Emer Higgins
Question:43. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Justice the progress being made in the implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41482/20]
View answerThursday, 10 December 2020
Questions (43)
Written answers
As I’m sure the Deputy is aware, on October 28, I published 'Supporting A Victims Journey' - A plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases'. This is a detailed roadmap for the introduction of the recommendations contained in the O'Malley review which, when implemented, will protect vulnerable witnesses, during the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences.
This morning I chaired the first meeting of an Implementation Oversight Group of all relevant Departments and agencies responsible for driving the implementation of the agreed actions. This will include putting arrangements in place for regular consultations with the NGO sector as part of that process. I received a report at that meeting on how each of the actions are progressing [and I’m pleased to inform the Deputy that the recommendations are being advanced in line with the timeframes envisaged in Supporting A Victims Journey. ]
Progress has already been made on giving effect to a number of important O'Malley recommendations including -
- The completion of the nationwide rollout of the DPSUs, where specially trained members of An Garda Síochána will be available to deal with vulnerable victims.
- The drafting of a General Scheme of a bill to give effect to the recommendations to introduce pre-trial hearings is almost complete and will be published by the end of the year. This recommendation is intended to help address delays in trials and to deal with matters such as defence applications to question a victim about his or her past sexual experience.
- Engagement on development of training programmes for serving Gardaí, the legal professions and members of the judiciary who are participating in sexual offences investigations and trials has started, and I expect this training to be rolled out in 2021.
- Engagement with the legal aid board on how to ensure better provision of legal advice and support to victims of sexual crime has also commenced.
- Work on redesigning the Victims Carter Website to make it more accessible and user friendly, as part of the recommendation to raise the public’s awareness of their legally enforceable rights under the Victims of Crime Act 2017, is also well advanced.
All the recommendations in Supporting A Victims Journey are time bound and while the timeframes envisaged are ambitious, collectively there is a real determination to meet the targets set. [As I said, I was very pleased with update I received from the Implementation Oversight Group when I met with them yesterday.]