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

I will answer Questions Nos. 13 and 14 together.

I will start by saying a sincere thanks to those who were involved in the development of the strategy. This is a follow-on and builds on the great amount of work that was done in the previous two strategies by our former colleague and Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, in particular. We have worked very closely not just with all Government Departments but also with our State agencies and, in particular, with the community and voluntary sector and our service providers in developing this strategy. It was co-designed with Safe Ireland and with the National Women's Council of Ireland, which obviously represents so many organisations across the country. It is a very ambitious plan. This five-year programme of reform essentially seeks to achieve a society where there is zero tolerance for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We have 144 actions. My intention from the outset was to develop a strategy but also to ensure we have a very clear implementation plan setting out the number of actions; who is needed to carry out those actions; where there is crossover between agencies, Departments and service providers; when those actions are due to be delivered; and the funding that is required for them. We have quite a specific and detailed plan. The first implementation plan is set out for the next 18 months and the subsequent plans will be set out over the coming years.

Many people have asked what we mean by zero tolerance. It means a number of things and I have described it in a number of ways. To me, essentially we are collectively saying as a society that just because abuse happens behind closed doors in a personal relationship or in a family setting, we should not tolerate it in the way that we have. We have done so as a society up until now. Regardless of whether it is physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse, we need to call it out and ensure those who need help know that it is there and that when they come forward, the services are there to support them. Many of the actions in the plan focus specifically on the need to improve our services, improve engagement, improve access to the information that victims need and put them at the very centre.

The second aspect is how we can each respond in our own general behaviour to domestic or sexual violence but also how we respond to inappropriate comments, touching or types of behaviour that can often lead to much more extreme types of behaviour. It is particularly important to do that at a young age to ensure that our young children, in an open and age-appropriate way, are taught what a healthy relationship is; how to engage with each other as boys and girls, men and women; what a healthy sexual relationship is; how to engage on difficult issues like pornography, which has become more violent; and how to navigate many other areas also. It is about everything from putting the structures in place, strengthening our laws, improving our policies and working collectively to ensuring that each and every one of us in society understands that we have a role to play if we are going to change the way we view, respond to and think about domestic and sexual violence.

Most importantly, as the first implementation plan will develop, the establishment of a statutory agency with sole responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to help to implement the strategy will ensure that we develop our number of refuge and accommodation centres. We have given a commitment to double their number from 141 to 282 in the lifetime of the strategy. We intend to develop the agency even further beyond that to ensure it has a role in raising awareness and developing campaigns to reach out to all of us, but to victims in particular. It will also gather data. We have given a commitment to have a Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland report every five years. The last one was done 20 years ago. I think we will all agree that our country has changed and that we need to ensure we are up to date in the types of experiences people have. This is about getting the voice of the victim and ensuring it is at the very heart of what we do. I acknowledge our colleague, Deputy Stanton, who did a great amount of work in this space in his role as Minister of State with responsibility for equality in the Department of Justice.

I say again that this is building on a significant amount of work that has been done. I believe it is ambitious. I hope that if it is enacted and implemented and everybody does what they should do, we will see a significant change in our society in general.

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