Dáil debates
Tuesday, 20 June 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Domestic Violence
9:50 pm
Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thought the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, would be here, but I understand that people cannot necessarily be everywhere. I was going to start by saying that I know she has a strong track record on this issue and that she is genuinely committed to it.
The reason I wanted to raise this matter is, in the first instance, because I have an interest in it. I do a lot of work locally with various people trying to flee domestic violence relationships, as I am sure many other Deputies do. I have tied in a lot with our refuge, Amber, which is based in County Kilkenny but which has also covered County Carlow for several years. To be honest, I was really angry last week looking at the news. I will not get into any individual cases, but there have been two situations in the news with women's bodies being discovered. It would appear that these were domestic homicide situations. This seems to be a constant in our news. I nearly feel that people are becoming desensitised to this because it happens so regularly. Already in 2023, five women have been killed violently. In the vast majority of these cases, it is by somebody known to them. Last year, one of the worst years on record, 13 women were killed. It is June - it is not even the end of the month - and five women have been killed. If this continues, 2023 will be the worst year on record.
Women's Aid launched its annual report today. There has been a huge increase in demand for services. Part of me welcomes that because it means people are coming forward, speaking out and pursuing their cases. However, the existing services must be supported. I know and expect part of the answer will be around the new strategy and all of the work in terms of having one agency situated in the Department of Justice, all of which I welcome. In the interim, however, there must be serious, urgent and emergency measures taken. I can give a few examples. The refuges we currently have and the services which support mainly women - I know men suffer domestic violence as well but it is mainly women - must be given additional funding where they are overstretched. I often hear in this Chamber and in other quarters that the issue is being taken seriously and the Government is doing its best, which I do not doubt, but then I see our local service fundraising or hoping to get a grant for works that might cost €30,000 or €40,000. If we are taking this issue so seriously, why are we not providing them with that funding? I understand the reason about one agency and it being in the Department of Justice, which I welcome, but there must be urgent interim and emergency measures now. I also think there must be consultation with the groups in relation to what emergency measures we should take now to highlight this issue and to examine what can be done while we wait for the strategy to be implemented and for the agency to be set up.
I also wish to question the position with regard to capital funding. It seems that this comes from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is administered by Tusla and also kind of lies with the Department of Justice. Where is the funding for this service? The refuge in Wexford costs €6.5 million. As I understand it, only €2 million was set aside for all capital projects relating to refuges last year. That means we will not even get one full refuge this year. Nine counties do not have any refuges.
I wish to also mention issues around barriers to housing, step-down housing and education. I will do so with my supplementary contribution. I wanted to raise this issue because I was angry looking at those reports and at the so-called supports that will be put in place for these alleged perpetrators.
Where are the supports for those families and those children left without mothers? I can guarantee they are not there or not as plentiful as we are being led to believe.
10:00 pm
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House. According to the Women's Aid impact report, which was launched earlier today, 12 women died violently in 2022. These 12 beautiful lives were stolen and 12 families were forced to suffer immeasurable grief. I can assure the Deputy that the Government is utterly focused on delivering a society that does not accept this brutality or the attitudes that underpin it.
It is coming up on 12 months since the Minister, Deputy McEntee, launched Zero Tolerance, our strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV. The pillars on which it is built are prevention, protection, prosecution and policy co-ordination, and it recognises it is only through a society-wide effort that we will achieve the necessary change. I assure the Deputy a huge body of work is under way in this regard now. Key elements include the doubling of the overall number of refuge units over the lifetime of the strategy so that when a woman needs a refuge, one is available. The local authority or the local refuge might now put somebody in a hotel for a week or two temporarily. This is unsatisfactory for victims and their children, as there would be in many of these cases. The establishment of the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency next January will bring the expertise and focus required to tackle this complex social issue.
Many of the actions in the strategy are focused to enhance support for victims. The provision of legal aid and legal advice, trauma-informed training and national awareness campaigns are all provided for. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is progressing legislation in this area to double the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, introducing stand-alone offences for stalking and non-fatal strangulation, and updating sexual offences legislation, including in relation to the law around consent. We all know the importance of criminal justice, of strong legislation, of reporting, of supports for victims and of a co-ordinated approach in our work with victims.
The fundamental weapon we have, though, in the fight against gender-based violence is, and will always be, prevention. It is that huge piece of work around bringing about a change in attitudes and social norms concerning what is acceptable. As part of this, the Department of Justice is looking to the successes of previous awareness-raising campaigns to produce new initiatives around prevention, consent, intimate image abuse and public awareness of victims' rights. This is a whole-of-government strategy approach and it includes society generally. For example, other ongoing actions in the plan include both updating secondary school curriculums at junior and senior cycle to include consent, domestic violence, coercive control and safe use of the Internet, and improving training for professionals and support staff. We have prioritised this issue since coming into government, but I know much more needs to be done and we will not be found wanting in that regard.
I agree with everything the Deputy said. We are in adjoining counties and the problems we face are identical in both and I am sure in every other county. The Deputy mentioned the point that something needs to be done on interim funding between now and when this strategy is implemented. As she said, nine counties, including both of ours, do not have proper refuge services. What happens is often very temporary and sometimes relies on agencies in other counties. No matter how quickly we try to build those new refuge centres, which are required and should be in every county, this is going to take a couple of years, no matter how we do it. The issue of funding, therefore, must be addressed in the interim because we cannot wait until all these refuges are built. We need capital and current funding to deal with these issues until we get the strategy fully implemented.
Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. I do not doubt his sincerity on this issue at all. One of the key things in this regard concerns some interim measures. We must see this happen while we are waiting for the agency to be established. It is important the stakeholders are consulted in respect of this agency to ensure it works effectively. I refer to local programmes, such as StartSafe, run by our local refuge, Amber, for secondary schools and youth groups. We must try to see where things are working well and how we can replicate them. I find myself saying this a great deal in respect of this topic because some counties have a very good system in place between their local protective services unit, PSU, and their local women's refuge, if they have one. Other counties, though, do not have this. People will have mixed experiences.
I raise this issue in the hope that we can have some sort of a round-table discussion or consultation to see where things are working effectively and if we can replicate that approach. I refer to consulting groups regarding what they might feel could be some interim measures we can undertake. I feel we must do something before we again hear of the death of a woman on the news. It is becoming nearly normalised, which is an horrific thing to say but this is nearly what it feels like. The education aspect is also important. Programmes such as the positive parenting programme, PPP, are very helpful for people once they have come out of abusive relationships. Many of these could be rolled out further.
Additionally, I mention the housing situation. This is a major barrier. I refer to step-down housing. Some counties have this provision and some do not, but anywhere that does now has people going into those houses because there is such a lack of availability in this regard. One or two of the things we could do in the interim would be to make it easier for people to access some short-term measures in this context, such as the housing assistance payment, HAP, and to increase this payment for people in these situations. I am talking specifically about people in domestic violence situations. I say this because often they will go to the local authority and they will find that there is an issue with their name being on a house.
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.
Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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Briefly, this aspect has changed, but it depends on who people are dealing with. We must examine some of these short-term interim measures while we are waiting for the broader strategy to be established. I am sorry for going over time.
Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. We all understand, and I think the figures show, but I am subject to correction on this, that in 90% of the cases where women suffer domestic violence, the perpetrators are known to them. We must start on this basis. It is not a random issue. We must take it that something of a more insidious nature is happening behind the scenes before it comes to light in many of these situations. I agree with the Deputy on the interim measures. Some of these refuges were built through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which was the traditional way of providing funding. Now, however, it is very good that all this effort is being centred in the Department of Justice. We would, however, need a transition of the funding, the approach and the expertise that exists in respect of building the refuges that exist now and for work in this regard to be undertaken closely with the Department of Justice in the interim.
The Deputy was quite right when she said we need to do some work with the local authorities in terms of housing during the period when an emergency arises. Perhaps the local authorities can have a role in this regard.
One thing I wish to say, and I think most of us will know, is that the Garda has really stepped up its involvement in this issue in the past couple of years. I have referred several times to the example I know of in the case of every incident that happens in my area, where the Garda drops everything and members of the force are out to the location as quickly as humanly possible. The Garda has given the number one priority to addressing domestic abuse across all the regions in the country. This is visible and noticeable, so much so that, and I say this light-heartedly, if it is possible to say such a thing in a debate such as this one, I have had people who have complained about antisocial behaviour in an area who ring the Garda and they know that domestic violence cases come before any other event happening in a locality. I compliment the officers of the Garda for their understanding and the kind nature of many of the gardaí in the areas where they deal with these situations. We do, though, need interim measures to be put in place until the full strategy is implemented in the interests of the women who are suffering.