Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised concerns that nine counties in the country are still without a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, namely women and children. McDonald stressed the findings of the Women’s Aid report, which revealed record levels of domestic violence disclosures in the organisation’s existence of a half-century. She urged for a prompt action plan to establish safe havens.
In the Dáil, she criticised the State’s failure to fulfil its commitments and argued that the scarcity of shelters led to women and children being trapped in or returning to violent domestic environments. Figures indicating over 40,000 disclosures of abuse against women and children, an 18% surge compared to last year, were pointed out as deeply alarming by McDonald.
The report exposed severe forms of violence suffered by women, inflicted by current or former partners. These included weaponised attacks, sexual assaults, life threats, unwavering surveillance, financial control of family and home, which have had devastating impacts on women and children.
McDonald demanded that the third National Strategy on Domestic Sexual and Gender-Based Violence should be fully funded and that Children’s ombudsman must be provided with funds to contribute to the strategy. Furthermore, she insisted that Cuan, a specialized domestic violence agency, needed to be restructured to have the capacity and independence to manage the crisis effectively.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Simon Harris admitted that the issue had been overlooked as a national and societal priority, but assured that Justice Minister Helen McEntee has now prioritised it. Funding for service providers has seen an increase from €20 million to €59 million per annum, suggesting a plan to enhance refuge spaces to 280. Moreover, Cuan would furnish quarterly advancement reports.
However, the Social Democrats’ Holly Cairns argued that the prevalent, ever-growing issue of domestic violence has seen little to no headway in terms of resolving the severe lack of refuge spaces. Solidarity TD Mick Barry expressed that half of the women reportants found the police to be unresponsive and that a conversation around it was necessary.
Catherine Connolly, an independent TD, referred to a 1997 taskforce report recommending prevention as a key solution, which she claimed had not been addressed in any subsequent reports or documents. Harris assured to acquaint himself with the said report.