Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 July 2022
1493. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Justice the estimated full-year cost of providing enough women’s refuge places to bring us in line with Ireland's commitments under the Istanbul Convention. [41419/22]
View answerUnder the recently-published Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, I will deliver the fastest ever expansion in the number of refuge spaces. The number of spaces will be doubled and the structures will be put in place to go on to deliver, in full, the recommended Istanbul target. As the Deputy is aware, the explanatory report to the Istanbul Convention recommends that there should be one family place for every 10,000 of population, indicating there should be 476 family places provided in Ireland, based on 2016 Census data.
The ultimate aim is to provide a refuge space for everyone who needs one, meeting the recommended standard of the Istanbul Convention. This will be done in a phased way with an initial aim of doubling the current level of provision from 141 to 282 family places over the lifetime of the strategy at an estimated capital cost of €70m and an additional €31.6m in running costs over that period.
