Domestic Violence
Dail Éireann — 2022-02-03
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Roderic O'Gorman (GP), Dublin West

I fully agree with the Deputy. As she knows, responsibility is moving out of my Department and will be fully a matter for the Minister for Justice in the coming months.
With regard to the ongoing focus, we need to increase the number of refuge places. There is no doubt that a refuge is vital in addressing emergency needs when a woman or family is fleeing a life-or-death situation. However, we also need to include in our discussion the concept of safe houses as a medium-term solution for many families, but perhaps not requiring resources to the extent mentioned by the Deputy. The Deputy referred to the cost, which is €100,000 per space. It is a cost we absolutely must pay but, with regard to having a step-down facility to allow families to move back into a slightly more community-based setting, we need to include safe houses in our understanding of the accommodation we need to provide as we continue to address these issues.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-02-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-02-03