Eileen Flynn (Independent)

I am following on from other comments this afternoon around putting an end to gender-based violence. You can wear orange all you want and you can be a part of the gender equality committee in Leinster House and be a do-gooder for women. However, when a woman is getting beaten up somewhere in this country, she does not give a damn about the colour of a Member's top or tie or what issue they are raising. What we need is a productive government when it comes to ending violence against women. What we need are spaces for children and women. This is my fifth time calling for a discussion in this House on places for women and children. We need to put our money where our mouth is. We need action. We cannot be standing up and saying that we are all great do-gooders and we need to end violence against women; we cannot.

Where there are men, there will unfortunately always be violence against women, whether we like it or not. What we need are safe places for women in this country. Every single day, I see women from minority groups who cannot get places in refuges. I grew up in a house where I lived as child who saw her mother going through domestic violence. I am sure there are other Members who are probably not in a place where they ever want to speak about it, but who had a similar experience to me.

I support all of the women's organisations in this country but my question is: do those organisations support women on the very margins of society? That is not very clear to me. I would love nothing more than to have a debate in this House around women from minority groups when it comes to domestic violence. It is not part of any women's culture to wake up in the morning and be abused by any man.

I will say it again in this House; domestic violence is not part of Traveller culture. I am begging that we mark this 16 days of activism towards ending violence against women by providing spaces and taking action. We do not need more talk about ending the violence; we need action so that women and children in this country can feel safe.