David Norris (Independent)

The Green Party, the Minister of State and the other Green members of the Government made sure the damage was as limited as possible and they fought to reverse it. Part of that reversal has landed the Minister of State in the House tonight.

Women are in this wonderful situation where they are a minority although they are 51% of the population. I am not good at arithmetic but even I can see there is something a little suspicious about that. I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, who has drawn these circumstances to our attention. Some 4% of Irish women have executive positions in Irish business and women earn 14% less than men. Women graduates, such as our voters, earn 11% less than men so they are 3% better off. Some 23% of women have incomes which put them in a poverty situation. I could go on. These statistics show there is a structural discrimination against women.

The question of legislation was not addressed in the Minister of State's speech. Domestic violence is not named or statutorily defined as a crime in legislation. The Domestic Violence Act 1996 does not define or name domestic violence. It refers to assault. The Cosc report recommends that a definition of domestic violence be included in legislation and that it should incorporate both physical and psychological abuse because abuse other than physical can be more damaging. Let us have some action and accountability. If even this weak report recommends this measure I would like to see it done.

I read with immense interest a wonderful thesis by Ms Paula Fagan. I do not know who she is but she writes very incisively. Her research is on the provision of services to migrant women in Ireland. We have had a huge increase in the number of migrant women in this country. For most of my lifetime Ireland was a totally homogenous society. That has changed and fractured and there has been a particular growth in female immigration. These women are particularly vulnerable because of their marginal status in society. Structural barriers for migrant women include immigration status, racism, lack of language and culturally inappropriate support. These can have a really serious effect. Ms Fagan's thesis depends on information culled from a series of sources. There are six - Longford Women's Link, Longford; Meath Women's Refuge, Navan; Rathmines Refuge, Dublin, for which I remember performing a Joyce one-man show as a fundraiser about 25 years ago; WAVES, Sligo; Women's Aid, Dublin and Women's Aid, Dundalk. It is clear from all of this evidence that women are vulnerable within marriage and other domestic partnership arrangements.

On the barriers and difficulties faced by migrant women, the first is our immigration legislation. We are promised immigration and nationalisation legislation which I have read and it stinks. It one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation I have ever come across and it stinks on a constitutional and legal basis. I attended a series of briefings by senior legal people - solicitors and, in particular, barristers - and was so impressed by them that I brought them to the AV room to talk to my colleagues. I hope their concerns will be taken on board.

Immigration legislation impacts greatly on the lives and choices of migrant women, increasing their physical vulnerability and distress in situations of domestic violence and severely curtailing their options. That is a stark fact to face. Our legislation exposes them to physical danger. Individual women face the restriction on public funds through social welfare restrictions. Restriction of services as a result of underfunding limits women's choices and curtails the development of appropriate responses. They often face both racism in wider society and cultural attitudes within their own community. There is an attitude, not only on the part of the Government in this respect - it is a broad phenomenon. A United Kingdom study states that with the focus on abuses by asylum seekers rather than abuses against them, successive governments have justified the introduction of measures to reduce the duties they have to immigrants and asylum seekers, reducing the amount of money and services, inlcuding housing, available to them. That is evident both here and in the United Kingdom.

There is the question of deportation. I spoke outside the House at lunchtime to a group, Residents against Racism, of which I know the Minister of State is aware. There have been many such cases, including the case of Pamela Izevbekhai and that of the five year old girl with sickle cell anaemia who had to have her spleen removed. Thank God for that wonderful Irish female consultant who stood up against the bureaucracy and insisted that the girl not be returned to Nigeria where she would have faced certain death. Having had her spleen removed and having sickle cell anaemia, if she had to move to live in a malarial area, undoubtedly she would have died, yet faceless bureaucrats were prepared to contemplate this possibility very easily and comfortably.

There is the question of social welfare restrictions. Migrant women are denied access to affordable housing, which is a real problem. In 1999 the then United Kingdom Government introduced the domestic violence concession, under which women who are subject to domestic violence are allowed to claim residence. Have we done this here? No, we have not. Has the COSC avoided the issue? Yes, it has. We should introduce such a measure.

There is the question of undocumented women, women who are trafficked in the country for sexual purposes and who are even more vulnerable. Our immigration policy has been focused primarily on economic interests. That is why we do not give the women involved a degree of permanency. We take from them any support that is available. For example, rent allowance has been taken from them, which is a disgrace. We must make sure we make such provision.

All of the groups have joined together to state these measures should be introduced. Measures should be put in place to ensure all migrant women, documented or undocumented, and children who experience domestic violence whose immigration status is dependent on their spouse should be given temporary leave to remain. All migrant women and children in this situation should be automatically deemed compliant with the habitual residency condition. They should be given the right to work and support should be provided in situations of domestic violence. This is an opportunity to make such provision because the Government's policy leaves women exposed. They are often dependent on their husbands for financial support, which makes them vulnerable, unless the State moves in to assist them. We have a good and idealistic Minister of State and also a party in government which has some access to the decent elements in Fianna Fáil. We should use them and address these real issues, not just the blather contained in the COSC report.