Colm Burke
Question:113. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice the progress being made in implementing supporting a victim’s journey; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16240/22]
View answerTuesday, 29 March 2022
Questions (113)
Written answers
I published and commenced implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey, our ambitious plan which is introducing important reforms to support and protect vulnerable victims and ensure our criminal justice system is more victim-centred, in October 2020.
I am deeply committed to implementing in full all of the actions set out in Supporting a Victim's Journey and I am chairing an Implementation Oversight Group comprising all relevant departments and agencies responsible for driving the implementation of the agreed actions.
To date, a number of key actions have been delivered as part of implementing Supporting a Victim’s Journey including:
- The introduction of preliminary trial hearings;
- The nationwide rollout of Divisional Protective Services Units (DPSUs);
- The first cohort of staff at a new sexual offences unit in the Director of Public Prosecutions office formally took up their roles in April;
- Work to advance the training for all personnel who come into contact with vulnerable victims is underway;
- The University of Limerick has been commissioned by my Department to develop the framework for the training and accreditation of intermediaries;
- The establishment of a Victims’ Forum to provide further opportunities to engage closely with frontline organisations who support victims, and
- Work to promote the rights that victims of crime have and the supports that are available to them is advancing, including through the development of a new Victims Charter website www.victimscharter.ie and the distribution of informative printed material to public locations around the country.
In addition to the above, a review of the supports and funding of civil society organisations providing frontline services has been conducted to identify where gaps may exist and how to bridge them. Specific geographical areas and categories of victims that are not adequately covered by NGO supports were identified and my Department engaged with relevant NGO partners to agree revised funding to ensure that we met the gaps identified.
To promote more sustainable service delivery and planning, we are also offering multi-annual funding commitments to key NGOs we work with and where funding covers staff salaries. These funding grants cover accompaniment to court, to Garda interviews and to sexual assault treatment units and emotional support and counselling.
Minister Harris and I have also agreed with NUIG Active* Consent to fund an e-learning hub, which for the first time - provides an integrated, publicly available resource on consent awareness and learning, bringing together a variety of related educational and promotional material in one place. The information hub is live, with further elements being rolled out in the coming months.
In relation to the updates on sexual offences legislation that have been recommended in the O’Malley Report, work has started on drafting the heads of a General Scheme of a Sexual Offences Bill which is expected to go to Government in Q2 of this year.