The government Chief Whip says she's ashamed by the funding cuts Fine Gael made to domestic abuse services.
Regina Doherty's comments come as new data shows 9 in 10 women killed in Ireland were murdered by a male partner or a man they knew.
Figures show 54 per cent of women killed violently over the past 20 years were murdered by a partner or an ex.
A further 33 per cent were killed by someone they knew.
Director of Women's Aid Margaret Martin says the men involved are not always the type you would suspect.
Don Hennessy is director of the National Domestic Violence Intervention Agency – and says there needs to be a more critical view of abusive men.
Funding of domestic violence services was cut by the last government – Chief Whip Regina Doherty said says it was a bad move.
209 women have been killed violently since 1996 – with 16 children dying alongside their mothers in that time frame.
The figures are contained in a new report by Women's Aid released today as the charity aims to show how dangerous domestic violence can be and how it can escalate – Almost a thousand callers also rang Women's Aid last year alone to say they'd received a death threat.
Director Margaret Martin, says they want to build an understanding of why women don't leave abusive relationships:
Meanwhile
7 per cent of Irish people think sex without consent is justified, if a person is out walking alone at night.
That's according to a new EU-wide survey of attitudes towards sex and consent.
The Eurobarometer poll also finds that 11 per cent of people think sex without consent is justified if a person has taken drink or drugs, while 9 per cent believe it is justified if a person is wearing revealing clothing.
Overall it found that just over one in five Irish people believe sex without consent is justified in some circumstances.
