Ivana Bacik Demands €3m Safe Fund for Abuse Survivors

Go raibh maith agat, Ciann Comhairle. Taoiseach, yesterday I raised the plight of renters with you in this chamber. I hate to say I told you so, but today's daft.ie report confirms the recent record surge in rents and a particularly sharp rise in Galway, proving again just how badly your government is failing renters. But today I wish to raise a different matter with you, a serious matter, the epidemic of violence against women in our country. Yesterday former Garda Paul Moody was sentenced to prison for a terrible prolonged campaign of coercive control against his partner. He's already served a three-year sentence for coercive control in respect of another woman, Nicola Hanni. It's four months since I raised with you the treatment of former Garda Margaret Loftus and praised her courage in telling her story of coercive control. Yet as reported in last week's Examiner, her former husband remains a member of the Gardaí. And in Paul Moody's case we read of serious failures by GSOC to take effective action when alerted to his conduct. Taoiseach, yesterday the CEO of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Morrow, stated that record numbers had contacted their helpline last year, almost 24,000, the highest ever, over 7,000 first-time contacts. Garda figures show that more than 1,000 domestic abuse reports are being made a week and official statistics we know represent only a fraction of the true number. Nearly 40% of victims surveyed by the Garda Inspectorate said they did not report the abuse they suffered and about half who did report abuse said they were dissatisfied with how they were treated. So Taoiseach, this should stop us in our tracks. Far too many women and children across Ireland are experiencing home as not a place of safety, a place of danger. And I know we've made progress on domestic sexual and gender-based violence in recent years, legislating for the offence of coercive control, Coco's Law, the O'Malley report, the establishment of CUIN, protective services units in Garda divisions, but we must do more. And I have a constructive policy call for you today. Frontline organisations like Women's Aid tell us that financial insecurity and the housing crisis are trapping women and children in violent homes. Many victims simply cannot afford to leave and their abusers know this. That's why the Labour Party and Labour Women are proposing a 3 million euro safe fund for victim survivors of domestic abuse. A practical measure to provide fast financial support for those who desperately need an escape route, not means-tested, providing help when needed, recognising victims often have only a small window of opportunity to escape. Because freedom from violence should not be a luxury and nobody should have to remain in danger because they can't afford to leave. Just as no victim should lose faith in a justice system because their cries for help are dismissed or delayed. So Taoiseach, will you commit to establishing a safe fund to help victims of domestic abuse? And what will you do to ensure abusers are not accommodated within the ranks of an Garda Síochána and to see that complaints of abuse are taken seriously by fiscaries? Thank you Deputy. Taoiseach to respond. I'm very pleased to see that you have accepted this important question and I understand that the whole story is based on the evidence I have gathered in this country. Thank you for raising this extremely important issue. I think what we witnessed yesterday in terms of the revelations in that court case in terms of Paul Moody were quite shocking and horrendous and made for extremely difficult hearing and reading and the level of abuse that was evident in that case. Equally the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre's reports and in terms of the use of its national helpline 24,000 times it was contacted. A 5.5% increase in the previous year and the annual report outlines unprecedented levels of demand here and the government, as you've in fairness acknowledged, I think over the last three to four years has been a sea change in how we've approached this issue in terms of both the establishment of KUIN. Funding now is about 18 million euro and sustaining support for frontline services. Accelerating delivery of safe accommodation with a commitment to provide 280 safe spaces by the end of 2026. Legislatively the Minister is continuing to introduce various legislations. Jenny's Law, the Domestic Violence Register for example. Valerie's Law, the removing guardianship rights of those convicted of killing partners and laws to restrict the disclosure of counseling notes and sexual assault court cases. The Minister is pushing the outer limits of legislation to give protection to women and to deal with this. I think that is real tangible progress across funding, across legislation, prevention and victim support. But we will continue to strengthen those supports for victims and survivors and again the domestic violence travel supplement which Minister for Social Protection is introducing and committed to and that is this month and then free travel when referred by a KUIN registered agency and again I'll ask both ministers to work with you in terms of any additional funding or any specific ring-fencing of funding for any specific purposes. We're open to that in terms of any constructive proposals on that. We have strengthened the overall legal, we've modernized the legal framework to better protect victims. The enactment of the Family Courts Act of 2024. Thank you Taoiseach we'll come back to you in a minute. Taoiseach I thank you for the response and for your commitment to strengthening supports further. The reality is the institutions of the state in too many ways are still not supporting victims of abuse. Two examples hours spent at the Justice Committee yesterday debating laws on the disclosure of counseling notes and rape trials and we all know that simply shouldn't happen and Deputy Kelly I know has been working with the Minister and putting amendments and indeed working with the Rape Crisis Centre on that. And secondly perpetrators of domestic violence in far too many cases using the courts by way of abusing victims further. Last week I attended the launch of the Right to Transparency campaign where we heard harrowing testimonies from women and their families who've been through the family court system. One grandfather describing how his daughter had fled an abusive relationship barefoot in her pajamas with a broken jaw. Her abuser received a sentence but a suspended one in the criminal courts. His daughter was imprisoned. Why? Because her traumatized child had refused overnight access visits. Just one example. The in-camera rule is an important facet of family law proceedings but I think we need to acknowledge reform of family court procedures is needed to support victims and survivors and we're very happy to work with you in the government on this. That reform is underway and is continuing and again we have been fairly open to any constructive amendments in respect of the various legislative mechanisms that have been introduced. The Criminal Law Civil Law Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2026 will restrict the disclosure of counselling records and sexual offence trials and criminalize the exploitative practice of sex in lieu of rent. The Criminal Justice Bill of this year will set up a domestic violence register of judgments which will ensure that convictions for serious domestic violence offences are made public as part of the conviction process. Each Garda Division now has a Protective Services Unit focused on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and early intervention is key and as a broader issue in terms of education, awareness and there are some good programs with the GA and RAHAMA for example in respective aspects of this. The Operation Encompass which is a police-led school-based early intervention approach designed to support children and young people who experience domestic abuse is in development for Drogheda County law. So on all fronts, we're working on this agenda.