Ms Áine Breathnach:

It is only available to a limited number of victims and, as Ms Counihan said, it is only available post complaint. We are anxious to have a much wider scheme in place. The difficulty at the moment is that it is ad hocand piecemeal. Even as an expert, when I researched this issue prior to coming before the committee, it was difficult to find information on what was available, how to access it, who to ring, when the services were open and so on. It was difficult to access information and find out what one was entitled to, even from a professional point of view. A victim of an assault may not know what type of assault they have been subjected to, according to the legal definitions, and so they will not know where to look for assistance. We would like a much more comprehensive service that would start with the victim at the beginning and continue all the way through. That would limit any kind of retraumatization of the victim through having to retell their account to different solicitors or lawyers throughout the process. Unfortunately, the service is currently very narrow and piecemeal and thus it is very difficult to assess what impact it has had.