Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 February 2022
519. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 124 of 26 January 2022, if he will provide a full reply. [7589/22]
View answerAs the matter raised by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question No. 124 of 26th January 2022 was an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, I had referred the question to Tusla for direct response to the Deputy.
Tusla has advised my Department that the direct reply is under review in Tusla, and will issue in due course. As you are aware from our meeting with the Minister for Justice and the Taoiseach, the area of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is of significant importance to this Government.
In late January 2022, Tusla provided my Department with the below figures. ‘Safe home’ units are independent units of accommodation within the community where victims and their children at medium to low risk can be supported. A ‘unit’ or ‘family place’’ can accommodate a single person or a person and their children.
Since the arrival of COVID-19, the number of ‘core’ refuge units operational has been reduced at times to comply with public health guidelines, particularly in refuges with shared facilities. On-site accommodation in refuges has been supplemented with access to a range of alternative safe accommodation units. Last November Tusla provided material in response to a PQ asked by Deputy Dillon I have included the relevant table below it sets out the number of women’s refuges per county as reported 4th of Nov 2021.
|
County |
No. of Units normally operational pre-Covid |
|
Co. Limerick |
14 |
|
Co. Kerry |
6 |
|
Co. Kilkenny |
5 |
|
Co. Dublin |
29 |
|
Co. Wicklow |
7 |
|
Co. Clare |
6 |
|
Co. Tipperary |
4 |
|
Co. Cork |
6 |
|
Co. Donegal |
4 |
|
Co. Louth |
12 |
|
Co. Westmeath |
4 |
|
Co. Mayo |
5 |
|
Co. Meath |
5 |
|
Co. Galway |
9 |
|
Co. Waterford |
15 |
|
Co. Kildare |
4 |
|
Co. Wexford |
4 |
|
Total: |
139 |
|
County |
No. of Safe Homes Operational |
|
Co. Sligo |
3 |
|
Co. Cork |
2 |
|
Co. Dublin |
17 |
|
Co. Kilkenny |
2 |
|
Nth. Tipperary |
1 |
|
West Cork |
1 |
|
Total: |
26 |
