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

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am very much aware that Deputy Murnane O'Connor is very passionate about making sure her county and the community she works with has a refuge and accommodation for women and their families who are fleeing violence and instances of domestic abuse. A number of streams of work are under way at present. As I have outlined previously, we are working to publish in the coming weeks the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. While there is a whole-of-government approach, a key element will be the provision of domestic violence refuge accommodation.

Specifically on this issue, we are building on the recently published Tusla report the Deputy mentioned. An agreement was reached between the Department and the Department with responsibility for children that the delivery and development of services and refuge accommodation would move under the aegis of the Department of Justice. We will have responsibility for the overall strategy and the delivery of policy and refuge accommodation. In recent weeks, since that report was published, there has been engagement with the community and voluntary sector.

We have established an interdepartmental high-level group, as the Deputy has mentioned. It is bringing together the Department of Justice, the Department with responsibility for children, Tusla, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department with responsibility for housing. We are looking at the existing structure, how refuge accommodation is delivered, the type of funding available, where the challenges are and how we can improve the structure and system. As part of this I anticipate that in the coming weeks the interdepartmental group will engage not only on the 56 spaces and areas identified in the Tusla review but also on an increase to 82 spaces with two additional counties.

Our long-term vision as well as this specific focus in the short term will be set out clearly in the coming weeks when we publish the action plan and the third national strategy. All of this needs to be taken together. While it is about refuge accommodation and providing initial support, it is also about all of the other elements, including education and making sure there is a whole-of-society response. Every Department has a role to play. The response from every Department in this regard has been very good to date. I anticipate we will have a significant number of actions in the strategy that will relate not only to the justice sector but also to many other areas.

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