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

This is an area I have prioritised and in respect of which I have been doing a huge amount of work, in conjunction with a large number of agencies, front-line workers and colleagues across the House, to try to improve the services and supports and put victims at the very centre of everything we do. An Garda Síochána plays a vital role in all of that. Gardaí are hugely important in making sure people are supported when they come forward and as they go through the criminal justice process.

We have taken a number of steps to support the Garda in this area. They include strengthening the criminal law, including work currently under way to create stand-alone offences of stalking and non-fatal strangulation. We are progressing a new sexual offences Bill, which I have worked on with colleagues in the justice committee, including the Deputy as Chairman. We will look to enact the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2021 later this year to address the management and monitoring of sex offenders in the community. We have had preliminary trial hearings conducted under Coco's law and legislation on hate crimes is coming down the line. It is important that An Garda Síochána has strong laws to work with.

Separate to that, we have a budget of €2 billion, as I mentioned earlier, which is an increase of approximately €300 million since 2019. Part of that provision will focus specifically on addressing domestic violence - both violence against women and abuse in general. We have €10.5 million for operational expenditure on mobile devices, equipment for specialist units and ongoing training for priority areas. There will be an increase of more than 70 in the number of divisional protective services units, DPSUs, which are the specified units for dealing with these types of crimes, bringing the total number of gardaí deployed in them to 332 across the various divisions. The roll-out of the Garda Síochána (digital recording) Bill, which I hope to have enacted later this year, will be particularly helpful to first responders. Gardaí often say that the first few seconds of interacting with a perpetrator and victim after they arrive on the scene are extremely important. Getting footage of those interactions will be hugely helpful. The Garda National Protective Services Bureau, GNPSB, has completed a nationwide canvass in regard to the training needs of the DPSUs and a new training programme will be ready for delivery in the coming weeks, with in-person training expected to recommence in quarter 3 of this year. This is something for which gardaí in the DPSUs have been particularly calling.

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