Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being with us to discuss this important Bill. I must say that I am disappointed the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is not here because I had spoken to her about this legislation in the past and I also had a Commencement matter in relation to it. Jason Poole, who is joining us in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery today, has had several meetings with the Minister, Deputy McEntee. Whatever about me, I would have hoped that Jason would have been afforded that respect. Nonetheless, I very much appreciate that the Minister of State is here. I thank her for that.

None of us can imagine the courage it takes for a woman to walk or run away from an abusive partner. The toxic power struggle these women endure is unimaginable, but we must try to imagine ourselves there for the sake of those who are. We must try to imagine what it is like to be drowning in a life of fear, to imagine what it is like to never be able to relax in your home, to imagine what it is like to never know what is coming next - an assault, an attack, your children being attacked or for them to witness you being attacked, to imagine what it is like as a family member watching and fearing that your daughter, your sister or your friend is going through something like this but you can never get the opportunity to speak about it and, when you do, it is too late. Imagine the courage it takes to walk out of your home, away from your abuser, to seek refuge, to say that you were wrong and made a bad judgment and that now you see the pattern.

Imagine the courage it took Jennifer Poole to end her relationship with her domestic abuser, Gavin Murphy. She had endured a relationship of mental and physical abuse and was trying to piece her life together for herself and her two children. She made one mistake. Out of kindness, she allowed her abuser back into her apartment to have a shower. She wisely left the apartment, returning when she believed he had left, but he had not. Seven seconds is all it took for Jennifer's life to be taken, her children left motherless, her parents left without their daughter, Jason without his sister.

I am here this evening to give voice to Jennifer Poole and to other women without voices who live in fear of speaking up and speaking out. I am here to argue for and to demand legislation to support women in crisis. These are women who are at risk, some who have gathered their courage to make life-altering decisions and who are holding their lives and safety, and those of their children, in their empty hands.

This Bill, which I am proud to introduce and propose tonight, calls for the implementation of a domestic violence register that will function in a similar manner to the sex offenders register. The legislation provides that a person convicted of the offence of coercive control is required to notify the Garda of their name and address and any change to those details to ensure the information recorded by An Garda Síochána is accurate and always up to date. This Bill, when enacted, will be known as "Jennie's Law", as it is inspired by the tragic death of Jennifer Poole.

I have been working closely with her brother, Jason Poole, and I acknowledge his presence here this evening. Many of us have had the opportunity to meet him and to listen to the awful story of his sister being murdered by her ex-partner, who had actually done time previously for domestic violence.Violence against women is an epidemic not just in Ireland, but around the world. We have seen high-profile murders in recent years that have brought these issues front and centre. These brutal deaths enabled other women to talk about their fears. More importantly, the death of women through acts of violence forced society to listen to that reality. We now need society and the political system to address these very real fears, urgently and comprehensively, and to take an honest look at how the system responds to and meets the needs of women. As legislators, we in Leinster House have a duty to act and to do everything we can to ensure the strongest legislative response possible. There is absolutely no doubt that action is required and that it is required quickly.

We could talk endlessly about the statistics, which are stark, bleak and disturbing. Behind those statistics are terrified women, children and family members. According to Women's Aid, there were 256 incidents in which women died violently between 1996 and today. Some 20 children have died in incidents where women have died violently, 163 women have been killed in their homes and 87% of women killed were killed by a man known to them. Women of any age can be victims of femicide but women under the age of 35 make up 50% of cases in Ireland.

With the creation of a register similar to the one proposed in this Bill, we would be supporting An Garda Síochána and our justice system by providing them with the information they so desperately need to help save the lives of women who would not otherwise be aware that they are in a relationship with an abuser. Reading this week's newspapers, I see a very similar situation emerging. Jennifer's Bill calls for the implementation of a domestic violence register that would function in a similar manner to the sexual offenders register. The Bill provides that people convicted of the offence of coercive control would be required to notify An Garda Síochána of their names and addresses to ensure that the information recorded by An Garda Síochána is accurate and always up to date. This Bill provides for the enactment of legislation granting a person in an intimate relationship the entitlement to access information on convictions their partner has for the offence of coercive control or any other offence under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person perpetrated against another person with whom that partner was in an intimate relationship. The entitlement to access this information also extends to a close family member of the person.

During this debate, I want to again recognise and pay tribute to the very valuable work of Jason Poole, who has been campaigning for a domestic violence register since his sister, Jennifer, was murdered in April 2021. As I have mentioned, while it was unknown to Jennifer, Murphy had a history of domestic violence. Jason has campaigned tirelessly for the establishment of a register to ensure that no family has to endure the horrific trauma the Poole family has endured since Jennifer's life was taken. The murder of Jennifer and other high-profile murders in recent years focused attention on the horrific acts of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence taking place in our society. I acknowledge that, under this Government, there has been a greater focus on tackling domestic and gender-based violence. That work is highly important but we must do more.

On the domestic violence register, the United Kingdom's domestic violence disclosure scheme was introduced following the murder of Clare Wood through Clare's Law. Ms Wood was killed by a former partner who was known to Greater Manchester Police for having previously committed violent crimes against women. This disclosure scheme was adopted in England and Wales in 2014, in Scotland in 2016 and in Northern Ireland in 2018. In the UK, the domestic violence disclosure scheme introduced two processes for disclosing information. The first is triggered by a request from a member of the public who approaches the police. This is known as the right to ask. The second is triggered by the police and is known as the right to know. In this case, the police proactively inform a potential victim about a partner's history of abuse. It should be noted that the UK scheme is an administrative scheme and does not operate on a statutory footing. However, figures show that, in 2022, 7,238 disclosures were made in England and Wales under the right to know procedure while 8,383 were made under the right to ask.

Violence against women is not just an issue facing us in Ireland; it is an international issue. In my role as leader of the Irish delegation to the Council of Europe, I have debated this issue in the Parliament at Strasbourg. We need to learn from our counterparts in the Council of Europe. My colleague in PACE, Petra Stienen of the Netherlands, authored a report on how men and boys can be agents of change in confronting gender-based violence. This is not a women's issue for women to solve. It is a societal issue for society to solve. Gender-based violence affects society as a whole and should be recognised as a global human rights issue. In Europe, it is estimated that one in three women is a survivor of gender-based violence so we are not alone in trying to tackle these issues.

As the Minister of State's portfolio relates to health, I will briefly mention the impact of domestic violence on women's health. The World Health Organization states that women who have experienced domestic violence are at an increased risk of depression and suicide attempts, physical injuries, psychosomatic disorders, unplanned pregnancies, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Some 30% of women who experience domestic violence in Ireland are physically assaulted for the first time during pregnancy. Evidence shows that 49% of women injured by their partners required medical treatment and 10% required a hospital stay. That is absolutely shocking and, as a national community, we are facing the very harsh reality that many women in Ireland are unfortunately living in fear of violence.

I thank Deputy Jim O'Callaghan and Councillor Deirdre Heney for their help but, most of all, I thank Jason for continuing to tell his story and to battle for other women so they will not go through what his family has gone through. I commend the motion and really hope the Minister of State will endorse it. I will now ask my seconder to speak.