning the advertisement of junk food because it sees the link between these images being shown to children and increasing obesity and yet it cannot join the dots as regards young boys consuming violent hardcore pornography and the growth of misogyny and sexual violence. Other countries are grappling with this and making changes.

The number of children under the age of 18 who have abused children of the same age or younger has increased by 18% in the past year according to Rape Crisis Network Ireland. Children at Risk in Ireland, a specialist professional therapy service for children, found that there had been a 44% increase in sexual abuse and sexually harmful behaviour against children by children within a two-year period. It is absolutely startling. I still think of the haunting and shocking case of Ana Kriégel, whose life was taken from her when she was so young by two boys who were 13 years old. They had 12,000 violent hardcore pornographic images on their phones but this country has done nothing. Back in 2020, I introduced a Bill to prevent these really profitable companies selling this material to young children and yet we see tumbleweeds on the matter.

There is a major issue in terms of refuges in this country. There are still nine counties without refuges. I think of the work Senator Sarah O'Reilly and campaigners have done in relation to this in Cavan. It has been talked about but it has not been delivered. We have heard many fine words here today but we are still not seeing the action that is needed in relation to this crisis.

See this speech in context