David Norris (Independent)

I also welcome the Minister of State. I was unusual in welcoming the Cabinet reshuffle and the general Government move. I specified this development. The separation of equality issues from the Department of Justice, Equality of Law Reform in a new arrangement between the current Minister and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Pat Carey, is welcome news and must be positive, although it is a pity the issue of domestic violence still appears to fall principally under the remit of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Clear issues are to be addressed, one of which I read about this morning and has already been raised in the House, namely, a Down's syndrome child who was raped and prevented from giving evidence by the judge because he believed that, under outdated legislation, she lacked the capacity. This matter must be re-examined, as it was a serious and horrifying case. Yesterday, I spent a very pleasant 20 minutes interviewing Mr. Frank Crummey, who was one of the founders of the Irish Family Planning Association. In the early 1960s when talking about violence against Children on "The Late Late Show", he said, "As we sit here in this studio, children are being abused by the Christian Brothers." I can put a variation on that statement. As we speak, domestic violence is being practised, predominantly by men against women. That should not obviate an interest in violence against men, either by other men or by women. The facts are quite clear. The issue is the violence and not the gender. However, the gender appears to be a determining factor in the majority of cases.

I regret that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is still so directly involved. The Minister of Statesaid the strategy oversight committee to implement the report by Cosc is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Seán Aylward, and will meet twice yearly and report progress to the group of Secretaries General and to the Government. I do not know Mr. Aylward and I have nothing against him. However, this is an internal group, which is exactly what the Equal Rights Alliance and many others warned against. It will tend not to be critical of Government policy. That is a serious flaw. The committee should report, not to Secretaries General and the Government, but directly to the Oireachtas so we can discuss these issues and make recommendations. I ask the Minister of State to give us an undertaking that the report will be made to the Oireachtas. Once again, the Oireachtas is being bypassed and that is not a good idea.

The Cosc report is a very odd sort of document. It is full of sentimental twaddle and waffle as well as some reasonably good and specific suggestions. It is an extraordinary mixture. The Cosc press release states, "We have a plan!" The report talks about "your wonderful help and advice" and goes on to bleat about thanking Cosc's partners for the wonderful this, that and the other. It is not professional. There is a mixture of authorship, in my opinion. The report would be strengthened by being independent.

The national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender based violence, which was published in February 2009 after a number of consultations, huddles, chats and so on, is supposed to be implemented by the Government. I hope the suggestions made in the strategy will be implemented.

I would embark on a slightly broader definition of domestic violence than some of the earlier speakers, one of whom suggested it was confined entirely to physical violence. Psychological violence can be equally damaging, particularly over a long period. Two definitions are useful. The first comes from the report of the task force on violence against women published by the Office of the Tánaiste in 1997, which states:

Domestic violence refers to the use of physical or emotional force or threat of physical force, including sexual violence, in close adult relationships. The term domestic violence goes beyond actual physical violence. It can also involve: emotional abuse; the destruction of property; isolation from friends, family and other sources of support; threats to others, including children; stalking; and control over access to money, personal items, food, transportation and the telephone.

That is a very useful definition. If one analyses it and applies it to the situation one finds that the policies of successive Governments, including the current one, have made the situation worse. I will give some instances of this. I do not attack any particular party or Government. I simply say this is the impact of the policies of successive Governments of various complexions.

The second definition is an international one from the World Health Organisation. It is cited by Ellsberg and Heise in their thesis of 2005:

Violence against women encompasses but is not limited to physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, and the sexual abuse of female children in the household.

I do not know why it should be confined to female children. There are plenty of examples of violence against male children. Recently we heard of a case of both parents who were sexually molesting their children. I object in the strongest possible terms to newspapers such as The Irish Times referring to groups like the Iona Institute as pro-family. They stupidly let similar kinds of groups get away with the tag pro-life, which puts the rest of us into the pro-death camp. Whether the Iona Institute is pro-family, I most certainly am. I am a member of a family. I did not come down the hot tap in the bath; I am part of the family. These groups, which call themselves Christian, should read the Gospels where, for example, Jesus Christ was attacked by the Pharisees because he ground an ear of corn between His fingers and was told he was working on the Sabbath. He said that "Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath". We should beware of idolising institutions like marriage even when they operate against the interests of individuals, particularly the children contained in them. I am part of the family. I am very pro-family. I am also a bit picky about the families I support. I would not, particularly, support families in which incest was a natural part of the daily routine. I do not think they deserve my support.

One in five women in Ireland has experienced domestic violence by a partner or ex-partner. Some 162 women were murdered since 1996, some quite recently. That is an astonishing statistic. There have been 215,000 incidents of domestic violence reported to Women's Aid. One in eight women surveyed in a Dublin maternity hospital had experienced domestic violence during pregnancy. One in four perpetrators against adult women are partners or ex-partners. There has been only one conviction for marital rape since the introduction of legislation 20 years ago. Marital rape is a comparatively frequent phenomenon but no one is held to account for it. The situation is roughly similar internationally.

I have mentioned the Equal Rights Alliance and I pay tribute to them. When the Government decided, in the teeth of an economic storm, systematically to dismantle every organisation that was speaking out for the vulnerable, including the poor, women, gay people and others, the Equal Rights Alliance held the fort. I also thank God for the Green Party.