Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 14 May 1998

Vol. 491 No. 2

Written Answers. - Domestic Violence.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

8 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a nominated Assistant Commissioner of the Garda has been given responsibility for ensuring that the official guidelines in relation to Garda handling of domestic violence incidents are being implemented in practice; if a report on the implementations of those guidelines is available or is being compiled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11525/98]

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

70 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps, if any, taken to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Violence against Women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11524/98]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 70 together.

The National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women was established as part of the Government's commitment to address the recommendations of the Task Force on Violence Against Women. The steering committee is chaired by my colleague, Deputy Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The relevant Departments, State agencies and the non-governmental organisations working in this field are represented on the committee.

The steering committee has a number of specific objectives which include ensuring that regional and local structures are established; developing a public awareness campaign; co-ordinating and advising on the distribution of the resources among the eight health board regions; co-ordinating and advising on ongoing development of policies; overseeing and monitoring individual agencies' written policies and guidelines; undertaking research and needs assessments nationally, promoting inter-agency training; ensuring maximum value for money from available resources; developing codes of practice for collecting statistics and monitoring responses, and publishing periodic reports.

It is intended that a regional committee will be established in each of the health board areas and this development is at an advanced stage. I understand that all of the committees will be in place by the end of this month.

The purpose of establishing the regional committees is to provide a comprehensive and localised response to the problems experienced by women as a result of violence. The partnership between the State and the public sector is necessary if women are to be presented with a realistic set of coherent options. It is important also to ensure that women are not put through an additional trauma of having to approach several different agencies to avail of services.

The membership of the regional committees will reflect that of the national steering committee, while at the same time taking due account of specific local circumstances. In particular, there is broad acceptance that key agencies in the voluntary sector should be represented on the regional committees, having regard to the fact that many organisations have been pioneering the issue of violence against women for many years, and have invaluable experience to bring to the development of policies.

The national steering committee is currently working on the development of an awareness campaign with a view to educating people about the extent of the problem of violence against women such a campaign would send a clear and unambiguous message that our society condemns and abhors violence against women.

The steering committee is also addressing the other recommendations of the task force and it is proposed to publish progress report on the implementation of these recommendations in due course.

With regard to Garda Síochána policy on intervention, I am informed Garda authorities that responsibility for the implementation of that policy is the responsibility, within the command structure, of a designated assistant commissioner. I am also informed that Garda personnel have been appointed as members of the regional committees referred to earlier