Dáil debates

Thursday, 26 November 2015

Topical Issue Debate

Domestic Violence Refuges

6:05 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Cuan Álainn women's shelter is a secondary housing centre for women and children escaping from domestic violence. It gives women and children up to six months to live in safety and assists them in moving to permanent housing. It was set up by Respond! three and a half years ago when it saw a need for the service through its work as a housing agency. The service has been used by 71 women and families, 68 of whom have found new homes since. At the beginning of October, seven women and 16 children were in the centre. Over the last year, Respond! has approached Tusla for funding as it does not have the money to keep the service going. The service is very important. I note the experience of a mother of three from County Meath, who I will call Louise, although that is not her real name. Louise left a 19-year abusive relationship in February of last year. She says:

He used to fight with me a lot, grab me and punch me, elbow me and kick me. He called me names and put me down.

She says she stayed with him because she wanted the children to have a family. After a beating in February, she called the Garda Síochána and left with her children to stay first with her sister and then at a refuge in Meath. She then moved to a refuge in Dublin, but after two months her time there was up. She then got a place in Cuan Álainn. She says she realised when she got there that she had been depressed for years, and the centre got her psychiatric help at Pieta House. She says:

I am not in a state yet to be on my own. If this place was not here, I would have had to have gone back to him.

The important point she makes is that she had to go into emergency accommodation or she would have lost her children due to homelessness.

When I asked the Minister a question on this subject on 22 September, he said he would meet Respond!, look at all avenues and services and see if something could be done. He said it was a very important service. The Minister has been busy doing public events about ending violence against women while we have been waiting for a decision. A meeting took place between the Minister and Respond! on 2 November, which is three and a half weeks ago. I started submitting Topical Issue Matters on 5 November and have done so every day since then because I knew we would have to move on this quickly and wanted to hear the Minister's response. Unfortunately, I have heard that the staff have been told that they have notice to quit on 15 January 2016, and everybody is being moved out of the centre at the moment. I think there is one family and one single woman in the centre. I would like to hear from the Minister why he has come to a decision not to fund this vital service. It has been mentioned to him before that we should be opening more of these services because of the important role they have played in assisting women and children in leaving emergency accommodation and going to a safe place before moving on to permanent housing. The Minister has said himself that it is an important place and service for these families.

If the Minister says the centre is going to be closed, I will be very disappointed. Has the Minister even negotiated with Respond! about that body paying wages while Tusla and the Government pays to keep the service open? It is particularly important to keep the service open given the current level of homelessness and the number of children in emergency accommodation in hotels and hostels.

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Collins for raising this issue again, and I welcome the opportunity to clarify the position in relation to the funding of domestic violence services by Tusla, the child and family agency. I was approached by Respond! following previous unsuccessful approaches to South Dublin County Council for funding to allow it to continue with its existing services at Cuan Álainn. I facilitated a meeting with Respond! on 3 November, at its request, to get a first-hand account of the nature of the service it provides and the reasons behind the decision by Respond! to close the current service at Cuan Álainn, and to get a better understanding of previous interactions between Respond! and State bodies in relation to the facility. Respond! advised that it is not in a position to continue funding the centre. The Cuan Álainn centre does not operate as a front-line emergency domestic violence service. In the main, it provides second-stage residential accommodation for persons whose emergency needs have been met. Respond! informed me that it is not accepting any new referrals to the facility. At the time of the meeting there were five families in residence at the Cuan Álainn centre. Permanent accommodation has been secured for two of the families and the remaining three families residing at the centre need to be housed. I have been reassured by the commitment of Respond! to secure alternative accommodation for these families.

In discharging its statutory responsibility, Tusla funds emergency refuge services for adults and children fleeing domestic violence as well as providing a range of ongoing community supports. Tusla will continue to provide such supports in the future. Tusla has informed me that a range of domestic violence supports are available in the Dublin south central and Dublin south west areas. In addition to the specialist domestic violence services and supports provided in the Dublin south west area, Tusla funds several other organisations in the Tallaght area to provide ongoing family support services to families with a range of complex needs, including domestic violence. The families residing at the Cuan Álainn centre have pressing housing needs which the local housing authorities are best placed to address.

At our meeting, Respond! outlined how it decided to build the facility on foot of its own needs analysis, which determined that, although the area did not need another domestic violence refuge, there was a need for move-on accommodation for those using emergency refuges.

In general, Cuan Álainn provides transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence after their emergency needs have been met. The majority of referrals to Cuan Álainn are from existing domestic violence refuges already funded by Tusla. Each of the families at the Cuan Álainn centre has housing needs, which are best provided through mainstream housing supports. As the Deputy will know, there are different supports for these needs, including via local authorities or, if appropriate, income supports from the Department of Social Protection.

I advised Respond! that I would contact the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, to establish what could be done to assist the families involved, particularly in light of the pressing housing needs of the families residing at the Cuan Álainn centre. I have done that and have asked him to consider what can be done to assist the families involved and to ensure that there is further engagement by the relevant local authorities with Respond! regarding the future of the service.

Since the meeting on 3 November, I have received further correspondence from Respond! indicating that it plans to repurpose the Cuan Álainn facility should it cease providing its current service. Tusla will continue to support these and all families affected by domestic violence by providing appropriate community supports.

6:15 pm

Photo of Joan CollinsJoan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed with the Minister's response. Those who work in the service with whom I have spoken were disappointed to be given notice to clear out the accommodation by 14 January. Where will Tusla continue providing such supports? I do not know what planet the Minister is living on to say that the families residing at the Cuan Álainn centre have "pressing housing needs" that local authorities are best placed to address. We have a housing crisis. Families are going into emergency accommodation at this very moment. The Minister's response was unbelievable.

The key role played by Cuan Álainn should have been recognised. Indeed, more centres should have been provided in other areas so that families coming from emergency accommodation could have been assessed. Such accommodation can be difficult as the families have young children and many of them are coming from violent backgrounds. They were able to go to Cuan Álainn, which supported them and provided psychiatric services. Pieta House provided supports and linked people with local authorities to try to get them housed. The referrals are coming from the HSE, the Garda and emergency services. Unlike what the Minister has claimed, it is not a midway service. It is important.

I am disappointed. I have tabled questions for Question Time with the Minister next week. I will try to find out more information and revert to him then. The centre only needs €300,000 to keep going. More centres should be put in place instead of services being withdrawn.

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

At our meeting, Respond! assured us that it would be committed to securing alternative accommodation for these families. The Deputy asked where Tusla would offer supports. It has supports available in Dublin South-Central and Dublin South-West. Many of these are community based and it has been confirmed to me that it will continue to provide those services and support victims of domestic violence.

The Dáil adjourned at at 6.45 p.m. until 10 a.m. on Friday, 27 November 2015.