Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-11-26
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I could not agree more in terms of the depraved and shocking violence against women in our society on an ongoing basis. It is truly shocking. This is despite the fact that the Government has taken unprecedented actions legislatively to deal with this, including the establishment of an agency, Cuan, which is doing good work. The previous Government established that to deal with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. About €80 million has been allocated to support Cuan and services working to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. That is an increase of €12 million year on year.
However, that on its own will not solve what are more fundamental issues within society itself. The Government has a zero tolerance attitude to this, and we are supporting quite a number of community organisations that support victims and survivors. We will accelerate the delivery of additional refuge spaces and safe accommodation while also providing stronger supports. There is funding for additional safe spaces, with a commitment to provide 282 safe spaces by the end of 2026. I am sure the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and Cuan can provide the Deputy with their timelines for the various centres that need to get done and their development. The Minister is also introducing significant legislative change to allow for the removal of guardianship rights from a person who has been convicted of killing their intimate partner under the proposed Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill and has advanced provisions to limit the disclosure of counselling records in rape and sexual assault cases under the proposed criminal law and civil law Bill 2025. That was agreed some weeks ago by Cabinet. The Minister secured Government approval on 21 October to progress the criminal law (sexual offences, domestic violence and international instruments) Bill. That includes measures to allow perpetrators of domestic violence to be included on a new register run by the courts and strengthen the law on sexual consent. Convictions will be published online by the Courts Service under a specific heading of domestic violence judgment register. This will help people who are in a relationship or considering a relationship with a person to discover whether the person has a history of serious domestic violence convictions. Victims will be required to provide consent before the convicted abuser can be named on the public register. The Minister secured Cabinet approval for the drafting of legislation to address the disclosure of counselling records in sexual offences criminal trials. This will amend the current statutory framework to ensure that judicial oversight governs the disclosure of such records-----

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-11-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:22+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-26