Eileen Flynn (Independent)

I did not get to hear all of Senator Ryan's speech this evening due to a committee meeting but, having listened to my colleagues in the House, I will listen back to it later. I grew up on a halting site with 73 extended families. Today there are about 20 extended families on the site. It is funny how, in some communities, domestic violence is seen to be part of the culture. I have said in this House numerous times that domestic violence is not part of my culture. It is not part of Traveller culture or our way of life. I spoke in this House about when Mary Robinson came in. I met Mary Robinson when I was six years of age, in a women's refuge in Rathmines with my mother, brothers and sisters. I ended up in the Seanad. Sometimes we mistreat and misunderstand young children in these institutions. They need safe refuge, safe services and domestic violence services that understand that all communities do not see it as a way of life. I remember in the early nineties when my mother called the Garda and she wanted a barring order against my father. I remember the garda saying, "That's part of your culture. We don't interfere in family affairs, blahdy blah." It is now 2025 and there are great people in the House and the Dáil. We no longer accept domestic violence as a way of life in this country. Every single amendment, Bill and bit of funding and support we can provide as a country is worthwhile because young people like Senator Ryan grow up and come here. Young people like me can grow up and not just be products of a dysfunctional house with domestic violence. We can have meaningful participation in society and know what it is like to be a young child who has been institutionalised. We can know there is still hope. The Bill and amendment give hope to every child out there. It will not make any of the services less approachable. It is positive legislation and a positive amendment. It would be a shame if we did not accept it. I thank the Chair for giving me the time. I probably went way over.