Results 421-440 of 1,029,750 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Richard O'Donoghue: I acknowledge the work the Minister has been doing and the commitments she has given on domestic violence and refuges for women who have suffered domestic violence. At Christmas, I visited ADAPT House in Limerick. My office staff and I go around during the Christmas season trying to help people in various areas – not only women who have suffered domestic violence, but also their...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: I thank the Minister for arranging these statements. I acknowledge the ADAPT Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, which offer crisis accommodation for women and their children who experience domestic violence and offer outreach supports to women seeking help. I also acknowledge the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre and its excellent workers, who have unfortunately had to deal...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: I welcome the opportunity to contribute and I thank the Government for making time available. Clearly, the numbers are going up and something needs to be done to ensure that a woman and her children can remain in their home without the threat of being harmed. A person’s home is her or his castle. Too much of this is going on, but it is not being reported. Women are slow to leave...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Next up is Deputy Murnane O'Connor, who is sharing her time with Deputy Troy.

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: I thank the Minister. I welcome and acknowledge her commitment, hard work and dedication to addressing this; however, as she knows, gender-based violence occurs in many forms and most assaults go unreported. We need society and the political system to address this and take an honest look at how the system responds and meets the needs of victims of violence. One key action of the third...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Robert Troy: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. We are having it largely because of the courage of two women, namely, Natasha O'Brien, who was brutally assaulted by someone who wore an Army uniform and who had a sentence handed down that was inexcusable, and Bláthnaid Raleigh, a woman who had to wait five years to obtain justice while her rapist was free to live a...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Verona Murphy: I welcome this debate. I concur with colleagues' comments on the amount of work the Minister has done to bring this issue to the fore and try to improve what we do, as a society and as legislators, to address it. Often, society does not even recognise the problem for what it is. Domestic violence, unless it is actually on people's doorstep, is often seen as just as a domestic incident by...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Joe Flaherty: There have been two cases before the courts in recent weeks which have brought the issue of gender-based violence into focus once more and have shone a light on our ineffectiveness in dealing with the issue and supporting victims. The sad reality is that while both cases were high-profile, in the weeks and days that followed those acts of violence and degradation, several other women have...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Martin Kenny: We are all taken aback by the events of the past couple of days, including the revelations in Limerick and what we heard on the radio this morning, as was referenced by the previous speaker. We are all shocked by all of this and everyone feels responsible and wonders what more can be done. We can all come in here and express our disappointment, annoyance and all of that, but we have to...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the important issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It requires all of us, Government and Opposition, to act and play our part in bringing about change in this area. In recent weeks, there has been a lot of talk about the vicious attack on Natasha O'Brien and the sentence in that case. Unfortunately, that case is not unique but...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Mick Barry: The Cathal Crotty case raises a number of issues and a number of things that need to change urgently. First is training of judges. The O'Malley report, published in the wake of the Belfast rape trial and the "I believe her" protests, recommended that judges, legal professionals and others whose professional work involves interaction with victims of sexual violence receive training. This...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Emer Higgins: They often say that a watershed moment is something that is truly life-changing, something that defines a period or event, a turning point, a starting point, an ending point, that it is change. How many times have we heard of a watershed moment when it comes to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence? If these past few weeks have shown us anything it is that we have not found the...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Deputy Patricia Ryan is next and will share time with Deputy Ó Laoghaire.

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Patricia Ryan: I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the debate, particularly on the issue of domestic violence in all of its forms. It does not have to bruise or break to be abuse. There is mental, emotional and psychological abuse; destroying the victim's self-esteem day in and day out; financial control; depriving the victim of financial independence; isolation from family and friends and any...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I join other colleagues who have acknowledged the great bravery and courage of Natasha O'Brien and Bláthnaid Raleigh. It takes a great deal of courage to come forward and it is important because it leads to discussions such as this and to a focus on the huge challenges that are there. The scale of this problem is frightening and what is worrying is that in many respects it seems to be...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Deputy Bríd Smith is sharing with Deputies Barry and Gino Kenny.

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Bríd Smith: I has become obvious that courage is a contagious feature of humanity. I hope the courage these women have shown will have more contagion for those who are victims of gender-based violence, rape, etc., and allow them to speak out. Explanations were given earlier for all that is being done and they sound very impressive but there is a problem with not having timelines given to us. We know...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I thank the House for facilitating this important debate. Previous contributors referred to watershed moments and Groundhog Day. Unfortunately, we have had those too many times. We devoted an entire afternoon in the Dáil to statements about the late Ashling Murphy 12 or 18 months ago and the issue was in sharp focus, both in the media and in political discourse. It was being spoken...

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Deputies Mitchell and Mythen are sharing time.

Tackling All Forms of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Statements (3 Jul 2024)

Denise Mitchell: When the sentencing guidelines committee was brought in under the Judicial Council Act, we were promised a fundamental reform of our approach to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The programme for Government committed to tackling the epidemic this country faces. However, Ireland is still an unsafe place for women. Week after week, we have seen sentences handed down for the most...