Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Let me add my voice to Members wishing Senator Norris well and hoping that he will be back among us again.

I wish to pay tribute to the work of the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter. A number of political commentators have jokingly said that he was the next best thing to a Labour Party Minister. I would regard that as a serious compliment. I welcome the appointment of Deputy Frances Fitzgerald as Minister for Justice and Equality, whom I may also say is similarly acceptable to the Labour Party ranks and has done a wonderful job in her role as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I welcome the appointment of Deputy Charles Flanagan to the Cabinet and hope he will do as good a job in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs as the previous Minister has done.

I welcome the joint launch by the Rape Crisis Centre and Women's Aid of an awareness campaign around violence against women. Some 91,000 Irish women experience sexual violence - more often than not at the hands of either partners or people close to them. The campaign today is entitled "Not happily ever after" and is calling on women not to be afraid to seek help.

It has been my experience unfortunately that some women seek help but do not receive it. I am shocked to say that in my own area of Dún Laoghaire we are only now opening a women's refuge in the near future thanks of the work of some very hard-working Labour Party councillors. We do not have the resources available to assist women experiencing violence in this country. In particular, the newspapers report today about increasing house prices. We know that it is reported in the news every single day how difficult it is to secure accommodation in this country. It is particularly vulnerable people like women seeking to leave unhappy relationships in family homes who are having severe difficult in accessing housing. I know we previously had a debate on violence against women but the emerging situation requires this issue to be dealt with again. In that context I ask the Deputy Leader to have another debate on the issue of women experiencing violence in their homes.