Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this very important matter. A very serious issue has arisen where all of the core funding of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland will be terminated on 31 March 2014. The current responsibility for the funding of €250,000 for the Rape Crisis Network Ireland resides with the new Child and Family Agency. This is a catastrophic situation for victims of sexual violence in Ireland and is likely to result in both the closure of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland and the loss of the critical national programmes currently co-ordinated by it.

Various Government Departments and agencies share responsibility for the protection of Irish citizens from crimes of sexual violence and provide professional responses to those who have been victims of such crimes. Each statutory agency has a partial responsibility, partial knowledge and a partial strategy. The Child and Family Agency has, like all other statutory locations, a partial and reductive knowledge of the complexity of crimes of sexual violence, the needs of victims and the needs of other statutory locations. All core funding is to be cut as a result of this partial and reductive approach. The Child and Family Agency has stated it will, with greatly reduced funds, tender for a service that it requires in terms of its responsibilities. This silo thinking will break up the cross-agency benefits of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland and do huge damage.

There are almost 2,000 rapes and sexual assaults each year in this country and the survivors rely on the support and expertise provided by the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, which is now being undermined by the Child and Family Agency. In the rush for the Child and Family Agency to reduce costs, this decision will do untold damage to the future of the network and impact on the thousands of people who depend on the services it provides. This will happen because the collective knowledge and information gathering of the network will be lost. I urge the Minister to think of the bigger picture and protect the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, maintain its funding and allow it to continue to provide this vital service.

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