Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 April 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality

Recommendations of Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Seán Cooke:

First, I echo what Ms McDermott stated in terms of taking the time to reflect on the structures that need to happen. There are certain limitations in using the children and young people's services committees, CYPSC, model that is in place, certainly, in terms of my own understanding of it.

I will return to the area of compliance. As much as we fully wish to adhere to it in the charity sector or wherever, to give the committee a sense of what happens in terms of refuge provision, I would make two points. The first is that at present it is through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and one has to be a housing association to provide refuge. There is considerable compliance attached to that in its own right, let alone the compliance of service delivery. There is significant back-up support required in terms of fulfilling all one's obligations as a charity or as a company limited by guarantee. There is not significant support. Certainly, from our organisation's experience, we have to find ways in which to try and support the ongoing roll-out of our programme of work because we do not get the dedicated funding in relation to that.

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