Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Minister to the House this afternoon. This is the first opportunity I have had to address him. I wish him well in his new brief and compliment him on the enthusiastic manner in which he has handled it to date. I wish him well in his work.

Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate on the important topic of zero tolerance for violence against women. It is imperative that the political system responds in a robust, urgent, and comprehensive way to tackle this scourge on our society. Senator Ward mentioned that it is not just the Government but that all of society needs to respond and I fully agree with that. As far as I am concerned, enough is enough. I look forward to the strategy the Minister outlined in his presentation, which covers four pillars: prevention, protection, prosecution and policy co-ordination.

With regard to prevention, unfortunately, Monaghan and Cavan are two counties among nine that do not have currently have a refuge centre. I look forward to that being addressed. I compliment Monaghan County Council, in particular Mr. Nial O'Connor, the housing officer, who has been very proactive and has had discussions with Women's Aid and the Tearmann Domestic Abuse Service, which does excellent work to help victims in Monaghan, under the stewardship of Siobhán McKenna. I welcome the fact that plans are in place to locate a much-needed refuge centre to accommodate the needs of women in both Monaghan and Cavan.

It is disappointing that in this day and age women have to think twice about the time of day or evening they go out. I have spoken to many women who might fancy going for a jog in the park or elsewhere in the evening but there is a fear factor from the moment they leave the house. They are nervous if they see a group of young males. That is a shocking way for the women of our society to be. We, as men, must take a good hard look at ourselves. The manner in which we treat women is simply not good enough. We need education in that regard. We must educate ourselves on what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. It is clear that the behaviour we have, unfortunately, witnessed all too often, and how women are treated is simply not good enough. As men, we must take a good hard look at ourselves in that regard.

The Minister alluded earlier to the plan, which involves a €363 million investment. It is an ambitious plan. I welcome the fact that an all-of-government approach is required across all Departments rather than having only one Department involved. I look forward to the plan being enacted.