Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for reading those names into the record of the House. It is important to remember that these were women with families, and their lives were cut short tragically and violently. It is very important that we acknowledge and remember them. I thank the Deputy for doing that. I also acknowledge our colleagues Deputies Stanton and Alan Farrell in the work they have done around coercive control and attacking gender-based violence. It is very important that collectively we work collaboratively across the House in tackling this issue.

Tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, in all its forms is a key part of the commitment of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, to ensuring that everybody feels safe, and is safe, in our communities. This commitment has the full support of the Government. We have been working on a number of fronts to combat DSGBV and to ensure comprehensive supports for victims. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, along with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, commissioned an independent audit of how responsibility for DSGBV is segmented across government.Separately, Tusla conducted a review of accommodation services for victims of DSGBV. Both of these audits were carried out with a view to determining what efficiencies and improvements need to be introduced in how we manage DSGBV responses and services.

On foot of these audits, and following extensive consultation with the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the Department of Justice will now have responsibility for funding of local refuges, Rape Crisis Centres and associated helplines for victims of DSGBV, while continuing to lead on policy in this area. As part of this, the establishment of a new statutory agency to address DSGBV is under consideration. In tandem, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been working on a whole-of-government strategy on DSGBV.

This strategy will be the most ambitious to date and will be structured around the four pillars or goals of the Istanbul Convention, namely, prevention, protection, prosecution and co-ordinated policies. It will set an overall goal of zero tolerance in our society for DSGBV. The strategy has been developed in partnership with the sector to ensure it is targeted, comprehensive and effective in achieving all of the goals set out. Earlier this year, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, briefed those working in the sector on the progress of the strategy and, as part of that ongoing consultation, a wider public consultation run by the Department of Justice concluded in March. Officials in that Department are currently working to finalise the strategy for submission to Government in light of submissions received in this final consultative phase.

To deliver on the high ambition of the strategy, it will be accompanied by a detailed action plan for the rest of this year and next. This action plan will ensure our work is targeted, precise and deliverable. It will set out how each of the aims will be achieved, which Departments and agencies are responsible for them, and the timeframe for delivery. The Minister intends to bring both the finalised strategy and the action plan to Government in the coming weeks, well before the summer recess, and they will be published as soon as possible thereafter. I commend the Minister for her work. She is taking this issue very seriously, to the point of acting with determination and a sense of urgency, which we all want over the next number of years and beyond.

See this speech in context