Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 25 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - Clare Refuge Centre.

Miss de Valera

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very important matter, particularly for a number of women in the County Clare area, the Clare Haven House Refuge Centre, of which I am sure the Minister is aware. There has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of Clare women receiving ongoing support in this house and because of the increase in the workload there is a crisis within the refuge. The refuge made a submission to the Mid-Western Health Board in the past ten days or so. If the refuge is to assist the number of women and children seeking its help it needs this type of backing on a planned basis. The staff are committed to their work and counselling has continued under difficult circumstances. I am sure the Minister will accept that FÁS schemes are not the correct way to provide this type of counselling. As a psychologist, I appreciate the need for the same staff to continue to provide counselling over a long period of time. It takes time to build up trust between clients and counsellors.

In its submission to the Mid-Western Health Board the refuge applied for £120,000 per annum. This money would provide a public office, a second stage house, a telephone help line, education and prevention workshops and staff training. Unfortunately, domestic violence appears to be increasing. In its submission to the Mid-Western Health Board, Clare Haven House stated that centralising services would disadvantage women in rural and isolated areas. No State agency currently provides the type of service provided by Clare Haven House. It raises funds on a voluntary basis. Last year it received £5,000 in lottery funding and £600 from leaflet sales. I am sure the Minister will agree this is not sufficient funding to run such an essential service for the community.

In the past five years numerous reports have been issued on domestic violence. I am sure the Minister is familiar with the Child Care Act, 1991, the Kilkenny incest report, the report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women, Making the Links, a study commissioned by Women's Aid, the policy document for women's refuges, the fourth report of the Joint Committee on Women's Rights on seeking a refuge from violence and the Adapt report. Those reports outline the measures necessary for the provision of adequate services and preventive measures. Clare Haven House made six recommendations in its submission, including a recommendation that one place should be provided for every 10,000 population. The Kilkenny incest report outlined that health boards should provide a free-fone service to facilitate contact and provision of information and counselling for victims of domestic violence. That report also stated that health care workers, gardaí and staff of voluntary organisations dealing with victims of domestic violence should receive adequate training in the recognition, investigation and recording of cases of domestic violence. Clare Haven House proposed that the health promotion unit of the Department should work in co-operation with it to produce education packages for the public, women's groups and schools to raise public awareness about violence against women in the home, to challenge stereotypes and change attitudes.

I look forward to a positive response from the Minister and hope that additional funding will be provided for this worthwhile project.

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am fully aware of the excellent support services provided by Clare Haven House to women and children who are the victims of domestic violence in County Clare.

I understand the activities and general workload of this project have increased in recent times and that the complexity and long-term nature of some of the matters in which they are engaged has become more apparent. In view of this, last January the Clare Haven House project submitted a comprehensive report to the Mid-Western Health Board which detailed its proposals for service developments in the area of domestic violence for County Clare. This report has been the subject of ongoing meetings with members and officers of the Mid-Western Health Board and an updated report is being prepared. The Clare Haven House proposals will receive detailed consideration in the context of the resources available for developments in services for victims of domestic violence.

The Mid-Western Health Board supports the activities of Clare Haven House and, in particular, wishes to support the development of public educational and preventive programmes and a direct counselling and support service in County Clare. The board, in partnership with the Adapt refuge based in Limerick, provides a regionally based emergency accommodation and support service to victims of domestic violence and their children. The Adapt refuge provides a mixture of accommodation including bedroom-bathroom units and a number of self-contained flats. In an average year approximately 100 families are admitted to the refuge and, of these, approximately 12 will involve families from County Clare. The health board is aware of the strong concerns of Clare Haven House about access to emergency accommodation and is giving serious consideration to the concept of developing a small emergency unit based in County Clare.

In a national context, we have been considering how best to improve our response to the issue of domestic violence. The role of the health services has been to support refuges for women and children who have been subjected to violence in the home and to provide crisis support and counselling. However, I recognise that the provision of emergency accommodation and ancillary support services, while necessary, deals only with the symptoms of domestic violence and does not confront the issue of violence itself. This is an extremely complex issue and one which no Government Department or agency can tackle in isolation. The nature of the problem calls for a wide ranging inter-agency and interdisciplinary approach.

In view of the multifaceted nature of domestic violence, the Government decided that responsibility at central Government level to co-ordinate action to deal with the problem of violence against women should be assigned to the office of the Tánaiste. That office established a working group on violence against women, chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Fitzgerald, to examine existing services and supports — whether emergency, interim or long-term — for women who have been subjected to violence, to examine legislation dealing with the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and to make recommendations on how legislation, services and supports could be improved and made more effective. The working group is due to report to the Government in April. I have set aside £500,000 in 1997 to implement its recommendations as far as health and personal social services are concerned. I also hope to be able to contribute £250,000 in capital moneys towards the implementations of that report's conclusions.