Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also offer my condolences to the family of Councillor Collins. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

I wish to raise the issue of domestic violence and violence against women and children, as was reported today in the annual report from Women's Aid for 2021. The report describes things like hammers, hurls, golf clubs and ordinary household items being used in the hands of abusers who are perpetrating real violence on women and children in their own homes. The report from 2021 said there were 33,000 disclosures of domestic abuse, 5,000 of which came from children.The victims were thumped, strangled, slapped and headbutted, often while holding their child or children and trying to protect them. There were almost 1,000 disclosures of sexual abuse and almost 500 disclosures of rape. Seven women were murdered in one year alone - 2021. The Women's Aid report states that the duration of calls and contacts from victims has extended and it attributes that to the increasing intensity of the abuse, the complexity of the abuse and the absolute desperation of the victims looking for support. The report details how abuse goes beyond the physical to the psychological, financial and emotional. The report is very hard to read, but I commend all of the staff and the volunteers at Women's Aid who respond to those calls. I commend them on the publication of the annual report.

I know the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is working on the third national domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy. I urge her to complete the strategy and to come back to this House, as she did previously, and engage with us on the strategy so we can support it and make it real.