Latest news with #PeadarToibin
Irish Daily Mirror
20-07-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Availability of porn to kids being linked to surge of sex attacks across country
The widespread availability of pornography to children is being linked to a surge of sex attacks across the country. New figures released last week showed there are now 800 sex offenders behind bars in Ireland, up 64 per cent in three years. In the 10-year period between 2011 and 2021 the number of sexual offences recorded increased from 1,958 to 3,433 – a huge rise of 75 per cent. The number of rapes increased from 447 to 983 during that time. The number of women who have been raped in Ireland is now almost treble the rate in the EU. The average number of women reporting rape in Ireland in 2022 stood at 34 per 100,000 women. This is significantly higher than the 12 per 100,000 across six European Union states with comparable statistics. But domestic violence is also out of control. In 2014 there were 14,264 cases where domestic violence was considered a motive recorded on the Garda Pulse System and by 2023 this had risen to 46,439. The figure for domestic abuse in the first quarter of 2024 was nearly the same as that for the whole year of 2014. The leader of Aontú Peadar Toibin said: 'These are shocking figures. The number of women we have being raped in Ireland is almost treble the rate of the EU. 'Ireland is becoming a more violent place for women. The rates of domestic violence, sexual violence and rape are all increasing. 'I do not believe the State even recognises what is happening at the moment. The perpetrators of these crimes are getting younger and younger.' Aontu leader Peadar Toibin He revealed that both Children at Risk in Ireland and CRAI, a specialist and professional therapy service for children, found that child-on-child abuse has increased by 44 per cent in the past two years. Deputy Toibin stated: 'The culture of the country is radically changing. That has to be recognised. The criminal justice system is not being used to shut down the perpetrators of these crimes. 'Today eight and nine-year-olds are accessing explicit hardcore materials that would have been illegal for viewing by adults just a generation ago. Research at the School of Psychology in the University of Galway has shown that almost 60 per cent of teenage boys in the State had consumed hardcore pornography before the age of 13. 'Porn has become so easily accessible that many parents find it virtually impossible to exercise control over what their children consume.' The Meath West TD spoke to a parent recently who told him that over Christmas their 10--year-old was on the iPad which they checked. There were two searches. The first search was about Santa Claus and the second was a violent display of oral sex. He added: 'This is the situation for young children. Deputy Toibin is now demanding the Government bring in a new law to ban the provision of hardcore violent porn to young children (Image: Getty) 'There is no doubt the repeated consumption of violent scenes is changing the nature of young boys and young men in relation to relationships. 'There is an ocean of evidence pointing in that direction. The Children Ombudsman in England has written extensively about how this is a significant cause of sexual violence. 'We have seen high-profile cases in this country such as the case of Ana Kriegel [murdered in 2018]. It was a heartbreaking shocking case where the perpetrators – young boys – had accessed horrific violence on their phones.' Deputy Toibin is now demanding the Government bring in a new law to ban the provision of hardcore violent porn to young children. He tried to introduce such a Bill himself before but got nowhere. He said: 'The Government has enough cop on to ban the advertisement of junk food to kids but it does not have enough cop on to ban the provision of hardcore, violent porn to those same young boys.' Sign up to the Irish Mirror's Courts and Crime newsletter here and get breaking crime updates and news from the courts direct to your inbox.
BreakingNews.ie
19-06-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Over 3,700 empty council-owned homes in Ireland, Dáil told
There are over 3,700 empty council-owned homes across Ireland, the Dail has been told. The Government is to issue a circular to local authorities to say health and safety should be the only thing to delay empty council-owned homes being allocated to people. Advertisement Aontu leader Peadar Toibin told the Dail on Thursday that there were 3,779 vacant council-owned homes across Ireland based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to local authorities. He compared keeping council homes empty to exporting food during a famine. 'We also FOI-ed the local authorities as to the number of local authority homes that are empty in this state,' Mr Toibin said during Leaders' Questions. 'In the jaws of the worst housing crisis in the history of the state, there are 3,779 council owned homes that are empty. Advertisement 'Now, having empty homes in the middle of a housing crisis is akin to exporting food in the middle of a famine.' Tanaiste Simon Harris said he agreed that council-owned homes 'lie empty for far too long'. 'I've had a lot of discussions with a lot of people who are saying 'Hang on, if only I have to get into that house. I don't need the divil and all done, I just needed to be safe and I just need to be warm.' 'That's why government intends to issue a circular to all local authorities to make it clear, health and safety should be the only grounds for the delaying of the giving out of a local authority home, not the bells and whistles.' Advertisement Mr Toibin also accused the Government of understating homeless figures by 892 people and of understating the housing waiting list figures by over 16,000. Aontu leader Peadar Toibin (Brian Lawless/PA) He said he had sent Freedom of Information requests to every local authority in the country asking how many people are homeless in their area. He said this produced a figure of 16,472, which was above the official homelessness tally of 15,580. He also said that when local authorities were asked how many people were on their housing waiting lists, they came back with a figure of 75,000, which is above the official government figure of 58,824. Advertisement 'Your ability to account the number of people who are on the housing waiting list at the moment is out by the population of Tullamore,' he said. Mr Harris said that the anomalies were likely a result of duplications, as people may engage with more than one local authority for housing needs, particularly those living at county borders. 'These figures aren't figures calculated by the government in a party political sense. These are figures calculated by the state in a robust, impartial manner,' he said. Mr Toibin responded to say that it was not possible to be on two housing waiting lists simultaneously. Advertisement 'There wasn't as much pirouetting and spinning at my daughter's ballet recital as I just saw there,' Mr Harris replied. 'This is far too serious to engage in conspiracy theories here.' Mr Harris also accused Sinn Fein of being the biggest property owners in the Dail while being quizzed on whether rents would rise. Sinn Fein's health spokesperson David Cullinane, during a press conference at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin, during the launch of their new health policy (Archive/PA) Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane called on the government to 'stop it, scrap it' in relation to changes to rent pressure zones (RPZs). Mr Cullinane said that the rent changes will hurt students and workers 'stuck in an ever spiralling rental trap'. 'You talk about a balance. The balance here is tipped in favour of the vulture funds and the cuckoo firms and the investors. 'More money for them, more profit for them, which is always the case under Fine Gael, who represents a cosseted, privileged class, from my perspective. 'But see, when it comes to ordinary people who have to pay increase costs on groceries, on insurance and now on rent, they're the ones who are paying the price.' In response, Mr Harris said Sinn Fein were the largest property owner in the parliament. Tanaiste Simon Harris speaking to the media (Liam McBurney/PA) The Fine Gael leader quoted the party's director of finance Des Mackin, who told the Irish Times in 2020 that the party owned 40 to 50 properties across the island, with seven in Belfast. 'Don't talk to me about the privileged classes when the largest property owners and investors in this house is the Sinn Fein party,' Mr Harris said. 'The biggest property owners in Dail Eireann, the biggest property investors are Sinn Fein, so don't give me this 'We're on the side of the working people'. 'It's just a load of bull that people see right through.' Ireland Housing target of 41,000 'not realistic', Minister... Read More Mr Harris cited the Central Bank analysis that indicated the RPZ changes would have 'a positive' impact on supply and said that Sinn Fein's call for reference rents would have seen rents rise for existing tenants. He said the government would announce next month investment in 'key enabling infrastructure' to deliver homes, including water, wastewater and energy supplies. He also said that the government would take 'more measures to protect students' in the budget.
Belfast Telegraph
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Aontu deputy leader accuses Sinn Fein of ‘smoke and mirrors' tactics over voting rights bill
Gemma Brolly calls on party to explain why it hasn't backed presidential election proposals Aontu is calling on Sinn Fein to explain why it hasn't signed a bill in the Dail to give Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland the right to vote in the Republic's presidential election. The party's deputy leader, Gemma Brolly, said she was 'hugely frustrated' at Sinn Fein's failure so far to respond to correspondence from Aontu leader Peadar Toibin on the issue. Sinn Fein has been contacted for comment.
