Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. In contrast with the reticence of my Labour Party colleagues, I believe we should be proud and honoured that he is a former Senator who understands the workings of the House. I am sure because of his legal training, that he also understands in great depth and as well as anyone the nature of this motion.

Fianna Fáil supports this motion to help to address the appalling problem of domestic violence and the need to protect funding for this area. Violence against women in all of its manifestations and domestic violence is a deeply traumatising act that demands Government action. When Fianna Fáil was in government, it introduced a national steering committee on violence against women, established Cosc and launched the national strategy on domestic violence as part of a series of steps to tackle the problem. The Government should underline its commitment to the issue by signing up to the Istanbul convention and protecting funding for this area.

I would also like to place on the record that domestic violence is not a monopoly of or exclusively men against women, even though that is so in the majority of cases. In a minority of cases, regrettably, and I am aware of this from my experience as a Member and having chaired a constitutional committee that dealt with the family, there is also violence against men. When we are dealing with this, I would like the Minister of State to encapsulate that any kind of violence in the home would be condemned. I have understood from a number of people that the difficulty for men is that, regrettably, most are afraid to come out and admit that they have been either emotionally or psychologically damaged by violence in the home. While I accept that it is probably less then 5% of cases, it does exist. In some instances, I have no doubt it leads men to have suicidal tendencies, if not actually to commit suicide, because they cannot cope.

This was highlighted in a recent episode of "Fair City", a programme I rarely watch, although I have looked at it once or twice. A great deal of time was devoted in the episode to violence against a particular man. It went on for some time and the programme portrayed a lot damage being done. Violence against men does exist, and without devoting too much time to it and while also acknowledging that violence against women is a major issue, perhaps the Minister of State in his response would refer to and allude to the fact that there is violence against men and ensure, in so far as is possible, that it is stamped out.

I come from a large family in current terms, being the youngest of 11 children and having the good fortune, or perhaps misfortune, of having seven sisters. When I was a child, my father, in training his sons to have respect for women, would often say to us that any man who does not respect and love his mother can never respect another woman. It may have been only an anecdote but at a time when we had no television - I was 21 before we got electricity where we lived - and where one would listen to the family chatting beside the fireside at night, these little aguisíns, as we would say, often resonated with me, and they continue to resonate with me that it is probably a fairly important matter on which to give young people training.

The Government must ensure it protects the funding for the area in the October budget. That is critical. Domestic violence devastates lives and households across Ireland, and without funding, initiatives to alleviate the problem will be crippled.

As I already mentioned, the Istanbul convention needs to be adopted by the Government. The Fianna Fáil Party has a relatively strong record in challenging the grave difficulties of domestic violence having established Cosc in 2007. That was a first step and a lot more must be done. Regrettably, domestic violence is an ongoing problem and we cannot say that if the Government does X, Y and Z, that will eliminate domestic violence. Unfortunately, it will not. We need to underpin the existing facilities. That is important, going forward.

Fianna Fáil has taken a lead in setting out a holistic cross-departmental response to domestic violence. The problem does not straddle one Department but crosses many divides. The first national strategy on the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was published in March 2010 and incorporated the recommendations of the 1997 task force report on violence against women, which perhaps should be broadened to include men and women. The actions required to tackle domestic and sexual violence primarily cut across the justice, health, education, housing and non-governmental sectors. Progress must be made in the context of a common vision to ensure that those affected receive the benefit of a proper, overall holistic service. Integrating key groups is an essential part of ensuring an holistic approach in taking on the issue. The task force considered it essential that the national advisory committee would include representatives from the key organisations in the sector operating on a national basis, such as Women's Aid, national representative bodies for women's refuges, and rape crisis centres.

A tremendous amount of support has built up. I see this commonly in my constituency, where 30 years ago it would not even have been heard of.

I see support groups in towns around west Cork, which would not have existed even 20 years ago. Such groups provide a listening ear for victims of domestic abuse, who are primarily women. Counselling is also available and not before time. It is a horrible thing to see a woman who is afraid to live in such an abusive relationship. I met a woman recently and we were chatting in the aftermath of a wedding. I know her background and she told me that for nine years she lived in a relationship - she was not married at that stage - where domestic violence was common. I asked her why she had not left after it happened the first or second time. First, she was obviously in love with the man, which I find hard to believe if he would pound the daylights out of her from time to time. Second, she was afraid that if she left she would have no support. That is an appalling vista. This happened 25 years ago but she is much wiser now. It is amazing that that could go on and still goes on today.

Some men are bullies and control freaks. They like to control women by putting them down or, as they would say long ago, putting her in her place. Those days are long gone, however, and I hope women will now stand up for their rights. The basis for a good relationship, whether it is co-habitation or a marriage, is natural love, affection and a basic respect for the other human being. Once that breaks down things can, unfortunately, go wrong.

I appeal to the Minister to do everything possible to counter domestic violence. I support the motion before the House and there is very little that Senator Moloney or Senator O'Keeffe said with which I would disagree. I cannot do so. We can offer different political slants but this is an issue that society as a whole must tackle. We must be ever vigilant to what is going on. We will never have a utopian situation where domestic violence is eliminated but we all can, in our own way, be it politically, via Departments or otherwise, try to stymie the damage that has gone on to date.

In modern society there has to be mutual respect and a partnership, whereas 50 or 100 years ago that was not the case in what was a more patriarchal society. Historically in the Beara Peninsula, there was a Lord Beara, called O'Sullivan Beara. It is common knowledge that, according to historical anecdotes, he had the right in the barony to spend the first night with any newly married bride. That was accepted in those days, although it was deplorable. At least we have moved on from there.

In our day, there are intolerable situations which need to be tackled in any way we can. I am speaking on behalf of our party in support of this motion. I urge the Government to deal with domestic violence. Without funding, however, the necessary supports will disintegrate. The Minister of State should not allow that to happen.

I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, is here. He is very understanding and his presence is as welcome as that of the Minister, Deputy Shatter. The Minister of State should tell his senior Government colleagues to maintain necessary funding for relevant support groups. Without such funding, things can start slipping, in which case women, and some men, will suffer again.