Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I apologise but I was unaware that this discussion was taking place and I am not very well briefed. Yesterday I attended a Council of Europe sub-committee meeting on equality between men and women and domestic violence was the subject of discussion. In Madrid on Monday a project was relaunched to address domestic violence, particularly against women. The project, led by the Council of Europe, aims to persuade every Parliament throughout the EU and outside the parameters of the Council of Europe to take a hands-on role in the issue. Ireland has a parliamentary representative on the project, Deputy Lynch of the Labour Party, so we should hear more from her on the matter.

Yesterday's debate followed up on Monday's launch, which I did not attend, and was in line with much of what we have heard in the House during this debate today. Many speakers yesterday said we were becoming repetitive. Everyone agrees this is an issue of profound concern and a very serious matter to which Government should respond. However, the question of what was being done was posed forcefully. Many of yesterday's speakers listened to speakers on Monday say domestic violence, in particular against women, was shocking. Many had said something needed to be done but that is an old phrase and many asked yesterday what was actually being done. We must pose the same question. What action plan has been put in place, to ensure that if this debate is repeated in five years' time it will not rehearse old phrases such as "Something must be done", "The statistics are shocking" and "Domestic violence is dreadful"?

The challenge facing the Minister of State, his senior Minister and the Government as a whole is to ensure we do more than simply debate the issue by taking action. The Council of Europe, with the limited budget at its disposal, will focus strongly on this issue and will ask all Parliaments within its remit to ensure that words become action by putting in place solutions so that this dreadful cycle of violence, of which we are all aware, becomes a key area of Government attention, rather than just the basis of statistics.

The statistics in Ireland are shocking, with one in five Irish women having experienced domestic violence and a rate of incidence of 23 per day. Whatever the policy of this and previous Governments it has failed utterly. At a time of economic success and the benefits of the Celtic tiger it is frightening to think that this hidden Ireland still exists, in which people are abused and beaten. I want to hear the Minister of State's plans because the statistics, sadly, speak for themselves We are all at one on this being unacceptable and on the need for action. However, as some of my colleagues at European level said yesterday we must go beyond glib clichés and reflections on how awful the situation is. We must take action and I look forward to substantial action on the part of the Government so that the statistics before the House become part of the history books.

I apologise again for not being more fully briefed but the debate needs to lead to a programme of action rather than a continuing discussion on statistics that are a blight not just on Irish but European society. If I learned anything in Madrid yesterday it was that this problem was not confined to Ireland, Britain or the EU. It is Europe-wide and possibly worldwide. We cannot solve the world's problems but we must start to solve the Irish problem.