The Acting Leader will be aware of the fact that this morning there was a meeting regarding violence against women. One of the comments made to me as I was passing the audiovisual room was that not enough men speak out about violence, particularly domestic violence. When I look at the statistics for 2025, there were 21,000 calls to An Garda Síochána due to domestic violence incidents. When I look at the statistics, 277 women have died as a result of domestic violence since 1996.

Of those 277 women, 63% died in their own homes. These are shocking statistics. As we delve deeper into this, however, we find that convicted murderers go through such things as seeking custody of children and seeking the value of the property and other assets to be ring-fenced and minded or taken care of for them until they are released into society again.

I do not believe any of us men can understand what it must be like for a woman to pack up her two or three children in the middle of the night, leave the house and go to one of the wonderful refuges that exist. I am grateful that there are refuges where these women can go, but just think of the consequences the following morning when they wake up. First and foremost, the children probably love their father as much as their mother, so there is trauma there. There is the situation where the woman is penniless, more often than not. Bank accounts, even if they are joint bank accounts, become difficult to access. The man stays in the home. I am aware of a few instances not of domestic violence, but the coercion of one member of a couple. I am aware of one case where a property was remortgaged on the understanding that the money was needed to save a business and, when the mortgage cheque was drawn down, the man in question walked away with the money in his pocket, leaving the woman to face all sorts of financial crises, etc. That went on for 19 years in that woman's life; 19 years of torture, trying to figure out how she was going to survive with her children.

Maybe the comment that was made to me this morning was just a passing comment, but maybe the time has come for men to take a more proactive approach when it comes to domestic violence. We should talk about it among ourselves. We should accept the fact that there are colleagues, friends and relations who appear on the outside to have perfectly normal, happy lives and, very often, there is horrendous violence taking place in the background. Coercion is probably the most difficult thing to deal with in a situation like that. We should have a debate in this House on domestic violence and look for some clearer indications as to exactly what is involved. I congratulate the shelters that provide refuge for these women.