Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-06
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Alison Comyn (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I thank the Minister of State for his very detailed response. I do welcome all the work that is being done by the Government parties on dealing with women and children, particularly those who are homeless. However, I reiterate that many of these survivors are not listed as homeless. As a result, they are not being assisted by homelessness projects. Also, they are not necessarily entering homeless accommodation because they are not designated as being homeless, so they are falling between a couple of stools. It is in that context that we need to ring-fence, for want of a better word, what is required. There are great measures to look after women and children. There are also great measures to help deal with vacancy and dereliction and encourage people to take up the grants and use the town centre projects. At the same time, however, nothing is being said to the effect that they must be used to help survivors of domestic violence. That is what we really need to do. We need to start the conversation in that regard and get the ball rolling in the context of making sure that a certain number of these properties, be they over-the-shop units, vacant HSE properties or, perhaps, designated social housing units, be ring-fenced for the use of domestic violence survivors.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06