Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something that is close to her heart and on which she has been advocating for a significant period. It is quite poignant to hear the names of the women who died in February and March over the past 27 years. It is good that their names have been put on the Dáil record, which is some sort of acknowledgement. As the Deputy correctly said, they have been made voiceless in myriad different ways. I agree with her that following Ashling Murphy's death in particular, we must keep the momentum going and keep raising this matter in the House. I very much welcome that the subject has been raised as a Topical Issue matter.

The Minister for Justice would like to assure the Deputy that she is committed to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in all its forms and to ensure people, particularly women and vulnerable persons, feel and are safe in our communities. As the Deputy will know, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, along with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integrity and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, commissioned an independent audit of how responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is segmented across Government. Separately, Tusla has conducted a review of accommodation services for victims of such violence. Both of these audits were carried out with a view to determining what efficiencies and improvements need to be introduced in how we manage domestic, sexual and gender-based violence responses and services. On foot of the audits and following extensive consultation with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integrity and Youth, it has been agreed that the Department of Justice will now have responsibility for service provision in the area of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence while also continuing to lead on policy in this area.

Work is under way on how this will be structured and I understand further details will be announced in the coming weeks. As part of this, the establishment of a new statutory agency to address domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is under consideration. In tandem, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been working on the new national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, in partnership with those who work on the front lines. Their voices will be critical to its success and will help to ensure the new strategy is targeted, comprehensive, effective and, most importantly, victim-centred. It will be the most ambitious plan to date in this area and will be structured around the four pillars or goals of the Istanbul Convention, namely, prevention, prosecution, protection and co-ordinated policies. It will set an overall goal of zero tolerance in our society for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

The Deputy may have seen, the week before last, that the Minister briefed those working in the sector on the progress of the strategy and shared the draft document with them. She also launched a wider public consultation on the new strategy on 17 February. That public consultation is in the form of an online survey that asks people's views on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and what they would like to see in the new strategy. For example, it asks what people think the emphasis of the strategy should be, how we can improve supports for victims, how we can better educate our young people and how we can change attitudes across society. It also asks, among many other questions, whether our laws are strong enough to provide justice for victims. The consultation is available through the Department of Justice website and there already have been more than a thousand submissions. I am sure the Deputy will join me in encouraging everyone to engage and make their views known on this important topic before the consultation ends next Thursday. It is a short enough consultation and we encourage everybody, male or female, to give us their views.

The finalised strategy is expected to be brought to Government this spring. When published, it will be accompanied by a detailed action plan setting out how specific actions under these aims will be achieved, who is responsible for them and the timeframe for delivery.

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