‘Too many barriers’ preventing domestic violence victims getting social housing, say Cork councillors

A motion calling for the removal of barriers preventing victims of domestic violence from accessing social housing supports was passed unanimously at a recent meeting of Cork City Council.

The motion, proposed by Sinn Féin councillor Joe Lynch, asked that the council write to Housing Minister James Browne urging the development and implementation of an action plan — working with local authorities — to remove barriers to accessing such supports for victims of domestic violence.

There were over 1,400 applications for domestic violence orders at Cork City District Court in 2023, which Mr Lynch said illustrated the extent of the problem in the city alone.

“Many of those that suffer abuse or violence at the hands of a spouse, or a partner, or a family member, must leave the family home for their safety, for their protection, or for the safety and protection of children,” he said.

It was worth recording, Mr Lynch said, the decades-long service provided to women and children in Cork city by Cuanlee on Kyrl’s Quay in particular.

Too many barriers 

He added that he knew the staff of Cork City Council did everything within their power to assist those in such situations, but there remained too many barriers to accessing social housing support for those who must leave the family home.

“The Department of Housing’s policy and procedural guidance on assisting victims of domestic violence with accommodation needs, while containing some assistance for dealing with some situations, dates from 2017, and is now in need of updating,” Mr Lynch said, noting that family circumstances are now more varied than ever.

Thanking Mr Lynch for raising the motion, the Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, Lord Mayor of Cork, said that only earlier that day in his own community there had been “an act of grievous domestic violence”.

Appropriate response 

This, Mr Boyle said, brought to the fore the need for an appropriate response from the Department of Housing on the issue.

Fine Gael’s Shane O’Callaghan, the Green Party’s Oliver Moran, Fianna Fáil’s Mary Rose Desmond, Fianna Fáil’s John Sheehan, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gould, and the Workers’ Party’s Ted Tynan also spoke in favour of the motion.

Welcoming the passage of the motion on an all-party basis, Mr Lynch said the council would look to the Department of Housing “to lead from the front in making this action plan, and its implementation, a reality — because the current situation cannot continue”.