Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like the Deputy, I attended the launch of the Women's Aid impact report last week. The statistics quoted and all the statistics are very disturbing. I stated at the launch that I thought when I began working on equality issues many years ago, as people became better informed as we dealt with issues of violence, alcohol and drugs, perhaps this scourge might even disappear. Unfortunately, the opposite has been the case and it remains a very serious social issue and a personal health issue for the people, primarily women, who are involved. We need to put all our attention on tackling this scourge of domestic violence.

It is important that people report incidents and that we have better laws, with gardaí better trained to respond. It is a priority issue for An Garda Síochána. We also have the national strategy and I met all the stakeholders to discuss and develop that. It is very comprehensive for the years ahead. We also need stronger legislation and the consolidated domestic violence Bill is currently being worked on. I hope we will be able to publish that later this year, as that would be helpful. There are a number of outstanding issues and Women's Aid has highlighted elements relating to offences, suggesting some improvements. If we can, we will respond to the points made. I have stated that increased funding will be necessary in this area and the HSE is considering further support for helplines, which is important. I have been in touch with officials about that.

I was concerned about the points raised at the launch of the report, particularly the facilities in Dolphin House. I have arranged for a meeting between representatives of the Courts Service of Ireland and Women's Aid to see if we can do something further to accelerate an improvement in conditions. There will be extra staff and some cases are being taken to a different location. I hope we can accelerate improvements there in advance of the development of the new Hammond Lane facility, which will be state of the art, in dealing with family law cases.

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