James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this important topic.

The Department of Justice continues to work on delivering our vision of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland. An important part of this is our ongoing and intensive efforts to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We are improving our systems and processes to ensure they protect those at risk, support those who are victims, bring to justice those who inflict harm, and create a society that does not tolerate or turn a blind eye to any type of domestic, sexual or gender-based violence.

The Department of Justice is midway through a six-year, two-part national awareness campaign to tackle domestic and sexual violence. It is designed to help people identify signs of domestic and sexual violence and to make us question our acceptance of some unacceptable behaviours and attitudes. It features both male and female victims and the message was spread at a national and local level through partnerships with local radio stations. This campaign has started important conversations about how, at an individual level and as a society, we have to change our attitudes if we want a country that does not tolerate any form of domestic or sexual violence.

From the outset of the pandemic, we prioritised help for victims of domestic abuse. We work collaboratively with front-line service providers and community groups on the Still Here campaign. We increased funding for organisations offering support to victims to ensure they could continue their valuable work during the Covid-19 pandemic. We worked with the Garda, the courts and the Legal Aid Board to ensure cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence would be prioritised, and this continues to be the case.

I, too, welcome the recent conviction for coercive control and commend the victim for coming forward. I hope it not only encourages other victims to do likewise but raises aware that coercive control is abuse and helps people to recognise that this is the case.

We are planning for the future delivery of services and supports for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The audit of how responsibility is currently fragmented is a key part of this. It will assist in developing proposals for the infrastructure needed to ensure we have a system that deals with all of the relevant issues in the most holistic and effective way possible. The publication of the call for an independent expert to carry out this audit is a major step in delivering this commitment within the timeframe set, and the input of NGOs into the audit will help us design and build our future services around the victim's needs in the most comprehensive, compassionate and appropriate way.

I also believe the implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey will also be instrumental. It will create a criminal justice system that supports vulnerable victims and empowers them to report offences knowing they will be supported, informed and treated respectfully throughout the criminal justice process. It would improve the way the criminal justice system operates in real and practical ways to make it work for vulnerable victims at every stage.

The mapping of the victim's journey and the review of our grant schemes for organisations that work with victims are other important elements that will contribute to how we deliver our services in the future. This work will ensure consistent support services are available for all victims throughout the State.

The National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is a whole-of-government approach and the review of the current strategy, which runs from 2016 to 2021, which will prioritise prevention and reduction, will include a national preventative strategy.

The Government is fully committed to combating all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, not only by doing what is required now but also by thoroughly reviewing how we do things to design more efficient and effective structures as we go forward. We are working with the front-line service providers, listening to them and responding to what they are telling us is required. I am proud of the work that the Department of Justice is doing. Ambitious targets have been set that we are on course to deliver because, as both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have stressed, combating domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a priority across the board.

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