Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

It is hard to follow Senator Norris, but I will try to do so. I want to raise the serious issue of violence against women and domestic violence. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on that. This issue was alluded to earlier this week and I want to continue to notify Members of the 16-day international campaign opposing violence against women. The reason it is important is that the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre received 10,155 counselling calls in 2007, 83% of which were from women. Trained volunteers from that organisation attended the sexual assault treatment unit with 320 victims in 2007. Some 42% of women in Ireland — more than four in ten — have experienced some form of sexual abuse or assault and only 7% of sexual violence reported to the rape crisis centres throughout Ireland has been committed by total strangers.

This is a pertinent issue. It is not one that relates to a particular year or time, it has happened since time immemorial. It is not an issue that is gender specific in that we should not expect one or other gender to raise this issue. It is an issue that we as a House of the Oireachtas should be keen to debate and examine ways in which we can encourage people not to stand for verbal, psychology, sexual or any other form of abuse. Sometimes people relate abuse solely to sexual abuse, but we should also debate bullying and other such activities that happen to people in every walk of life. As I said, four in every ten women suffer sexual abuse or sexual assault.

I would like to pursue the issue of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, which Senator Bacik raised. It is very important that we encourage the use of the NTPF. It is an effective and good way of ensuring that people who need it receive treatment. There needs to be an investigation into the situation where some consultants have very long waiting lists while others do not. Those with the long waiting lists are sometimes the ones who create the greatest need for the NTPF. Given that the NTPF operates separately from the Minister's Department, we would need the CEO of the NTPF to address us here. Issues have arisen as a result of the actions of the NTPF to try to encourage shorter waiting times in hospitals. By its actions it is preventing people from availing of the NTPF. Such a debate is required. I stand over the role of the NTPF and know from personal experience in my family that it has been very successful. It is an important way of ensuring patients who badly need it receive treatment. I refer to patients who might be stymied by a system that is not working properly in some cases, although it is working well in others.