Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 May 2024
465. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of times gardaí were called to the scene of domestic violence in each of the past ten years, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21725/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraCombatting all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) remains a priority for this Government, for me as Minister for Justice and for the Garda Commissioner.
'Zero Tolerance,' the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), sets out an ambitious whole of government five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin these crimes.
The Strategy, which was co-designed with the sector, also has a significant focus on improving the system for victims of these terrible crimes and on ensuring there is a full range of supports and services available nationwide to support and empower victims and survivors.
Building on the successes of previous awareness-raising campaigns, new initiatives on intimate image abuse, the importance of sexual consent in healthy relationships and on the support services - including domestic violence supports - which are available were developed and produced over the past 18 months.
A significant objective has been to encourage victims of Domestic violence to come forward and to report the crimes that are being committed against them. This is an important step because historically there has been an under reporting of domestic, sexual and gender based violence. I welcome that more people who have been impacted are coming forward.
Under Budget 2024, in excess of €7.9m in additional funding for combatting DSGBV has been allocated. This represents a significant increase and will support the implementation of the Zero Tolerance plan - including through the establishment of the new dedicated DSGBV agency, Cuan, which has an overall budget of €59m for 2024.
To strengthen our laws in this area and to encourage more victims to come forward, I have introduced legislation which creates new stand-alone offences of non-fatal strangulation and stalking and I have increased the maximum penalty for assault causing harm, one of the most commonly prosecuted domestic violence related offences, from five to ten years. As the Deputy will be aware, I am also working to create a criminal justice system that better supports vulnerable victims. This is with a view to encouraging more victims to come forward and report what has happened, confident in the knowledge that the system will support and protect them.
As part of that work, there are now divisional protective service units (DPSUs) across the country with specially trained officers who will engage with, and support, vulnerable victims.
In response to the Deputy's query, An Garda Síochána have provided the results of a search of the PULSE database, which was conducted on 09/05/2024 to identify any incident where the incident type is one of:
- Breach of Interim Barring Order
- Breach of Protection Order
- Breach of Barring Order
- Breach of Safety Order
- Domestic Dispute - No Offence Identified
- Breach of Emergency Barring Order
Or is of any incident type, but with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’.The attached table provides the outcome of that search broken down by Garda Division.
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