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Domestic Violence Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 March 2013

Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Questions (19)

Martin Ferris

Question:

19. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to provide funding for the development, operation and ongoing monitoring of effective intervention programmes for perpetrators of domestic violence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11559/13]

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Written answers

Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, funds 13 intervention programmes for domestic violence perpetrators across Ireland, run by three organisations. Despite the difficult financial situation that the country finds itself in, I have ensured that the 2013 budget for Cosc is unchanged from the 2012 budget amount. This will enable Cosc to continue its financial support of intervention programmes to enable them to operate. In 2012 Cosc provided grant assistance of the order of €625,000 to the programmes.

While the work that is done by the programmes involves direct interactions with men, the programmes have been developed in order to maximise the safety of female partners and ex-partners of the men on the programmes, and their children. An important feature of programmes is the work that is done with partners and ex-partners by way of partner contact arrangements. All programmes have a dedicated partner contact element. A dedicated partner contact worker or workers are engaged by the programme management to work with any partner or ex-partner of the men on the programme who wishes to be involved. This work informs the programme facilitators of the ongoing safety of the partners and children of the men on the programmes.

There are weekly contacts between the partner contacts and the partners/ex-partners during which the man's behaviour in the preceding week is discussed and this information is then passed to the programme facilitator. This allows the facilitators to challenge any man whose behaviour outside the programme is not matching his statements while attending the programme. The partner contact worker also provides practical support and advice to women in violent/controlling relationships.

Under the National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2010-2014, Cosc established a Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme Committee to support the work of intervention programmes and to improve overall delivery of the programmes and their outcomes. The Committee is currently working towards this by:

- Developing uniform protocols and procedures to help strengthen co-operation and co-ordination between programmes and other relevant service providers

- Overseeing the collection and analysis of improved data to help with understanding who and why the programmes help as well as providing indicative data for outcomes research.

In recognition of the programmes' part in reducing domestic violence, a representative of the programmes has sat on the National Steering Committee on Violence against Women since the middle of 2012.

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