Domestic Violence
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-01
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

The difficulty when dealing with gender, sexual and domestic violence is that there is not a neat provision. That is why refuges are required. There is not a neat one-size-fits-all approach. I am aware, as I am sure colleagues are, of situations where it is not feasible and certainly not in the victim's interest to return to her home, and it is predominantly her home, particularly in rural areas. Peculiarities about the homestead or home parish need to be taken into account. We know there is demand from Women's Aid and all the organisations. In fact, Men's Aid tells us there is a need for men's refuge spaces too, although much fewer. We know there is a critical need. Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Ireland and all the front-line organisations have told us that there needs to be much greater capacity in terms of refuge spaces. As well as looking at demographics, we have to look at geography, particularly when dealing with counties like Cavan and Monaghan, where the public transport network is so deficient. We need a refuge in each centre. The timeframes we are talking about mean that we need to advance the second refuge now as opposed to putting it on the long finger.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01