The whole country owes a debt of gratitude to Nikita Hand. We thank Nikita for the bravery she has shown. So many other people have felt emboldened to speak up about abuse they have experienced because Nikita's courage gave them courage. Speaking about her new book in recent days, Nikita Hand has talked with extraordinary dignity about suffering the trauma of rape and sexual violence. She has also spoken about the long-term impacts on her: PTSD; hours-long panic attacks; and experiencing her own body - in her words - being "turned into a crime scene". As she said, powerfully: "You do lose a huge part of yourself when something so traumatic happens to you after being raped, or sexually assaulted". The multimillionaire sportsperson who was found liable in a civil court is responsible for causing this loss to Nikita Hand, and his violation has continued long after the assault was over. Nikita should be, and is, the national treasure, not him. As a Dáil, we have responsibility to show perpetrators that we reject them and their horrific conduct - that they are to blame.

But this is not Nikita Hand's ordeal alone. Tragically, there is an epidemic of sexual, domestic and gender-based violence in our society, and a culture of misogyny, which feeds the proclivities of perpetrators, who, frighteningly, walk among us every day. The Government's policy on gender-based violence is described as one of no tolerance but that zero-tolerance approach still sees parts of Irish society and the State tolerating the intolerable. Why should a victim be made to feel responsible for the reputation of the perpetrator or the well-being of his family? Why is it that domestic abusers can still use our courts system to wage further torment on the people to whom they cause such suffering? Why is it that, in just six months, nearly 2,000 women were turned away from domestic violence services due to a lack of State-funded beds?

For that matter, why is it that victims, usually women and children, still have to leave their own homes to seek safety? Why does the abuser get to stay in the family home? That is still the reality all too often. The stakes are high. Women's Aid records that nine women have been killed this year, already more than the total number of femicide victims last year. A quick escape can make the difference between a life saved and a life lost but, sadly, the difference between escape and remaining trapped can be heartbreakingly mundane: money for a taxi, a deposit for a flat or a new phone. That is why the Labour Party has proposed the safe fund - a three-year, €3 million, non-means-tested fund for immediate financial support to survivors of domestic violence when they need it, to be administered by Women's Aid, which I met recently to discuss this.

The Taoiseach has previously expressed warm words about our proposal, but the budget is in just two weeks and we have heard nothing from the Minister. He controls the purse strings. I have a simple question for him: will he commit today to save lives and fund the safe fund in budget 2027?

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important issue. I echo what she said about the bravery, courage and leadership of Nikita Hand, who has done the State some service in her wider leadership over the last number of months. From all of what she has said, we must ensure that we continue to support many victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has led a number of initiatives in this area through some of his legislative reforms across the last 12 months. As Deputy Bacik said, the Government is taking a zero-tolerance approach to this and to ensuring that survivors can access the support, protection and justice that they need. Any such behaviour has no place in a modern society. To repeat, those engaged in domestic violence will be investigated and prosecuted. The work of the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, over the last number of years has shown that we are taking an unprecedented whole-of-government approach to the scourge of violence, which we are seeing too often in our communities. That was reflected in unprecedented funding of €80 million across the range of service provision in budget 2026.

To speak to the delivery of some of the accommodation, we are accelerating delivery of safe accommodation with a commitment to provide 287 safe spaces by the end of 2026, significantly strengthening capacity. As the Deputy knows, the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has progressed Jennie's Law, Valerie's Law and other important initiatives and has prioritised this in the context of the EU Presidency overall.

In response to Deputy Bacik's point on the budget, we will obviously continue our engagements as part of the Estimates process. We need to continue to make further progress in this area around the funding of the different initiatives that are involved, including accommodation, which is essential in communities where in some instances there is the gap that the Deputy referenced. We will continue to work to support Cuan, which provides leadership, oversight and accountability for delivery as well. We will consider that in the Estimates process overall. It will be a priority for the Government to continue supporting the co-ordinated response across many of the strategies that have been published and to make further progress in this area; that victims be supported not only at the point of crisis, but right the way through the justice system; and the different parts of the State are there to support them and have the respective funding streams to continue making progress in 2027.

We will consider the Deputy's specific suggestion. I appreciate her raising this important issue today.

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.

I am sorry. There is a malfunction in the clock but I am watching the time on the screen.

You will hold us to account on the time, a Cheann Comhairle.

I appreciate Deputy Bacik raising this. We will consider that with the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, in the context of the Estimates. I know he is keen to ensure that there is further progress in 2027. We obviously want to give effect to the wider recommendations in the O'Malley review, which is all about seeking to supporting the victim's journey right through the criminal justice system and from the point of crisis right the way through. That speaks to the further progress we have to make with Cuan and the different State bodies and agencies that co-ordinate the response. We will give consideration to that. It is important as well to ensure that the broader State agencies are prioritising this in how we fund them, and that is something we want to continue to make progress on. The Minister is working on a new five-year strategy from 2027 to 2031 in terms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which is to give further progress and momentum to this area and to develop that across the coming years.