Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank our Fianna Fáil colleagues, Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee, for introducing this important Bill, which the Labour Party supports. Notwithstanding what the Minister of State has said about the concerns she has raised and their implications for the provisions of this Bill, we hope they can be thrashed out and worked through in a very appropriate manner because this Bill, which has been introduced by Senator O'Loughlin tonight, is a very good one and could very much be a life-saving initiative.

We were all struck recently by the works and the comments through documentaries and recent interviews with The Irish Timesof the former State pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy. As has been described here tonight, violence against women is an epidemic which is made all the more sinister by the fact that the overwhelming majority of women know the perpetrator of that violence. Many of them, as has been said by all contributors, are in intimate relationships, as commented upon by the former State pathologist time and again recently.

According to data from Women's Aid, some 87% of women violently killed in Ireland since 1996 knew their killer, and over half of them were killed by a current or former partner. That is a very important fact for us all to reflect upon. As the Minister of State said, we just cannot reflect upon it; we must act upon it.

We discussed the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill in the House a couple of weeks ago. I will be brief today because there are obviously overlaps, as outlined by the Minister of State, and I do not want to repeat myself. I was happy to support that Bill. I sincerely hope the new agency it establishes will make a meaningful impact in addressing violence against women in Ireland. I also spoke in that debate about the need for a greater number of women's refuges. I always acknowledge the great work of Teach Tearmainn in my own area in Kildare. I also spoke about the need to properly resource and fund existing supports. We also spoke about the need to sort out the way our legal system deals with cases of domestic violence.

What I am getting at is that the epidemic of domestic violence is not something we can just legislate away. As the Minister of State has said, it will take a confluence of different practical measures. Yes, legislation will be very important but, ultimately it will be the preventative resources which will very much tackle the issues before the fact. The registry provided for in this Bill has the potential to be one of those preventative resources.

There is international precedent for this sort of domestic violence disclosure scheme. Such schemes operate in some form or another in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and have been shown to work to safeguard potential victims. We only need to look to the North to see the operation of the UK domestic violence and abuse disclosure scheme, which has already been mentioned. It has been operational in Northern Ireland since 2018. Data on this scheme and on others is understandably sparse, given the sensitive nature of the information that is being provided. We know that in its first year, over 300 applications were made and 40 people were identified and advised that they were at risk. Those 40 people could have become victims of domestic abuse or, worse still, could have been killed. The disclosure scheme allowed that possibility to be mitigated. As a result, there are 40 people here now who might not be here if that scheme was not in place. Jennifer Poole, who has been mentioned here tonight, was murdered at the hands of a partner with a previous conviction for domestic violence. Given the impetus for this Bill, would she still be with us if there had been a mechanism in place for her to get that information?

Like I said, we need a confluence of new measures as well as proper resourcing for existing measures. I believe this Bill provides for a very valuable protective mechanism for potential victims of domestic violence. It is not an exaggeration to say that it could save lives. It is very much a worthwhile endeavour on that basis.

I want to finish by commending Jason Poole - Jennifer's brother, who is in our Distinguished Visitors Gallery - for his advocacy on this matter. It is always particularly admirable to me and to the Labour Party when those who have experienced an horrific tragedy, like Jason did, use their pain to make things better and safer for others. It is the height of compassion. I know that Jason is very much grieving for the loss of his sister. I agree that should this law be passed, it should be named Jennie's law. I am sure he is still grieving. I thank him for reaching out to Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee to bring forward such a worthwhile Bill here tonight.