Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Ivana Bacik (LAB), Dublin Bay South

I thank the Minister for his positive words. As he says, Nikita Hand has indeed done the State some service in speaking out and I acknowledge the progress that has been made, but there are still far too many gaps in provision for victims and survivors, as I think the Minister has acknowledged. Clearly, there are still serious gaps in the provision of refuge spaces. This is something we in the Labour Party have been speaking out on for many years now. We need to see that addressed urgently. The proposal we make - I will supply the Minister with more information on it - is a very practical one to address another very practical gap in support. To be clear, we believe that perpetrators should be the ones removed from a violent home, but so long as that is not always the case, State inertia is currently making it really difficult and sometimes impossible for those who experience domestic abuse to escape from violence, which puts lives in danger. Where do survivors go if they have no money? How do they get the immediate funds necessary to resource that escape, often with small children and sometimes in the middle of the night, as Women's Aid will tell the Minister and anyone who listens. That is why we have proposed the safe fund. It is a simple, straightforward proposal. It has been done elsewhere. We appeal again to the Minister to introduce the safe fund in this budget.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23