Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
686. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the exact amount of additional ring-fenced funding across all relevant Departments to be provided to domestic violence services in budget 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44878/20]
View answerTackling domestic abuse and providing supports for victims is a priority for me as Minister and for Government. I am working with my colleagues and with our partners to ensure we have an appropriate national response that supports victims and holds perpetrators to account.
As the Deputy may be aware, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency under the aegis of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, has statutory responsibility for the care and protection of victims of Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (DSGBV) and is the primary funder of organisations that deliver frontline services. I am accountable to the House for the expenditures and the services that are within my area of responsibility and am answering the Deputy's Question on that basis.
My Department provides funding for initiatives aimed at combatting domestic abuse and sexual violence and also provides funding to promote and assist the development of support services to victims of crime, which includes victims of domestic and sexual crime.
I have secured increased funding for 2021 for combatting domestic abuse and sexual violence and increased funding for supporting victims of crime. Funding of some €3 million has been secured for raising awareness of domestic, sexual and gender based violence and €4.104 million to support victims of crime.
These figures reflect the additional €2.3 million provided in Budget 2021 for implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey - A plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases. This will help combat domestic, sexual and gender based violence, through the implementation of the O’Malley recommendations on Protection for Vulnerable Witnesses in the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Offences.
The government has been in a position to provide an Garda Síochána with significant additional resources in recent years. This has enabled the Commissioner to allocate additional funding to tackling sexual and domestic violence, including the establishment of a specialised unit for the investigation of sexual violence, human trafficking, child abuse and domestic abuse, in every division.
