Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 November 2023
402. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of times gardaí were called to the scene of a domestic violence incident in each county, in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [51884/23]
View answerCombatting domestic violence is a priority for both me and this Government, and this is reflected in a range of policies and legislation, as well as unprecedented increases in Budget allocations.
In June of last year, I published an ambitious five-year Zero Tolerance Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. This is a €363 million strategy, and is built on the four pillars of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Policy Co-Ordination.
The implementation of the Strategy entails a significant body of work and key elements include:
• The doubling of the overall number of refuge units over the lifetime of the Strategy.
• The establishment of a new statutory DSGBV Agency in January 2024, which will bring together the expertise and focus required to tackle this complex social issue.
• A range of enhanced supports for victims, including the provision of legal aid and legal advice, and trauma-informed training.
A fundamental aim of the Strategy is to change societal attitudes to domestic and sexual violence. By building on the successes of previous awareness-raising campaigns, new initiatives on intimate image abuse and on the importance of sexual consent in healthy relationships have been produced this year, while another on support services - including domestic violence supports - is in development.
Under Budget 2024, an additional €12m in funding for combatting DSGBV has been allocated. This represents a record 25% increase.
This additional funding will support the implementation of the Zero Tolerance plan, including by allowing for the establishment of the new agency, and will greatly assist the agency in meeting the acute needs for services throughout the country.
The agency will have a core budget of €43m next year which will increase nationwide coverage, and will boost the momentum in implementing the ambitious goals set out in the Zero Tolerance plan.
To strengthen our laws in this area and to encourage more victims to come forward, I have introduced legislation which creates new standalone offences of non-fatal strangulation and stalking. The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill – which was signed into law by the President in July - also increases the maximum penalty for assault causing harm from five to ten years.
This is one of the most commonly prosecuted domestic violence related offences, and this increased maximum penalty reflects the seriousness with which these crimes are taken.
As the Deputy will be aware, creating a criminal justice system that better supports vulnerable victims is something I have prioritised since taking office. This is with a view to encouraging more victims to come forward and report what has happened, confident in the knowledge that the system will support them. As part of that work there is now divisional protective service units across the country with specially trained officers who will engage with, and support, vulnerable victims.
I'm informed by the Commissioner that, to determine the number of Domestic Abuse incidents reported in a given timeframe, a number of criteria are applied. The counts in the table attached are a combination of the following:
The incident type is one of:
• Coercive Control
• Breach of Interim Barring Order
• Breach of Protection Order
• Breach of Barring Order
• Breach of Safety Order
• Domestic - No Offence Identified
• Breach of Emergency Barring Order
• Or is of any incident type, but with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’.
Counts of incidents reported per year up to and including 26 November, 2023 are given in the table attached
Incident counts are based on reported date, and crime counting rules are not applied.
