As the Deputy may know, in June I published Zero Tolerance, our new Strategy to combat all forms of domestic, sexual and gender based violence and to ensure we fully support those who are victims of it.
It is an ambitious five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it.The €363 million strategy is built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention framework and the accompanying implementation plan contains 144 detailed actions for implementation this year and next.I am aware of the report which the Deputy refers to. On the issue of parental alienation, my department launched a public consultation at the end of May, which was open for four weeks. The consultation focussed on people’s experiences of parental alienation, their views on the topic, its impact on them and how it might be responded to in the future. My Department is currently working through the volume of responses received. To better inform further discussion on this complex topic, my Department also arranged for a separate strand of independent research on parental alienation to be carried out this year. I am pleased to say that a draft report has been received by the Department and is now being reviewed. It is expected that both the research and the public consultation will create a deeper understanding of the issue, and inform my Department’s consideration of policy and law in this area. I expect a report outlining the outcome of the research and consultation process and any arising recommendations, towards the end of this year.
