Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Sarah Montgomery. I cannot imagine the hurt and grief they are experiencing. To think of a young pregnant mother being killed in her own home is deeply upsetting. According to Women’s Aid, more than one in three women have experienced psychological, physical or sexual abuse, or all of these, from an intimate partner. Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is the leading cause of homelessness among women and children in Ireland. Cavan is one of the nine counties that do not have a refuge space for domestic violence victims. Women who have taken the courageous step to leave their abuser should not have to travel across the country to find refuge. This places an additional emotional and financial hardship on victims who may already have limited access to money.

In 2016, Alan Hawe murdered his wife, Clodagh, and their three sons Liam, Niall and Ryan. Since the devastating murders, Clodagh’s family have campaigned for a refuge space in Cavan so victims of domestic violence can have a safe place to turn to. It is eight years later and we still only have the start of the site selection process for building a refuge in Cavan. This was deemed a phase 1 priority under the zero tolerance strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I am so sorry to say it, but no concrete action over eight years does not seem like a zero tolerance approach to me. In November last year the Ministers, Deputies McEntee and O’Brien, welcomed the start of a site selection process for building a domestic violence refuge in Cavan-Monaghan.Only five days ago, another Government TD welcomed the fact they are now actively in the process of site selection. It is cringe and the Government must be ashamed of this at this stage. We need a definite timeline and immediate commitment to progress the development of the eight-unit refuge in Cavan-Monaghan. Otherwise, I fear we will be here in six months' time, welcoming this ongoing site selection.