Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I have one question regarding this Vote but it is incredibly important. I am referring to the protective services units and the plans to have one open in every division by the end of the year. I asked the Minister about this the last time he was before us and he said he did not have the answer to hand regarding funding for this initiative. He subsequently wrote to the committee and stated no funding was ring-fenced because it could not be quantified and it would be absorbed in the general Garda budget. That is an enormous problem. If funding cannot be quantified, that means plans for developing this scheme are not really that developed at all. We are now a third of the way into the year and we know that if funding is not ring-fenced, then overtime or other demands are likely to gobble it up.

I want to put on the record what Dr. Geoffrey Shannon told us. He said that one of the key messages to emanate from the almost 100 reports published over the last 20 years is the lack of inter-agency co-operation. He continued by saying that he hoped his would be the last report in which the issue had to be highlighted. Dr. Shannon made that statement in September 2017. These protective services units are a key element for child protection and for victims of sexual and domestic violence but it seems they are being treated as an afterthought. Why has no budget been allocated to this initiative? Will the Minister give us an update on the roll-out? How many such units have been provided? Can the Minister stand over the commitment to have one in every Garda division by the end of 2019?