Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in the earlier call for a debate on domestic violence in light of the Women's Aid report, which was published today. The statistics are quite shocking and on a personal level, it is terrible to think what some women and children deal with from physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse.Of particular concern to me is the fact that the report is critical of the way our courts and judges deal with domestic violence, particularly in the case of access and custody. I am concerned that the impact of domestic violence on children has not properly been taken into account and this dovetails with a debate I heard on "Today with Sean O'Rourke" yesterday on the issues which judges, in good faith, are taking into account but on which they seem to be misguided. There is an issue around training of judges to deal with this issue. Where violence was involved and a barring order given, some judges seem to think that is the end of the matter and do not take into account the manipulation of children. Domestic abuse can be perpetrated by either sex but, for the most part and in 80% of the most extreme cases, it is perpetrated by men. We can put in all the social workers and gardaí we need but if the proper care and protection of children and women is not taken into account by the Judiciary we will end up with the wrong results. Judges are well briefed in the area of law but psychology and the emotional side of things are a different matter and, if we are serious about protecting children, even if they only witness this abuse by their parents, we need experts in court so that judges can make informed decisions where there are concerns that there will be manipulation of children and further abuse, psychological or otherwise. Notwithstanding the removal of a parent from a family setting, this needs to be recognised in judgments.