Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2022
13. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice if she will detail the implementation plan for the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35750/22]
View answer14. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Justice the way the environment for a person suffering domestic violence will improve under the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. [35976/22]
View answerThis question relates to the implementation plan for the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence 2022-2026. I ask that the Minister might outline to the House her plans in this regard and provide as much detail as she can on how this will improve on the previous strategies.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 14 together.
I will start by saying a sincere thanks to those who were involved in the development of the strategy. This is a follow-on and builds on the great amount of work that was done in the previous two strategies by our former colleague and Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, in particular. We have worked very closely not just with all Government Departments but also with our State agencies and, in particular, with the community and voluntary sector and our service providers in developing this strategy. It was co-designed with Safe Ireland and with the National Women's Council of Ireland, which obviously represents many organisations across the country. It is a very ambitious plan. This five-year programme of reform essentially seeks to achieve a society where there is zero tolerance for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We have 144 actions. My intention from the outset was to develop a strategy but also to ensure we have a very clear implementation plan setting out the number of actions; who is needed to carry out those actions; where there is crossover between agencies, Departments and service providers; when those actions are due to be delivered; and the funding that is required for them. We have quite a specific and detailed plan. The first implementation plan is set out for the next 18 months and the subsequent plans will be set out over the coming years.
Many people have asked what we mean by zero tolerance. It means a number of things and I have described it in a number of ways. To me, essentially we are collectively saying as a society that just because abuse happens behind closed doors in a personal relationship or in a family setting, we should not tolerate it in the way that we have. We have done so as a society up until now. Regardless of whether it is physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse, we need to call it out and ensure those who need help know that it is there and that when they come forward, the services are there to support them. Many of the actions in the plan focus specifically on the need to improve our services, improve engagement, improve access to the information that victims need and put them at the very centre.
The second aspect is how we can each respond in our own general behaviour to domestic or sexual violence but also how we respond to inappropriate comments, touching or types of behaviour that can often lead to much more extreme types of behaviour. It is particularly important to do that at a young age to ensure that our young children, in an open and age-appropriate way, are taught what a healthy relationship is; how to engage with each other as boys and girls, men and women; what a healthy sexual relationship is; how to engage on difficult issues like pornography, which has become more violent; and how to navigate many other areas also. It is about everything from putting the structures in place, strengthening our laws, improving our policies and working collectively to ensuring that each and every one of us in society understands that we have a role to play if we are going to change the way we view, respond to and think about domestic and sexual violence.
Most importantly, as the first implementation plan will develop, the establishment of a statutory agency with sole responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to help to implement the strategy will ensure that we develop our number of refuge and accommodation centres. We have given a commitment to double their number from 141 to 282 in the lifetime of the strategy. We intend to develop the agency even further beyond that to ensure it has a role in raising awareness and developing campaigns to reach out to all of us, but to victims in particular. It will also gather data. We have given a commitment to have a sexual abuse and violence in Ireland report every five years. The last one was done 20 years ago. I think we will all agree that our country has changed and that we need to ensure we are up to date in the types of experiences people have. This is about getting the voice of the victim and ensuring it is at the very heart of what we do. I acknowledge our colleague, Deputy Stanton, who did a great amount of work in this space in his role as Minister of State with responsibility for equality in the Department of Justice.
I say again that this is building on a significant amount of work that has been done. I believe it is ambitious. I hope that if it is enacted and implemented and everybody does what they should do, we will see a significant change in our society in general.
I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive response. I congratulate and commend her on the approach she has taken together with the attention she has given to this particular matter since her first day in the job. It is very encouraging to see the Minister very much applying herself to moving this particular issue forward.
I also acknowledge the contribution of the former Ministers, Frances Fitzgerald and Deputy Flanagan. It is fitting that the former Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, is here for this discussion because his work in this area has been a very significant contribution to the point we are at right now, which is very important.
The Minister is 100% correct in respect of culture, zero tolerance and changing attitudes. Thankfully, it is changing, but it is too slow. For many people who are in desperate situations, it cannot change quickly enough. We need to make every effort in that regard.
I also point to the refuge issue. It is very important that they would be increased in number as much as the Minister can do and as quickly as possible.
I thank the Minister for her words earlier. I want to commend her on the work she has done with respect to the increased number of refuge places. I ask her again to redouble the work on the availability of violent pornography. I agree with the Minister that it has a pernicious effect. I have been reading some reports on it recently and it is very scary and frightening. I ask that the Minister redouble her work on that issue and on making the crime of coercive control more widely known about. Many people do not know what it is and do not know that they or their family are suffering from it. It is, again, pernicious that it is happening. We brought it in as a crime. I have a later question on this issue which will not be reached. I would be interested in making people aware of what it is so that people can be rescued out of it. Very often, people do not realise that they are in it, nor do their relations. I am glad to see that An Garda Síochána is taking it seriously and has been trained in it, and that quite a number of prosecutions have occurred in that area.
I thank both of the Deputies for their contributions. On the delivery of refuge accommodation, a great amount of work is to be done. I am working very closely with Tusla and with service providers. I am building on the work that has been done to date to put in place a very clear structure so that we have a common design and service delivery right across the board. Where we have a county with no service provision at the moment, we will be able to put that structure in place by bringing together the relevant bodies and organisations.
That work is ongoing and funding has been allocated specifically for that. Once we get that structure in place, the delivery will happen much faster. Reaching that target of 282 is just a start and we will then go further to ensure we reach the top end of what is called for in the Istanbul Convention.
Deputy Stanton asked about violent pornography. Many governments in other jurisdictions have tried to address the issue and failed given that it is so easily accessible and available. However, we have committed to work specifically with experts in this area, online providers and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to try to find ways to at least alert young people. This is where the education comes into play to show that this is not healthy, not natural and not what healthy sexual relationships should look like, particularly where there is violent pornography. Unfortunately, this is starting to creep in and we are starting to see these behaviours. We know from reports and working with many of the organisations that violent relationships are happening at a much younger age and that is part of the influence. This is an area on which I want to make progress.
A significant element of the strategy focuses on education, not just in getting information and awareness to victims but from members of An Garda Síochána, the legal profession and the Judiciary. Education on coercive control will be a key element of that.
Further to the education piece, as the Minister said in her opening comments, it is important that age-appropriate education would be provided to children in this regard. I am somewhat concerned that the Department of Education seems to be moving very slowly in this regard. I know the Minister has put considerable work into this and she passionately believes in it. I feel that her efforts might be undermined by the Department of Education not being as enthusiastic in trying to progress matters as quickly as she is. I call on that Department to redouble its efforts to speed up the process of ensuring an age-appropriate curriculum is in place for young people, which is fundamental for this issue.
We have worked very closely with the Ministers for Education, and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to examine education right from primary school level through to our colleges of further education. Clear timelines for the development of a new curriculum have been set out looking at it in an age-appropriate way with a timeline for the junior cycle and senior cycle and also for primary schools. That will involve engagement. There has been a level of engagement to date on certain aspects of a new SPHE and RSE curriculum. It is important to have that engagement. There is an understanding that this will be done in an age-appropriate way.
The Departments of Education, and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are taking a number of other actions specifically looking at consent. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has been to the fore in rolling this out and working with universities and colleges in engaging with students as they come into college on the issue of consent. Separately, they are looking at bullying and harassment in schools and making sure that our teachers are fully equipped to be able to respond to that type of environment and dynamic. It is important that they have the structures in place to support children going through a difficult situation.
