Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 February 2023
7. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice to confirm the progress to date under the €363 million strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence announced in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7739/23]
View answerWill the Minister clarify the progress to date under the €363 million strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence from 2022? Will he set out what progress is being made on this five-year programme? I know it is only eight months on but I would like to know what progress has been made as a result of the programme announced in 2022.
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this matter. Zero tolerance is the Government's third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It was published by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, last year. The strategy has been widely accepted by stakeholders as an ambitious five-year programme for reform to achieve a society which simply does not accept domestic, sexual and gender-based violence or the attitudes that underpin it.
The strategy is built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention. Its accompanying implementation plan, which runs to the end of this year, sets out 144 detailed actions which are assigned to my Department and other agencies and Departments across government. Subsequent implementation plans will be published annually during the lifetime of the strategy.
I am pleased to report that progress is being made and I will publish regular updates on each of the 144 actions. A key part of implementation will be the establishment of a new statutory domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency which will ensure a permanent and dedicated focus on this important area of work. Its establishment will ensure that there is one agency whose full-time job and entire focus is the delivery of this strategy and the zero-tolerance culture in our country.
Last week, my Department led a co-design workshop with civil society partners, which I was delighted to attend. Within a month, I will seek the Government's approval for the draft general scheme of the Bill to establish the agency. Following approval, the Bill will be drafted as a matter of priority and the new agency will, subject to the Oireachtas passing the legislation, be established by 1 January next year.
As part of the strategy, the Government is committed to doubling the number of refuge places over the lifetime of the strategy, bringing it to 280. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, we are working with all stakeholders to put in place the necessary structures and supports to accelerate the delivery of additional refuge accommodation year on year.
Work undertaken to implement the strategy has already prepared the way for this, including through the development of agreed processes and approaches that will support organisations to deliver the highest standard of refuge accommodation in the most efficient and holistic way. There has also been significant progress on the legislative front, which I will have a chance to come back to in my next answer.
I know my colleague referred earlier to the figures. Some 41% of Irish women know someone in their circle of family or friends who has experienced intimate partner violence. I have figures from the Courts Service showing that applications for orders increased by 12% in 2020 to 22,970 from 20,501 in 2019. The other frightening figure in the recent report is the finding that in 2020, 25% of victims of sexual violence were females aged under 18. This emphasises the importance of the programme and the reason we need to speed up the process for its full implementation. The Minister talked about the statutory agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We also need updated primary and secondary school curriculums. What is the position with regard to public awareness campaigns?
The Deputy is entirely right. While we need to pass legislation in this House, the education piece is key. My colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, is leading on a number of actions in that area, including overhauling the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum, effective from next September, and work on age-appropriate primary school education in this space. There is a cultural element involved here. The horrific Andrew Tate-type online scenario gave us a real insight into that. It caused parents throughout the country considerable worry about what their children are accessing online.
I will be bringing forward significant legislation in the coming weeks and months. The Government has now approved the publication of a Bill which will increase, from five to ten years, the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, which is one of the most common offences in domestic violence cases. The new legislation, which is before the House, also contains a provision to make stalking and non-fatal strangulation stand-alone offences. While both are already crimes, this will make the law clearer and stronger.
I will also seek to enact the sex offenders Bill, which will strengthen the management and monitoring of sex offenders, including giving our courts the power to electronically tag sex offenders. I intend to update sexual offences legislation, including updating the law with regard to consent and introducing many reforms to support the victim, including victim representation and anonymity in court.
I wonder whether we also need to carefully look at supports that need to be improved for women who have suffered violent attacks or sexual assaults. I understand that some of the sexual assault units may have difficulty in getting the professional staff required. There are challenges in that area. I ask the Minister to look into the level of supports that are required and ensure the units in operation have adequate staff numbers and supports in place.
I will do that. We have also significantly increased funding for groups working with victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, as is right and proper, to help those on the front line respond in communities.
The roll-out of safe homes, alongside the roll-out of refuge spaces, is a key element in making sure of this. I do not want anyone listening to this discussion, who is in immediate danger, to think he or she needs to wait for the Oireachtas to pass a law. Anybody can call 999 or 112 today and there will always be somebody there to help. There are now trained Garda personnel in every division in the country ready to respond and support victims on their journey.
We have had a significant increase in public awareness campaigns. The Deputy will have seen some very hard-hitting advertisements just before and after Christmas driving the message home. I also wish to see the roll-out of an awareness campaign with regard to Coco's Law. It has been very important with regard to making it illegal to share or, indeed, threaten to share, an intimate image. The Deputy can expect to see more being done on public awareness very shortly.
Question No. 8 taken with Written Answers.
