Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That Seanad Éireann:-- notes the incidence of domestic violence in Ireland and the devastating consequences that it has for both the individual victims and survivors and for the wider society;
-- notes and commends the immense work being done to support victims and survivors of domestic violence by many State and non-governmental organisations;
-- commends the Minister for Justice for his commitment to reform of the law on domestic violence; for his introduction of important changes through the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provision) Act 2011;
-- further commends the Minister for recently securing agreement on the introduction of a European Protection Order; and
-- calls upon the Government to support the Council of Europe Convention on prevention and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention);
-- calls upon the Government to consider improving and extending eligibility for both Safety and Barring Orders to ensure full protection for those at risk from domestic violence; and
-- calls upon the Government to endeavour to protect funding in this year's Budget for Domestic Violence Services and to ensure the provision of appropriate andadequate services for women and children at risk from domestic violence.".

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I had hoped that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, would be here. However, the Minister of State is welcome.

I am pleased to move this important motion in this House on behalf of Labour Party Senators. It seeks to encourage a comprehensive debate on the issue of domestic violence, a subject which, in my view, rarely gets enough political attention and one which sadly remains a serious blight on our society, wreaking havoc in homes up and down the country.

Domestic violence is a crime, which involves various forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence or which threatens the safety or welfare of family members and persons in domestic relationships. There is strong evidence that this is an under-reported crime in Ireland.

Even as an under-reported problem, the statistics are truly shocking. Over 11,000 women and children sought safety from home violence in 2011, the latest year for which statistics are available from SAFE Ireland, which does invaluable work in the area of domestic violence. Some 11,000 in one year is over 210 women and children every single week seeking refuge from abuse and violence. The 2011 figures represented a 56% rise on 2007, when such statistics were first recorded by SAFE Ireland. Disturbingly, also some 3,000 children also receive support from domestic violence services in 2011. The data for 2012 will be available later in the year. As their chief executive of SAFE Ireland, Ms Sharon O'Halloran, has correctly remarked, the figures are a horrific and sad indictment of society.

It is only right that I would acknowledge the significant strides that have been made in this area in terms of legislation in recent years. I commend the Government and its predecessor for the provisions of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous) Provisions Bill 2011 which allow parents with a child in common to apply for a safety order regardless of whether or not they are cohabiting. It also provides that cohabiting partners can apply for safety orders without any specific duration of cohabitation required, however the specific duration clause also needs to be removed when applying for a barring order.

I also commend the Minister, Deputy Shatter, and his European colleagues for agreeing, only two months ago, a series of measures allowing for the mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters across the EU. Significantly, this will ensure that a woman or man who holds a barring order against a partner can avail of the effect of that order if she or he takes up residence in, or moves for a short time to, another EU member state. I welcome this agreement as a clear statement that domestic violence and gender-based violence is unacceptable across the EU.

While I welcome these arrangements, there is much more that can be achieved. One of the key changes urgently needed in this country is a provision to allow a woman to apply at a weekend for an emergency barring order or protection order, something she cannot currently do. If a woman is a victim of domestic violence on a Friday night, she has to wait until Monday morning when the courts open to seek judicial protection from a violent partner. At weekends, when a barring order or even an interim order is being sought, we should put in place a system which would allow the on-call judge, in conjunction with the Garda, to arrange for the issuing of an emergency order to protect that woman until the courts open the following Monday. This change would be a major relief for many women or, as the case may be, men who find themselves trapped in a domestic violence situation over the weekend, a time when incidents of violence in the home often reach their peak.

I invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to revisit an aspect of the 2011 legislation. Couples living apart who have a child in common are protected under the legislation, but I am concerned the same provision does not exist for couples who have never lived together and who do not have a child. A member of such a couple, in an intimate relationship, is ineligible to apply for a safety order if a violent situation exists. This brings me to the crux of the problem. It is remarkable that domestic violence is not defined as a crime on our Statute Book. Nobody in Ireland can be charged with domestic violence. Nobody can claim in law to have been a victim of domestic violence. No official statistics about the extent of domestic violence can be gathered by the authorities because it is not a criminal offence in itself. It is only if a barring or protection order is breached that a crime has been committed.

An act of domestic violence is not a defined crime per se. The Council of Europe convention in this area, which Ireland has not yet signed, sets out the criminal offences which fall under the umbrella of domestic violence. It would provide a good legal template for the enactment of legislation in this area to specifically criminalise domestic violence in law. The Minister should examine the Swedish model. The Swedish Government has created a crime to deal with a gross violation of the integrity of a woman, which is a greater offence than a public assault and prosecution for which carries a sentence of five years. I encourage a comprehensive debate in the House, and in society in general, on the need to make domestic violence a clearly defined crime punishable by law.

I encourage the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to move up on the Government's agenda the Council of Europe's convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The convention is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle the problem and sets out the ambition of achieving zero tolerance for such violence throughout Europe. Significantly, the convention recognises violence against women as a violation of human rights and means states are held responsible if they do not respond adequately to such violence. Preventing violence, protecting its victims and prosecuting the perpetrators are the cornerstones of the convention. To date, 29 out of 47 countries have signed it. Will Ireland make it 30, particularly when we hold the Presidency?

There is no disguising that the many services which cater for the victims of domestic violence are under financial pressure. At a minimum in this year's Estimates and budget we need to protect the statutory funding available to refuges and support services throughout the country. Alarmingly, in approximately 2,500 cases in 2011, services nationwide were unable to accommodate women because they were full or there was no refuge in the area. In my county, only six beds are available at any one time at the women's refuge in Tralee run by ADAPT Kerry, and these beds are often full. Only six beds in the whole of Kerry are available for people who need help. If an entire family moves in, it can be a week or two before they find alternative accommodation and thus the beds are unavailable for others who many need them.

I commend the work done by the staff of ADAPT Kerry and so many other similar services throughout the country on a daily basis. Staff are regularly confronted with traumatised, petrified and browbeaten victims of domestic violence, and the care and sensitivity they provide can be of immense support to the people affected. I also want to commend the many McKenzie friends who accompany women - and occasionally men - to in cameracourt hearings and help them through a very traumatic situation where they have to confront the perpetrator of the violence for the first time since the act was committed.

At present, many agencies which deal with domestic violence in Ireland are concerned there is too much fragmentation in funding and legislation in the area. There have been calls for a dedicated funding stream for domestic violence services as well as an overhaul of the legislative provisions in the area. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, is very dedicated to such a review of Government provisions and I suggest that now more than ever, at a time of economic pressure which can often lead to tension, stress and sometimes violence in the home, our commitment to legislative and funding provisions should be greater than ever.

There are many bureaucratic barriers for women trying to access State support when they seek protection, and a significant contributing factor to this is related to the lack of provision in housing legislation to address domestic violence. I will take up this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and suggest we should amend our housing legislation so domestic violence is recognised as a primary cause of homelessness.

I encourage my colleagues to engage in this debate constructively, and with the sensitivity it deserves. Let us park party politics and defend the families of Ireland who are the victims of this evil which manifests itself through cowardly domestic violence. My colleagues will deal with some of the other aspects of the motion, and perhaps at the conclusion of the debate I will have time to revisit some of the issues I have mentioned. I commend the motion to the House.