Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Táimid ag smaoineamh ach go háirithe inniu ar an dream den Lucht Siúil atá á gcur inniu tar éis gur cailleadh iad sa tine uafásach sin i gCarraig Mhaigin an tseachtain seo caite. Ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a dhéanamh lena muintir agus lena dteaghlach ar fad. Tá sé thar a bheith brónach mar lá dóibh siúd.

I was happy to attend a presentation this morning by Women's Aid in which it called for a number of issues to be addressed. Members of the Seanad, in particular, have had a good record in this regard and it would be timely for them to have another debate on some of the issues raised by Women's Aid. The presentation highlighted the issue of resources, in that all systems supporting and assisting women and children experiencing domestic violence or leaving abusive relationships should be fully resourced. Women's Aid has also highlighted a number of pieces of legislation that should be brought up to date and into line with the Istanbul Convention and the EU victims directive.It has also highlighted the issue around relevant staff of all statutory systems that provide assistance to victims being trained, resourced and informed about domestic violence and the need to ensure accurate data and statistics on domestic violence for the planning, delivering and evaluating responses to women and children experiencing abuse. It is, unfortunately, an issue that is on the increase. Based on my experience on the joint policing committee in Galway, the figures are increasing. I have listened to groups, such as Domestic Violence Response in Oughterard, Riverside House and others, and they tell me that their resources are being cut back and that they are finding it very hard to deal with the increase in the numbers of people calling on their services. Even though we raised issues here a number of years ago in regard to Dolphin House and its facilities, the situation is getting worse, so it is important for us to have a debate about the issues highlighted by this group and other groups to see what policy changes can be made and what proposals are in place concerning resourcing. Now that we are being told that we have turned the corner, certainly in the context of the budget, we need to see where the extra resources will be made available and how the extra moneys to organisations like Tusla will be employed, particularly in the area of domestic violence. Ba mhaith liom iarraidh ar an gCeannaire smaoineamh ar díospóireacht dá leithéid sin a reachtáil.