Vol. 484 No. 3
314 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress, if any, made to date on implementing the 1996 report of the task force on violence against women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22121/97]
Responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations of the task force on violence against women has been assigned to the Minister of State at my Department.
One of the main recommendations contained in the report, which was published in April 1997, was the establishment of a national steering committee. I can now report that this committee, which comprises representatives from the Departments of Education, Science and, Environment and Local Government, Health and Children, Social, Community and Family Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Garda, the State agencies such as the health boards, and the non-governmental organisations working in this area, is under way and will hold its first meeting on 18 December 1997.
The committee has a very heavy workload to undertake. The areas of responsibility include the following: develop a publicly funded public awareness campaign; co-ordinate and advise on the distribution of the resources among the eight health board regions; co-ordinate and advise on the ongoing development of policies; oversee and monitor individual agencies' written policies and guidelines; ensure that regional and local structures are established; undertake research and needs assessments nationally; promote inter-agency training; ensure maximum value for money from available resources; develop codes of practice for collecting statistics and monitoring responses, and publish periodical reports.
