Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has asked a number of questions there. He is right in saying that first and foremost, we need to stop this practice and a lot of that is done through education of parents and within communities. We will progress this through the second domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, which includes a number of measures. A review is under way and we are looking to develop a third new strategy. Specific to that, an audit will be under way within weeks which will look at all of the various different Departments and agencies, from the Department of Health, the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. In that audit, we will look at the infrastructure and how we will implement these particular policies in a better way. I commit to ensuring that this particular issue is a part of that overall review, not just for the next strategy but we will also ensure that this will be implemented as soon as possible, whether in new or existing structures.

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