Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

I thank the Minister for coming back. I also extend my thanks to Senators O'Loughlin and Rabbitte, in particular Senator Rabbitte, who spoke passionately about this last October. I want to put that on the record. When we talk about free travel and the financial burden, it is so much more than that because it is actually giving women and people who experience domestic violence back their agency after years of living in an abusive situation where their power has been taken away from them, their decision-making has been taken away from them and they have lived under this fear. This is not only a financial provision; we are actually empowering them and helping them to believe in themselves and trust themselves. That is why this is such an important intervention, and hopefully we can find similar interventions.
I know the domestic violence rent supplement has been introduced but I hope we can find other interventions in that space that give back agency and power to people who have had so much of that removed from them through living in that violent situation. This is what this does so well and it is a real model that we can bring forward in other areas.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28