Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 October 2022
348. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide a breakdown of the distribution of the additional €7 million to be provided to organisations funded by Tusla to address acute demands in existing services throughout the country in 2023, in tabular form. [51029/22]
View answerUnder Budget 2023 I have secured an extra €9m, which represents a 22% increase, for combatting domestic, sexual and gender based violence. This record level of funding will also support the implementation of Zero Tolerance, our Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), which I launched in June.
This additional €9 million includes increased funding of €7m for organisations funded by TUSLA to address acute demands in existing services throughout the country, and for investment in new services as outlined in the new Strategy.
Tusla has had engagement with funded DSGBV organisations throughout 2022, noting cost and service demand pressures being experienced by most organisations. A specific allocation will be made to all DSGBV organisations to address sustainability challenges. Tusla will be engaging with funded DSGBV organisations on service and funding agreements for 2023 over the coming weeks. Specific funding to individual organisations will be agreed as part of that process and the information requested will be available once the details on core funding have been notified to the individual organisations.
The Department of Justice, Tusla and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, as part of the Memorandum of Understanding covering the transition of DSGBV Services to the new DSGBV agency, will be identifying key priorities for the €7m funding allocated to current DSGBV services, based on engagement with the DSGBV sector and priorities set out in the third national strategy.
The extra €9m funding will also strengthen the nationwide supports and services for victims of crime (€920,000), provide for targeted awareness raising campaigns (€750,000) and for work to establish the new DSGBV statutory agency (€450,000) which will become operational in January 2024.
