Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 May 2001

Vol. 535 No. 2

Written Answers - Violence Against Women.

Frances Fitzgerald

Ceist:

203 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the status of the recommendations in the report Violence against Women; the work of the monitoring group in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12501/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

As the Deputy will be aware, responses in relation to the issue of violence against women falls within the remit of a number of Government Departments. The Deputy will also be aware that the report of the task force on violence against women contained a number of recommendations for measures to deal with this issue.

Arising out of the recommendations contained in this report the Deputy will be aware that the Government established a national steering committee on violence against women and appointed Ms Mary Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, as its chair.

The establishment of the National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women, which contains representatives of the governmental and non-governmental organisations working in relation to this issue, has achieved the bringing together of the many organisations and services with the aim of providing a cohesive, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency response to victims of violence.

Eight regional committees on violence against women, again representative of the governmental and non-governmental organisations active in this area, have also been established and these committees are working at a local level in this respect.

Progress in relation to the report's recommendations is, as I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, in view of the complexities of the issue and the multiplicity of service providers involved, at various levels and stages.

Noticeable progress has been made in relation to the development of local networks, the development of public awareness campaigns, the production of a national directory of services for women experiencing violence and the increase in the budget for this work. In this regard the Deputy might like to note that this year the amount being allocated by my colleague Deputy Martin, the Minister for Health and Children, for the provision of services to victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault has increased to £8.3 million, a signifi cant increase on the original allocation of £3 million in 1997.

In addition, the regional committees are working on the development of protocols for use by the service providers, both community and statutory. They are also developing their existing service response and identifying gaps in service delivery. Much of the work, as I understand, is being carried out by the voluntary and community sectors and this work is aided by the increases in funding, which will enable them to respond effectively to the demands placed on them. To facilitate the exchange of information and ideas the Minister of State has established a forum, comprising the designated officers and chairpersons of the regional committees.

Research commissioned in relation to issues such as the attrition rate in sexual assault offences cases and the development of a single crisis referral helpline have highlighted areas where work needs to be progressed and, in some cases, where new initiatives need to be developed. The national steering committee is also in the process of commissioning research into a needs analysis, which will aim to identify how much progress has been achieved, what remains to be done and also how the user views the services in place.