Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for his association with Deputy Brophy's remarks. As we know, domestic violence is a very insidious crime that causes a great deal of trauma, stress and harm for individuals. We established the protected services bureau last year as part of our modernisation and renewal programme, which focuses on where services need to be prioritised. This specially dedicated unit, which is staffed by Garda and civilian members, exists to ensure our most vulnerable victims are protected. We will commence the regionalisation of that unit later this year. In other words, there will be a protected services bureau in every Garda region. We are mindful of the need for An Garda Síochána to be in a position to play its part in the full implementation of the second strategy on domestic and gender-based violence. We have provided for a number of training interventions. We have worked with a number of non-governmental organisations and other groups to ensure appropriate training is provided. One of the key priorities for the protected services bureau is the implementation of a risk identification tool that will facilitate the early identification of individuals who may be at risk following previous incidents. That will be a priority. Training will be provided to all our members in that respect.