Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We know that two thirds of all victims of sexual crime are children. This is an enormous problem for society. The 2012 Garda Inspectorate report recommended the establishment of these agencies. I note that money was reallocated from the capital budget to ICT in these Supplementary Estimates and in that context, there was an underspend of €6 million in the capital building programme in particular. I hope I can take it from that that there has not been any movement beyond consideration of the establishment of specialist co-located centres. Will money be made available for them? Will they be built? Where did the underspend come from that we are allocating? I hope that it was not at the expense of children. The Minister, Deputy Zappone, told us recently that she hoped to have the first pilot open in 2019. That would suggest that money should already have been spent on them, so I am unsure why there has been an overspend. Has funding been made available in 2019 for the expansion of these DPSUs to other divisions beyond the four? Obviously the units are crucial, they were sought in Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's report and by the Garda Inspectorate. Both found a lack of specialised training and of a single point of contact for multi-agency working left huge and dangerous gaps in child protection. This is beyond urgent. When will more be established? When can we expect to have these units in every division? How much money has been given over to establish them in this year's budget?