Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Benjamin Franklin once said, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. The difficulty, of course, is that in developing a plan or policy in such a key area of society, one needs to have research. One needs to know what is happening in society, the change in trends, the attitudes of people and the confidence of people in the institutions to which they would present if they were victims of rape, domestic violence or abuse.

We all accept the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and other organisations are under-funded as it is. They need more front-line resources but that is not a reason to refuse to look at the research and evidence base that would be required to ensure we can put the resources directly in the areas where they are most needed.

The figures presented by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, and other centres throughout the country, indicate that it is a societal problem that needs to be addressed and supported in every way. We cannot trundle along, waiting year after year for the report to be commissioned, not knowing whether or not the policies in place are having an impact on reducing the crime or giving those who have been raped, abused or suffered violence the confidence to come forward. We need to know. We still hear about cases where people are reluctant to make statements, for many reasons. We must get behind it.

We cannot choose between funding either the Rape Crisis Centres or other agencies to provide front-line supports or the research. The research must be done as a stand-alone project. The previous SAVI served well in terms of developing policy, and we need an update. I ask the Minister of State to convey to the Minister for Justice and Equality my support, and that of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and many others, for her to take ownership of it. She should take ownership of it completely and ensure the funding is provided through the Department of Justice and Equality or the other three Departments involved, namely, the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, and Health.

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