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Domestic Violence

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Questions (553)

Michael McNamara

Question:

553. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide figures relating to domestic abuse incidents across all divisions of An Garda Síochána in the year to date, including the number of calls received by An Garda Síochána to respond to domestic abuse incidents, the number of criminal charges referred for breaches of domestic abuse court orders and the number of criminal charges reported for crimes involving an element of domestic abuse; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43667/21]

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Written answers

Tackling 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 collective national response that supports victims and holds perpetrators to account.

I would like to assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána attaches the highest priority to domestic abuse incidents. Operation Faoiseamh - an ongoing initiative - was established to ensure there was proactive and targeted action and supports for those affected during the pandemic.

Gardaí also continue to develop their specialist services in this area and Divisional Protective Services Units have now been rolled out nationwide, meaning that specially trained officers are available who will be responsible for engagement with, and interviewing of, vulnerable victims. This ensures that when vulnerable victims of crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual violence present to Gardaí, they are met with a consistently high standard of specialist, professional and expert assistance.

The following tables, provided to me by An Garda Síochána, outline the specific information sought by the Deputy.

1. The number of domestic abuse incidents by region. The counts in the table below are a combination of the following:

The incident type is one of:

- Breach of Interim Barring Order

- Breach of Protection Order

- Breach of Barring Order

- Breach of Safety Order

- Domestic Dispute - No Offence Disclosed

- Breach of Emergency Barring Order

or is of any incident type, but with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’.

The table shows incidents reported in 2021 up to and including the 9th of September.

Region/Division 

 Domestic Abuse Incidents

 Dublin Region

 8941

 D.M.R. Eastern

 652

 D.M.R. North Central

 993

 D.M.R. Northern

 2243

 D.M.R. South Central

 782

 D.M.R. Southern

1540

 D.M.R. Western

2731

 Eastern Region

 5612

 Kildare Div

 966

 Kilkenny/Carlow

 546

 Laois/Offaly

 790

 Meath Div

 896

 Waterford Div

 653

 Westmeath Div

 493

 Wexford Div

 770

 Wicklow Div

 498

 North Western Region

 5103

 Cavan/Monaghan

 681

 Donegal

 596

 Galway Div

 1074

 Louth Div

 1152

 Mayo

 473

 Roscommon/Longford Div

 656

 Sligo/Leitrim

 471

 Southern Region

 5030

 Clare

 519

 Cork City

 1040

 Cork North

 627

 Cork West

 354

 Kerry

 639

 Limerick

 1202

 Tipperary

 649

 Grand Total

 24686 

 

2. The table below shows the number of the various ‘Breach of Order’ incidents types and also any crime incident with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’ reported in 2021 up to and including the 9th of September. The number of those incidents that have an associated charge to date is also shown.

Incident Group

Incidents

Incidents with Charges

Breach of Order Incident

3188

2657

Other Crime Incident

5364

1362

Grand Total

8552

4019

The number of charges will change as investigations are concluded. 

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