Domestic Violence
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
============================================================

Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I am conscious of the Deputy's interest in refuges in Monaghan and Cavan. I was in Cavan–Monaghan recently. Progress is being made in respect of Monaghan and I had discussions with the local authority in Cavan.
On safe accommodation spaces nationwide, including refuges and safe homes, the number stands at 232. I realise the Deputy wants to focus on numbers but the most important thing is to ensure as broad a range of refuges and safe homes as possible throughout the country. Considerable progress is being made in respect of this. I hope that by the end of this year, we will have increased the number of refuges and safe homes to 287. There is a tendency among policymakers – I am not suggesting the Deputy is among them – when considering refuges to assume they are the answer. In the first instance, the person who should be leaving the home is the abuser, the person who has inflicted violence. Regrettably, we are now getting into a situation where it is assumed the victim is the one who has to leave.

---

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/dail/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27