Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is important to record what this Oireachtas has done. In the past couple of months, we have passed and enacted new domestic violence legislation and gender-based violence legislation. That will enable us to sign the Istanbul Convention on domestic violence and gender-based violence. In terms of services for the Rape Crisis Network, as the Deputy will be aware, Tusla is the funder of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services. The budget for such services has been increased to €23.8 million, which represents an increase of €3.4 million from 2016 to 2018. I know that some individual service providers and advocacy bodies have had their funding reduced. Others have had it increased. Overall, there has been an increase in funding for these areas. We have put a significant effort into the whole issue of consent. This has involved workshops with professionals. A particularly big effort has been made in education - in our schools and universities - to make sure those discussions are happening.

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