Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh leis na daoine a fuair bás sa tine i Cluain Dolcáin. For a beautiful mother, Annmarie, her unborn child, her daughter, Paris, and their relatives, Holly and Jordan, a place of refuge turned out to be their place of death. We extend our sincere sympathy to their families and wish the other people involved in the fire a speedy recovery. Today, I wish to refer to the Leader's response to my remarks yesterday. He will know that I wholeheartedly welcomed the Domestic Violence Bill publicly in this House. Yesterday I pointed out what still needed to be done to provide services that reflect the spirit of the legislation. According to a recommendation made by the Council of Europe Ireland only has 31% of the recommended number of places for women in refuges. Reality must reflect what is in the legislation. It is no use declaring a woman's right to live free from all types of harassment, abuse and violence if the reality is that there are no services in place for her to do so. In 2014, 4,831 requests for safe accommodation were not met due to a lack of capacity. I will outline the uncomfortable facts for the Leader. As I speak, there are 5,400 unallocated cases for social workers with 801 of them considered to be high priority. They are not considered to be high priority without reason. They are children who are at risk and need urgent care. Since the recession began the funding for Women's Aid has been slashed by 31% at a time when demand has increased greatly. The funding must be fully restored in order to give full effect to the legislation that we all welcome.

Leader, I wish these details were alternative facts as he has perpetrated time and again. These really are the uncomfortable truths of our time.