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

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the time to come back in and respond to the Deputies. I thank the Deputies for their contributions, including those who have contributed a number of times. This is also my third time to discuss this issue in the Chamber in less than a week. It is clear from the very fact that we had to extend this debate and discuss this issue numerous times just how important an issue it is for colleagues because it impacts each and every one of us. It also shows a clear determination to do better. There is no one thing we can do or no one law we can pass.

No one policy, organisation or grouping has responsibility for this. We must all work together on this issue. It will involve all of us in this House, in the Seanad, in the Government and in all our Departments working with our State agencies and our community and voluntary sector. Most importantly, this will involve working with the victims and survivors who have lived experience.

What do we do from here? How do we achieve the goal of zero tolerance of any kind of violence or abuse against women? We must first build on the work that has been done. In that regard, I appreciate that we have had many reports and recommendations over the years. Progress has been made and many structures and new laws have been put in place. The question now is how we can build on those developments. It is my intention that this third national strategy will be the most ambitious strategy to date. It will be built on four key pillars coming from the Istanbul Convention.

Prevention in that context will concern looking at education. We must ensure we implement the programmes we have that work, not just at primary level but also at secondary level and in higher and further education and college as well. We must also ensure that education takes place in our homes and that parents have conversations with children. Partners, work colleagues and friends should also have these difficult conversations.

We must also maintain public awareness of the programmes we have at national level. This means ensuring that programmes like Still Here and the programmes we are going to run on consent are clear and visible and that people are aware of the challenges that we face. Protection also means ensuring that women take the difficult step to come forward. When they do so, the requisite supports must be in place, whether that involves a refuge or the wraparound supports, including housing needs separate to a refuge, health needs or financial supports. It must be ensured that all those supports are in place when women come forward.

The prosecution aspect concerns the criminal justice system. The work I am doing on the Support a Victim's Journey policy will be a key part of this strategy in respect of how we improve the criminal justice system, most importantly to encourage victims to come forward. In addition, they must know they will be supported and treated with respect if they do so. Again, this facet is about education, new laws, strengthening the laws we have and introducing new measures to provide the supports and the wraparound service required.

Then there is policy co-ordination, which involves bringing all these efforts together and making certain at Government level that we are working with those on the ground and on the front line to ensure we have a co-ordinated approach and response. In that regard, we have given a clear commitment in recent weeks that I will be responsible not only for policy and co-ordination of the third national strategy, but also for the delivery of services and wraparound supports as they exist.

In addition, as we continue to develop this strategy and as it continues to evolve and we continue to live and learn from experience, it will be important that we take on board the lived experience and learn from the information and data that we gather. In recent years, we have seen that by listening to victims and survivors and by understanding the situations they find themselves in, we have been able to bring about new laws and new policies in this context. I am thinking of the law on coercive control, for example. Until recently, that was not seen as an issue, as a criminal offence or as something that impacted women. That type of behaviour, though, is just as damaging as the physical violence that so many women experience. This strategy is about making sure that all our policies and laws, and the supports they provide, work. We must ensure that all those aspects encourage people to come forward and that there are clear ways to prosecute those responsible for these types of crimes.

All the Deputies' recommendations, suggestions, proposals and ideas will be taken on board and listened to. I intend to strengthen and improve the third national strategy in any way possible. There is still time. I never committed to presenting or publishing the strategy before Christmas. What I had said was that we would have a draft in my Department and that there would then be further consultation, not just with the sector but also with the public. As part of this process, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and I had committed to exploring collectively all those points raised in the context of the audit undertaken in my Department to examine how all this was co-ordinated and structured in line with the refuge spaces. That was to ensure that when we presented the strategy and the new structure, we would have answers to all the questions which would arise concerning refuge spaces, such as how they would be delivered, by whom and what kind of resources they would have. Therefore, we are not delaying the presentation of anything in this regard. It is important that when we make the presentation, it is clear what the goals and objectives are, what is being done by whom, what the timelines in that regard are and that the whole endeavour is properly resourced. We intend to do exactly that in the coming weeks and months. I look forward to working with all my colleagues in this House and in the Seanad to ensure we achieve the goal of zero tolerance of any kind of violence or abuse against women or girls.

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