Deputy Mary Lou McDonald - speech from 25 Nov 2020

Thank you Ceann Comhairle, and can I say before I begin that we're hearing very distressing news of the death of a man who lived in a tent close to the Dáil this morning, Ceann Comhairle, and can I just express my condolences to his family and to friends, it's almost six years to the day since the death of Jonathan Corrie, so I just wanted to acknowledge the passing of this man and to say that the scandal of street homelessness and rough sleeping has to be dealt with, and it needs to happen soon. So, go raibh māia gudh kean Córle Thíseuk. Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and it marks the start of the 16-day campaign against domestic and gender-based violence. It's an annual campaign, as you know. I and others stand up in this chamber year after year, and we recite the statistics that attempt to capture the horrific abuse and violence to which so many women and children are subjected. I have no doubt that everyone in the Dáil gets angry when they hear the heartbreaking stories of women who have been battered and emotionally broken by the violence inflicted upon them. The physical scars and bruises are all too apparent, signposts of the trauma experienced, often on a daily basis. But the mental suffering, the theft of victims' dignity and confidence and sense of safety, is less obvious, but it frequently runs deeper. However, the fear cast by domestic violence, by every beating, every insult, every attempt to control and degrade, is something that victims can overcome, but the shadow of abuse is something they carry with them for the rest of their lives. Thíseuk, it's time to face up to the fact that we have a real problem with domestic and gender-based violence in Ireland. It's time for the political system and government to move past whatever unease it has about owning up to this fact. Violence against women, abuse happening behind closed doors and drawn curtains, is at epidemic levels. The truth is that successive governments have failed women and children who have been caught up in the horror of this abuse. And until a government confronts this problem with the honesty and determination that it demands, too many of the cries for help from abused women will go unanswered and unheard. I have to say that the domestic violence support services providers in Ireland do remarkable work, despite the fact that they have been underfunded for decades. But while the abused women battled to survive the impact of the violence against them, these service providers have been battling for resources, funding and proper support from government. I struggle, Count Corlott, to find words to express my anger about how this issue has been swept under the carpet for years. It's time that our problem with domestic and gender-based violence is brought out into the open, so that we can finally deliver policies, supports and the funding necessary to tackle it head-on. I do welcome that emergency funding is provided to help services meet COVID-19-related costs. I'm very glad that you responded to that call, Taoiseach. This will help with the immediate COVID challenge. However, we have to discuss and deal with the chronic lack of refuge places for women who need to escape the violence, the abuse and the coercive control. Between March and June of this year, 1,351 requests for refuge went unmet because the services were full. Nine counties have no refuge provision at all, and this is a scandal. We know incidents of domestic violence and abuse rise over the Christmas period, Taoiseach. Victims, their children and the services they rely on will face a very bleak picture in 2021 if the government doesn't act. So I want to ask you Taoiseach, on this day, will you now commit to ensuring that the refuge shortages across the state are urgently addressed? Thank you, Deputy Taoiseach. I want to thank the Deputy for raising this issue on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I could have just at the outset also shared in the Deputy's sympathy with that individual homeless individual who passed, and also, if I may, just convey to the House my deep sadness at the passing of Trish Carrick, who we honoured lately and spoke of, and to her husband Damien and to Ciarán, Rina, Sorsha and Oan are our sincere sympathies. The programme for government is very clear and has a very strong commitment in terms of developing the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. There can be no toleration for violence against women in our society, and we have to do everything we possibly can to assist and to support women and families who are the victims of unacceptable violence and aggression and control. And we have provided additional resources in the most recent budget, both to Angiarda Sikana, to Tusla, and indeed to other services that support women who have been victims of violence. And we will continue to do that. And currently the Minister is undertaking an audit of all services in relation to this. And this is an area that we want to prioritise as a government, all three parties in the government do. And I can assure the deputy that if the deputy wishes to engage with the government in terms of the areas or the specific locations where additional funding is required, you know, I will ensure that a response will occur in relation to that. Particular funding has been given to Tusla in the budget to deal, obviously, with the COVID-19 impact. And we were particularly concerned about the elevation to level five and the experience of the first phase of the lockdown and the impact on increased domestic violence. And that was about 2 million in addition to about 25.3 million, which is allocated for these services or was allocated for the entirety of 2020. But I think you identified an important point about culture and about the importance of ensuring within society at large that Ireland makes it very clear that as a society, there can be absolutely no toleration for gender-based violence whatsoever. And that we must be absolute about that. And then through education and through a variety of fora, make sure that that's clear. And then in terms of supports, make sure that the adequate supports are available so that people can be freed, people can be enabled to leave that coercive control, to leave situations of violence safe in the knowledge that there's a pathway out of that experience that unfortunately too many in our society have had over the years. And so across the various government departments, we want to do everything we possibly can to help victims or anybody who's at risk of domestic or sexual abuse. And that we'll continue to be able to help in that regard and provide the necessary supports and also strategically to deal with this in an effective and comprehensive way. Thank you. Deputy MacDonald. And I too wish to send our sympathies and regards to Damien on the loss of Trish Carrick, a wonderful and a courageous woman. The Taoiseach says that there must be no toleration of violence against women and children in our society. But the facts are that there is such a tolerance. The Taoiseach says that we must do everything that we can, but everything is not being done, Taoiseach. The Taoiseach says that we must provide all of the necessary resources. And on that point, we agree. But that is not helped by playing games with big figures, like pointing to the additional money that has been given to Thusla, when you know that not one cent of that money has been ring-fenced for domestic violence services. I know that there will be an audit underway. I think that can be a really, really significant and really important intervention in all of this. But only, only Count Corlea, if it means that there is finally full transparency and honesty on this issue. Because the tolerance to this violence is a reality in our society. And until we look that in the eye and until we resolve to do something about that on a consistent basis, until that is the case front and centre in government policy, we will continue year on year with people like me and like you standing up and bewailing this awful situation. Thank you, Taoiseach, to conclude on this important matter. Again, I thank the deputy for raising this important issue. The program for government is very strong on this. And it includes a number of relevant and key commitments to the development of the third national strategy, which will place a priority on prevention and reduction, and including a national preventative strategy. As I said, an immediate audit is to be conducted in terms of responsibility for this area across different government agencies and departments. The government is committed to implementing a plan for future refuge space, to investigate also the provision of paid leave and social protection provision to victims of domestic violence, and also to learn from the experience of coercive control in the United Kingdom model, including training for Angorda Chicana, legal professionals and court services personnel to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the offence. The government wants to legislate to introduce domestic homicide reviews, update the Sex Offenders Act of 2001 to ensure convicted sex offenders are effectively managed and monitored, enact the Harassment and Harmful Communications Bill, which the Minister has been speaking about, to og law image-based sexual abuse, and to prevent abusive sharing of intimate images online. Thank you, Taoiseach. And crucially, to implement the findings of the O'Malley Review of supports for vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases to support victims. Thank you very much. Thank you.