Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I express my sincere commiseration to the family, friends and pupils of Ashling Murphy. Words can never adequately express our sympathy, sadness or anger. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis. While the whole country is convulsed and repulsed by Ashling's murder it is important that we remember that in the past 15 years 236 women have been killed in Ireland violently. One in four women in Ireland have experienced abuse from their partner. In 2020 alone, 855 disclosures of sexual abuse were made to Women's Aid services.Last November, in this Chamber, I and other Senators called on the Leader to bring the Minister for Justice to this House for a debate on violence against women, gender-based violence, domestic violence, sexual violence and violence in our society. I believe it is beyond the time for us to acknowledge that this is a large-scale and deep-seated problem in our society. The violence against women is killing our mothers, sisters, friends and daughters, and we have gone beyond the point where we can ignore this anymore.

This deep-rooted issue is not a series of isolated incidents; it is wide scale. That is why we need a deep-rooted and systemic response. We need a response that will deal with everything from language through to education, housing, health, entertainment and social media. I mean every nitty-gritty thing that affects the daily lives of every girl and woman in every village and community in this country. I hope the Deputy Leader can advise the House today on when that debate will take place.