Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for affording me the opportunity to address the need for a domestic violence register in the country. I appreciate the Minister's taking the time to come to the Chamber to respond to this important Commencement matter.

Saturday, 1 October should have been Jennifer Poole's 26th birthday. She was a lovely, vivacious young woman with two young children. Very sadly her life was taken from her in April last year and this certainly should not have happened. At the recent Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis, Jennifer's brother, Jason, joined Deputy O'Callaghan and me to talk about the horrific trauma his family suffered, not just with the loss of Jennifer's life and the way her life was taken in just seven minutes in a brutal and vicious way, but the fact that Jennifer was taken from her family by a former partner who was known for domestic violence.The main reason we had this conversation was to try to ensure a register of domestic abuse offenders could be set up. Jennifer was a strong woman. She had a previous relationship where sadly, she was subjected to domestic violence. She would have been very nervous of knowingly going into another relationship with someone who had a pattern of domestic abuse, but she did not know. Her former partner said he had been living in Spain for two years. Sadly, as her family found out later, she was subjected to domestic abuse, but had the strength, power and courage to leave her situation. This brings up so much for so many women and indeed for many men. Many choices have to be made and some people ultimately make the choice to stay in a relationship. Jennifer gathered her courage and wherewithal to ensure this man left her home but in a moment of vulnerability, she allowed him back in because he said he needed access to a warm shower. In the time after Jennifer's death one of the most difficult aspects of the case came to light - that her murderer had been jailed for more than two years for attacking his former partner with a knife. If a domestic violence register was in place in the same way as a sexual abuse register, there is no doubt but that An Garda Síochána and Jennifer would have been aware of his past and she would never have entered a relationship in this situation. It is clear we need a domestic violence register. It is absolutely something we need to implement.

Sadly as we know, violence against women is an epidemic in this country. In 2021 Women's Aid reported 28,096 disclosures of abuse and 96% of those supported on the freefone helpline were women. In the aftermath of the brutal death of Ashling Murphy, the women of Ireland came together in solidarity with the Murphy family. Many of us attended vigils outside Leinster House and around the country. The hurt, anger and sorrow was palpable and the Minister has put many measures in place since. She has doubled the number of places in refuges and we need to go further than that. We need to look at a number of areas but what Jason Poole has highlighted is an important issue.

At the time of Ashling Murphy's death, I stood here in this very spot and said, "As a person, I am horrified; as an aunt and friend to young women, I am frightened; as a woman, I am furious, but as a legislator, I am determined to respond."

That is what this Commencement matter is about. It is about responding, raising awareness and protecting those who need to be protected, so I ask the Minister what the Department will do to establish a domestic violence register and what the Department is doing to support local gardaí to deal with domestic violence cases.