I thank the Deputy. I never heard anyone say, "Ah, it’s only a domestic." I do not see how anyone could say that when reflecting on the level of violence, homicides and killings of women that, regrettably, have taken place on the island. It is simply an unacceptable aspect of violence in this country that a significant amount of the violence is targeted against women. Of course, what distinguishes violence against women from violence against men, predominantly, is that it is vastly the case in violence against women that they are killed, murdered or assaulted by people with whom they are in a relationship, or were in an intimate relationship, or, indeed, a family member. It is that connection that makes it possible for us, as policymakers, to try to focus on solutions to identify how we can protect women from those who are close to them. In the circumstances where the Deputy mentioned the issue of An Garda Síochána, the statistics were set out. As I said in reply to Deputy McDonald, the majority had a positive experience of their engagement with An Garda Síochána. Part of the problem, however, is that while the Garda has specialised officers who deal with domestic sexual and gender-based violence, sometimes it is the case that when a woman initially contacts An Garda Síochána, she does not meet a person within the force who has that level of expertise and training. It is the case that everyone in Templemore goes through basic training in respect of domestic violence but that advanced, heightened level of training that certain gardaí have only comes as a result of their focus on that certain area of expertise. When women I have spoken to, who have contacted and engaged with An Garda Síochána, come into contact with gardaí who are expert in the area of domestic violence in particular, they have a very positive narrative. I am sure we all recall situations where we see on the news in the evening a victim coming out of court and expressing their gratitude to the members of An Garda Síochána and how professional they were in dealing with this. It is an ongoing issue and there is no simple solution in respect of it. However, it is also important, as I have stated repeatedly, that there is huge benefit to recognising it. We should not compartmentalise this as a woman's issue. It is a societal issue. It is more of an issue for men and boys than it is for women because, regrettably, my sex is the sex that perpetrates this violence against women to a large extent. We have to start warning boys and young men about the unacceptability of using violence in a relationship. Of course, other aspects of influence are imposed upon young boys and men now. Pornography must be having an extraordinary impact on young men because it presents women in a very submissive, malleable manner. We need to warn people at a young age, educationally, that it is unacceptable to use violence in a relationship. Not all the solutions are through the criminal justice system.

Sentiment score: -0.09

I hope that some of the measures she called for are already being acted upon by me, such as the counselling notes, guardianship of infants and the issue in respect of a disclosure system to reveal individuals who have been convicted of domestic abuse previously. I have no difficulty with that. I will speak to the new Commissioner, and I have spoken to the current Commissioner as well, in respect of the issue of domestic and gender-based violence. It is something I am prioritising in my time as Minister. As I said, I commend the excellent work done by my predecessor, Deputy Helen McEntee, and it is something that I am not going to allow to become less significant than it was during her tenure. We need to recognise that it requires a societal response. "Zero tolerance" is the excellent term we used in the strategy because this must be a type of activity for which we have zero tolerance. It is unacceptable that anyone would think issues in a relationship can be resolved through the use of violence. People cannot do so and, if they do, the criminal justice system will come down on them very strongly.

Sentiment score: 0.09

I express my condolences and those of the Government to the family of the disability campaigner, Jacqui Browne. I appreciate that the Deputy, as a man, has identified that this is predominantly a men's issue because violence against women is perpetrated by men. He is right in his identification that the influences on young men at present are considerably different from when he was a young man and certainly from when I was a young man. As I said earlier to Deputy Bacik, we do not see what is really happening online in terms of what young people are exposed to and how the relationship between men and women is being presented. There are some well-known examples of what the Deputy correctly calls misogynists who treat women completely as objects and seek to inform young men how they should treat women in relationships. The solution, to a large extent, lies with men. I commend the GAA on the huge amount it has done in recognising and trying to combat violence against women. This epidemic, as people have correctly described it, will only be resolved if the vast majority of men recognise the need for them to do work to emphasise its unacceptability. The GAA is working to achieve that, as are other sporting organisations. Those organisations come with a good authority because sport, by definition, is about physical contest and combat. It is about fairness and it is, in many respects, manly. It is an important mechanism by which we can emphasise to young boys and men that using violence against women is never acceptable. The Deputy asked what can be done about social media companies and the algorithms they use. In the first instance, there is a big responsibility on social media companies to ensure they do not allow their platforms to become platforms of misogyny and violence against women. If they do, their business will suffer. They have a huge societal responsibility to ensure action is taken in this regard. In terms of the EU Digital Services Act and digital services co-ordination, there is a requirement that we get our act together at a European-wide level. This is not a problem that can simply be resolved through domestic legislation in Ireland. It requires an EU response. At present, as the Deputy knows, there is a divergence between views in the United States and views in Europe as to the extent of regulation required. The Government is very clear that we need regulation to ensure we combat the spread of this activity online. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it is extremely difficult to combat and confront such activity. However, it starts with responsibility being exercised by social media providers and, second, ensuring we get our digital services legislation correct at EU level.

Sentiment score: 0.05

It is important to emphasise the role of Coimisiún na Meán. In October 2024, it adopted Ireland's first online safety code, which obliges designated platforms to protect people, especially children, from harmful video and associated content. People spend far too much of their lives looking at social media. We need to tell young people, and adults, that what they see on social media is not representative of the real world. It is a misrepresentative reflection of the world. As politicians and policymakers, we all need to emphasise that. Great work is being done by Coimisiún na Meán. I take the Deputy's point regarding regulating online providers. He is not suggesting we do so but I emphasise that it is not easy to impose statutory requirements on them in the context of the powers we have. It must be done in an EU-wide context. We need to continuously emphasise that the type of behaviour that is advocated online is not acceptable and that a man or boy should never raise his hand to a woman.

Sentiment score: 0.07

I will answer Deputy O'Flynn's last question while it is fresh in my mind. Yes, anyone who comes in claiming international protection is fingerprinted and assessed against the Eurodac system.

Sentiment score: 0.36

That happens to anyone who arrives into a port. The Deputy raised issues with the passport system. We all want to speed up the passport system as much as possible so that people can get their passports quickly. The Deputy then raised the issue of people who seek citizenship through naturalisation. I had the great privilege of being down in Killarney on Monday when a judge was handing out citizenship. I was there to celebrate the citizenship of new Irish citizens. The Deputy would be surprised at the number of people there who have been in Ireland for years. I hope Mr. David Evans, also known as the Edge, does not mind me mentioning him but he has some public prominence and he was one of the people who received Irish citizenship. Like everyone in this House, I had assumed he was an Irish citizen but in fact he came to Ireland from Wales with his parents when he was one year of age. The Deputy should know that there is a very vigorous system in the Department of justice for the purposes of assessing citizenship applications. By way of example, most of the people I met down in Killarney have been in this country for many years. The Deputy also raised issues regarding people claiming international protection having arrived without documentation and the affidavits they subsequently swear. I will provide some statistics in respect of the excellent work being done by the border management unit within my Department. This unit is doing doorstep operations at Dublin Airport on a much more consistent basis. In 2024, the border management unit carried out 7,325 doorstep operations at Dublin Airport. By the end of May this year, it had already carried out 2,453 such operations. The border management unit is doing a significant amount of work. If a person comes in claiming international protection, that person is entitled to have his or her application considered and processed. It is the same in every EU country and in the UK. What I am trying to do is to speed up that process, so people are not staying in Ireland for a number of years while waiting for their applications to be finalised and determined. It is much fairer to those people and to the system if they are given prompt decisions. If we get prompt decisions - I am seeking to have decisions made within a period of three months in the first instance and on appeal - we will not have the type of situation the Deputy is concerned about. Where people have been granted international protection, they are perfectly entitled to stay and may subsequently apply for citizenship. If they have not been granted international protection, they will not be entitled to stay. That is the way the system is dealing with the matter. It is a complicated issue but vigilance is at a high level in the Departments of justice and foreign affairs.

Sentiment score: 0.21

I want the Deputy to know that Irish passports and citizenship are not granted easily. I am sure that if the Minister for foreign affairs were here, he would confirm that is true of passports. With regard to citizenship, many colleagues in this House ask me about citizenship applications. They criticise how long they take and ask why the process is so lengthy. The reason is that you have to do very significant vetting and testing before an individual is granted citizenship. That is done vigorously. The criticism I usually face from people in the House is that it takes too long and that the process should be sped up. With regard to people coming to Ireland claiming international protection, as I have told the Deputy, people who arrive in any EU country without documentation are entitled to claim asylum. However, if they are discovered to have destroyed documentation, that is a criminal offence and people have been prosecuted for that offence under the Immigration Act. Our systems are getting more vigorous.

Sentiment score: -0.11