Responsibility for responding to issues in relation to domestic violence falls within the remit of a number of Departments. The Department of Health and Children is responsible for the provision of services to victims and for the allocation of funding to non-governmental organisations providing services; the Department of the Environment and Local Government assists in the provision of crisis accommodation; the Department of Education and Science is responsible for educating children in relation to the issue in the schools; and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs funds community development programmes and grant aids local groups dealing with the issue.
My Department has responsibility in terms of legislative measures in relation to domestic violence issues, the enforcement aspects of such legislation and measures to deal with perpetrators, including the establishment of perpetrator programmes.
The relevant legislation is the Domestic Violence Act, 1996. This legislation is comprehensive and provides for a situation where safety, protection and barring orders can be applied for and issued by a District Court as a matter of urgency.