Laura Harmon (Labour)

I thank Senator Ryan for her extremely powerful contribution. I am sure people watching will identity with that. She eloquently put forward how this impacts children and adults in this country. Gender-based and domestic violence is an epidemic in Ireland. It needs to be addressed and we need to seriously improve and step up to the mark in supporting survivors and those affected by it. That is what this Bill seeks to do. I will speak to the substantive Bill later.

The Cross-Party Group is accepting this important and considered amendment. It will strengthen the legislation and it is vital that we accept it. I was struck by figures from Women's Aid published recently on disclosures it received last year. Its CEO, Sarah Benson, is in the Gallery. It received 41,432 disclosures of abuse against women and 5,333 disclosures of abuse against children. That was a 17% increase on the previous year. This affects whole families and can have lifelong effects, as Senator Ryan so eloquently described, on the person experiencing domestic violence in the home. I was particularly struck by what the Senator said about its effect on future relationships, the issue of hypervigilance, having to monitor your surroundings and situations and living in constant fear or in fight-or-flight mode in everyday life. It is important we accept this amendment.