Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Department of Justice is working on the issue in conjunction with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth funds Tusla. A number of recommendations in the O'Malley report have also been introduced as part of the Department of Justice strategy entitled Supporting A Victim’s Journey: A Plan to Help Victims and Vulnerable Witnesses in Sexual Violence Cases. There has been an increase in funding for NGOs providing court accompaniment services, related information and support services. As part of the implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey, the Department of Justice reviewed the supports and funding it provides to civil society organisations providing front-line services. This was done to map the journey that victims face in order to identify the gaps in supports available. Work is now under way with NGO partners to fill the gaps identified, which mainly relate to training and supervision issues. A lot of work is being done, and rightly so.

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