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

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for her question. Regarding her query about measures taken to combat increased domestic abuse in Carlow, I will respond in more detail later but would emphasise that our collective approach is an all-encompassing national one and will continue thus.

There is no doubt that domestic abuse incidents have increased during the pandemic. We also know that services are going to come under increased pressure in the period leading up to the winter weeks and afterwards. In the first few months of the pandemic we had a full lockdown and it was only after society started to open up again that services started to see a massive increase in demand because people felt that they could actually seek help and that it would be available. In that context, we know that pressure is going to increase, which is why we have tried to make sure that additional funding was provided this year and in the budget for next year. This funding will support community and voluntary organisations, as well as An Garda Síochána and various State agencies. Additional resources, support, enforcement and services have been made available and domestic abuse cases are being prioritised by An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and the Legal Aid Board. Covid-specific funding has been made available for this year and next.

I would like to assure the Deputy that we are not just looking at addressing immediate challenges but are also looking at how to improve services going forward. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman and I are anxious to have the input of partners working in this area and have been talking to various community and voluntary organisations, as well as stakeholders in various Departments because this is not just an issue for our respective Departments but also for the Departments of Social Protection, Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Education. We need to educate all of society about the issue of consent, what is acceptable and unacceptable, what to look out for and how to support people. We will deliver on the programme for Government commitment to audit how responsibility for this area is segmented. We will analyse the work done by various Departments and make sure that we have a functioning structure in place. Obviously, when there is a national structure in place, that disseminates down into individual counties and the work being done there. This provides better structures on a county by county basis. I will revert to the Deputy on County Carlow in my follow-up response.

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