Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the call for a debate on fishing. Fishing is a very important part of life in rural Donegal and a very important way of making a living.

A report this week showed the need for Government support to make sure all women have equal access to domestic violence services. A new report from Safe Ireland shows that approximately 3,450 women and 589 children contacted domestic violence services for the first time during the first six months of the Covid pandemic. That breaks down to 19 women and three children per day. The monthly number of women calling helplines has risen month-on-month since April. We must not forget that men also suffer domestic violence and need support services. Equal access to domestic violence services has always been a problem, and it has gotten worse in the pandemic.

Women face many barriers on a daily basis when they try to escape. The barriers include cultural barriers and practical barriers, for example, not having money or not having a car to help one escape if one is living in a rural area or one does not have supports to get to a safe refuge. Because of cuts to funding, the amount of time a woman can stay in a refuge has been reduced. In most cases, it is a matter of weeks. If we are being honest, it can take a year for some women to recover. We must bear in mind that it takes some women ten to 15 years to get away from a household where there is domestic violence. Women need a lot of support to get away and they need to be supported to be empowered and not just to be in a service for six or seven weeks and then to be made homeless on the streets, as that causes women to go back to their abuser.

The Government must invest in domestic violence services to support women and men in this country to be able to get away. Many women experiencing domestic violence have come to me seeking support, who want to get away from their abuser. I wish to drive this message home today; nobody knows the shoe is cutting them, only the person that is wearing them. We always blame women for the situation they are in but it is not the woman's fault. I call on the Government to support the services, to support Safe Ireland and other women's organisations.