Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)

I acknowledge Cuan, the agency, and the work it is doing and the efforts that are being made to increase capacity when it comes to refuge spaces and safe houses for those who are fleeing domestic violence or violence typically in their own home.

A number of sites had been identified by Roscommon Safe Link but, because of the criteria being so rigid, none of those sites was found to meet the criteria in place. We all hope that the site identified now will be the site. I would ask that in certain areas, such as County Roscommon which is rural, where the need is established and where genuine efforts have been made to find a site, that the criteria could be looked at with a little flexibility in engagement with both the safe link and the local authority because it has been a challenge in County Roscommon.

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