Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I particularly welcome the Minister, when he has this important legislation in his hands. As Chair of the joint Oireachtas women's caucus, I know I speak for all my colleagues when I say that this is vital and warmly welcomed. I look forward, as the Minister said, to it making a swift passage through both Houses. I particularly acknowledge my colleagues, Senator Fiona O'Loughlin and Deputy Paul McAuliffe, who have made this possible and, of course, the families of the two victims, for whom both these laws are suitable tributes. I welcome Jason Poole and Joe Poole to the House. Jennie was murdered by her ex-partner in 2021 and David French and his family have fought relentlessly to remember Valerie, who died in 2019.

I have spoken in the past about being a journalist. When I went to report on domestic abuse, it was sometimes seen as a private matter and not something that anybody would be interested in, but the fact is that it is the same as any other assault. It is heinous and it should be made public. I am delighted that this has brought it out of the shadows and that it will firmly remain in the public domain. It is quite sad and poignant that today is the anniversary of the death of the British MP, Jo Cox, who was brutally murdered in the course of her everyday business. She was a mother to two very young children. It shows us that the fight against domestic abuse of women, men and children, is relentless. My colleague pointed out some statistics. An Garda Síochána responded to over 65,000 domestic abuse incidents in 2024. That is over 1,200 incidents per week. Let that sink in for a second. We have an epidemic of it.

When we are looking at the dating game, if we want to call it that these days, it is so far removed from where it used to be many years ago. You might meet somebody in person or through family or friends, at the local disco, even through the church maybe, where you would have some hope of knowing who they were, their background and vetting them, for want of a better word, yourself or through friends or family. Nowadays, when people go online they have no idea who they are speaking to and have no idea of the person's background. For some of the victims and survivors we are talking about here today, if they had known, at least they would have had a sporting chance of making their own decision, but that was taken out of their hands. I wholeheartedly support this and I look forward to seeing how it will work in reality. It puts the power and empowerment back in the hands of the survivors and that is where it should be.

On a final note, if anyone is going through any kind of domestic abuse, even if they think it is small, or there is a red flag as they say these days, there is support available. I urge people to contact An Garda Síochána, which now has very specialised trained units, and their local domestic abuse support services. That is what they are there for.They should talk to a family friend or whoever it is. They should not stay in the shadows. This is firmly out in the public, where it belongs.