Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-12
============================================================

Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

I thank the Minister and the Fianna Fáil Senators for giving us the opportunity to have this important discussion. It is urgent and we need that collective and cross-departmental approach. I know Cuan sits under the Minister but this has many different facets. I also note the positive engagement of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, with me on the free travel scheme. I recognise the importance of working across the floor on that. It also highlights that holistic piece in that it does not just sit under justice but many other areas.
We still see record levels of domestic violence and that is trending upwards, concerningly. The Government's commitment to the delivery of safe accommodation is welcome. However, even the target of doubling refuge spaces by the end of this year sees us falling substantially short of the Istanbul Convention. What we increasingly hear from front-line organisations in the sector is that while more refuge space is necessary, particularly in places where there is no refuge, it is not the only answer. Refuge is a temporary emergency measure. What survivors desperately need are long-term solutions. We have a chronic shortage of safe, affordable and long-term housing options, which limits survivors' pathways out of refuge. It constrains the already stretched capacity of many of our refuges. The limited housing options see survivors facing difficult questions about rebuilding their lives. The lack of affordable private rental accommodation compounds that challenge. You might get the housing assistance payment, HAP, but we know people struggle to get properties covered by HAP. The only other pathway is social housing, but we know the social housing lists are incredibly long. We need to think about how we can integrate the needs and experiences of survivors into housing policy. That is not within the Minister's remit but the challenge with a response to domestic violence is that it is cross-departmental.
I would also like us to consider what provisions we can make to remove perpetrators from the home. This discussion of housing and refuge comes from the challenge that survivors - victims and their children - are often the ones who leave the home while the perpetrator stays there. I know there will be legal questions about that in terms of court cases and being innocent before being proved guilty, but we need to explore that area, particularly with the housing crisis we are facing.
I note the issue of the disclosure of counselling notes. It is an archaic and misogynistic practice and is preventing people from seeking justice. It is preventing a culture of proper accountability for survivors. The idea of people's deeply personal counselling notes being shared and used against them is horrifying. None of us would want to be in that position.
When we talk about gender-based and domestic violence, we often talk about protection and response but not about prevention. A critical element of that is how we stamp out misogynistic culture in our society. It goes back to online safety and creating an online space that is positive and productive. We can take young people offline altogether, but at the age of 16 they will go back online and the space will still be incredibly toxic. We need to explore how to create a safe online space.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:55+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12