Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge that the mechanisms for the delivery of new refuge spaces is not working fast enough. Everybody recognises that. The review undertaken by Tusla is the clearest evidence of that. That review looked at two main metrics, namely population space per number of people in a particular area and access to refuge space by distance, in terms of a half hour journey. That showed that there may be areas of the country where the population is low; if you have to travel more than half an hour to a refuge space, you are poorly served. That review has identified parts of the country that are poorly served because there is a long distance to travel and some where the place may be close by but it is not enough because it is in a very built-up area. For example, there is a refuge close by in Dublin 15 but there is not enough for the wider area and therefore it recommended a new one in Balbriggan in the Fingal area.

As it stands, Tusla is responsible for the current, that is day-to-day, expenditure on the annual upkeep, maintenance and running of refuges. It is not responsible for the capital expenditure of new builds. That is done through the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government through the capital acquisition scheme, CAS. That is a good scheme but it is a lengthy scheme. A domestic, sexual and gender based violence, DSGBV, NGO that wants to open a new refuge in Dublin 15 or north Kildare must first be registered as an approved housing body, AHB. Once it has gone through that process, it must go through all the steps. Everyone recognises that that process is not working. That is part of the work that is now being led by the Department of Justice in conjunction with the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government and my Department is there too around how we create a mechanism for swiftly delivering, first, the 60 refuge spaces which are most urgently needed but further refuges in the future too. The Minister for Justice has called together an interdepartmental group which has been meeting regularly. It will bring forward proposals which will be integrated into the third national strategy. All responsibility for this will move towards the new DSGBV agency that will be under the Department of Justice. There is work being undertaken on other refuges even while we are waiting for the new faster process to be introduced. In particular, I know of work being undertaken in Louth, Laois and in Dublin around beginning to add that additional capacity. The structures at the moment are working too slowly. That is recognised. We are replacing them in order to deliver on those 60 spaces that are so badly needed.