2026-07-01

15. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the timeframe in which refuges will open in counties Cavan and Monaghan. [49803/26]

I am taking this question on behalf Deputy Bennett. It is to ask the Minister for a timeframe in which we will see domestic refuges open in Cavan and Monaghan.

I recall when I started as Minister, Deputies Carthy and Bennett, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, from Fianna Fáil, and their fifth colleague-----

David Maxwell

David Maxwell as well. The issue is that there were no plans for Cavan and Monaghan. As Deputy Carthy now knows, the Cavan-Monaghan region is listed as a priority area for refuge development under zero tolerance. The capital assistance scheme, CAS, stage 1 application for a refuge site in Monaghan was approved by the Department of housing last October. Work is ongoing towards submitting a stage 2 application, which will include further detail and costings on the full extent of works that will be required. The CAS process, I regret, takes on average 75 weeks, with construction typically taking 15 to 18 months. Safe Ireland is the lead approved housing body on this development. This new refuge facility will include 12 independent units of refuge accommodation, along with essential ancillary services, thereby strengthening domestic violence support in the region. Developments have been progressed with the support of Cuan. An interim refuge with five family units will open in Monaghan this year. Cavan and Monaghan county councils will allocate three units, to deliver three safe homes in each county this year, which will be run by Safe Ireland. All key stakeholders are working together to ensure there is a substantial increase in service across the Cavan-Monaghan region. Safe Ireland is working with the stakeholder group to create a solid infrastructure and a coherent connected response across both counties. An interim refuge with five family units will open in Monaghan this year. It will be run by Safe Ireland. It is being put in place in order to strengthen domestic violence supports in the region. I am conscious that we did not have plans a year and a half ago. There are now plans in place for Cavan and Monaghan. Progress has been made in respect of them. I cannot give the Deputy a date but he knows that an interim refuge will open in Monaghan this year.

I welcome that there has been progress.

I thank the Deputy.

When I was first elected as a TD and raised this issue, the Minister at the time disputed that there was a need at all. There has been quite significant movement. In fact, after the horrendous killing of Ashling Murphy, there was unanimous agreement in this House that every county should, at a minimum, have one refuge. I am holding Government to that. The process for delivering refuges needs to be speeded up drastically. The suggestion that from the beginning of planning to final completion stage could be three or even four years is far too long to deliver what should be a simple infrastructure project. The second point I want to emphasise relates to the geography of Cavan and Monaghan. The distance from Blacklion at the far end of Cavan to east County Monaghan is a third of the width of the island of Ireland. It is unfeasible to suggest that one centre would cater for the entire two counties.

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the progress that has been made. I want to ensure that we speed up the process. It is important that we have a good geographic spread of refuges and safe homes throughout the country. It probably will be the case that every county will have one but I am cautious about trying to adopt it as though it is just a county thing. It needs to be spread out in areas where, demographically, refuges are needed. I also repeatedly emphasised, and I am sure that the Deputy will agree, that refuges are short-term solutions to deal with women who have been subjected to domestic violence and need immediate short-term accommodation. The ultimate solution is that the person who is the abuser is the person who should get out of the house as opposed to the woman having to get out of the house and end up in a refuge for lengthy periods. That is legislative measure I am working on too.

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.

Safe homes are very important too and local authorities are providing safe homes, which are places that can be used as safe accommodation for women fleeing violence. Monaghan County Council have promised three safe homes. It is the same with Cavan. There is a need for refuges. If we have more time to have a debate on this, we really need to look at the root causes of these issues as.well. One thing that we will try to do in the Department for the next strategy is to do more research on why certain men get involved in domestic violence. I know people might say that we do not want to spend money on dealing with the perpetrators but we do need to research the perpetrators and find out why certain men are getting involved in violence in a domestic arrangement. People repeatedly tell me that online extreme violent pornography is having a distorting impact on young people. I am fearful about how that will develop in the future.