269 Women Were Unable To Avail Of Kildare's Only Domestic Support Service In 2025, Due To Lack Of Beds

Nationally, almost 1,900 women were turned away from domestic violence services in the last six months of 2025

Almost 1,900 women were turned away from domestic violence services during a six month period, due to accommodation shortages.

Safe Ireland, a charity that co-ordinates 38 domestic violence support services across the country, found that domestic violence services reported turning away 1,872 women in the previous six months because of insufficient refuge capacity, accommodation shortages, staffing challenges or resource limitations.

The One Day Census that revealed 162 women and 93 children or dependent adults were living in refuge accommodation on Census Day.

The report identified that many women remain in refuge accommodation longer than intended due to suitable move-on housing being unavailable, creating further pressure on already stretched services.

In Kildare, Teach Tearmainn is the only domestic violence support service available.

Speaking on this morning's Kildare Today show, CEO of Teach Tearmainn, Lorraine Rowan, mirrored what the Safe Ireland report found.

"We accommodated 29 women and 28 children in 2025", she said.

"But I suppose it's important to say that we also were unable to admit 383 women and 418 children".

Of those 383 requests from women looking for refuge at Teach Tearmainn, 269 of them were unable to be admitted due to a lack of beds at the service.

"Ireland should have a minimum of 498 spaces and [my understanding is that] we only have 144 and there's nine counties without a single refuge space", Ms Rowan continued.

896 women and 93 children were supported through a range of community-based programmes and services offered by the domestic support service in 2025, according to Ms Rowan.

With Kildare having one of the biggest population in the country, the demand for Teach Tearmainn's services has increased.

"Although our refuge is state-of-the-art, purpose-built, we now have one of the smallest refuges in the country", Ms Rowan noted.

Also speaking on the show was Ciara Norton, Communications and Media Manager with Safe Ireland, who highlighted that the housing crisis is a contributing factor to the high number of women and children being turned away from refuges, as suitable move-on housing is unavailable.

Also noted was the risk of homelessness for women who leave a house where domestic violence and/or abuse is taking place.

"They don't want to be homeless, they don't want to sleep on their relative's couches forever", she explained.

"They want stability for their children and unfortunately sometimes that stability that they think is there for their children is remaining in the home with the perpetrator".

Calls to remove a perpetrator of domestic abuse have been made by the National Women's Council, which can be found here.

Earlier this week, Minister for Housing James Browne announced that new rules are to be introduced where victims and survivors of domestic abuse will be able to transfer their time on the social housing waiting list between different local authorities.

The announcement has been welcomed by Teach Tearmainn, with Ms Rowan saying it means "women and children are not being forced back into areas that are unsafe for them to be housed".

Under the Government's third Zero Tolerance strategy, 52 new family refuge units and 45 new safe homes are said to be completed by the end of 2026.

Calls have previously been made for a domestic violence refuge to be established in South Kildare, however Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan confirmed that Kildare was not identified as a priority location for new refuge construction.

The full interview with Ciara Norton from Safe Ireland and Lorraine Rowan from Teach Tearmainn can be heard below:

HELPLINES:

Safe Ireland - 1800 341 900

Teach Tearmainn - 1800 91 91 91 

Women’s Aid - 1800 341 900

Women’s Aid Kildare/West Wicklow - 045 527 584

Saoirse Domestic Violence - 1800 911 221

Men’s Aid - 01 554 3811

National Male Advice Line - 1800 816 588