Mr. Shane O'Connor:

I thank Senator Craughwell for his question. I do not have actual statistics to date, or a comparator of direct provision and domestic violence reports, on a national scale. We have had a policy in place for dealing with issues of gender-based and domestic violence since 2014. It is probably time to revisit it, purely because the same policy has been in place for so long. The purpose of the policy is to assist in the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It is also to ensure that managers of centres know the procedures to follow when they come across issues of domestic violence, residents have a pathway they can use and the information they need to report issues of domestic violence and IPAS staff react properly and liaise with the Garda authorities when an incident comes to our attention. There are other operational issues with regard to incidents occurring where we have to consider whether to move people or arrange safe accommodation for a victim of domestic violence. All those matters are taken into consideration.

On numbers, my experience is that the number of cases brought to my attention by the team is relatively low. I could probably think of a handful of cases in the last six or 12 months. The big unknown is what is not being reported. This is where the information piece is very important. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that any new policy deals with the provision of information to residents, especially female residents, or any resident who may be a victim of domestic violence, on their options, the correct course of action and what we will do in order to make them feel a little more comfortable reporting it. Without doubt, there are cultural barriers that affect the degree to which issues are reported to us by victims.