Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)

We know that workers and organisations in the community and voluntary sector provide essential supports to victims and survivors of sexual, domestic and gender-based violence. Yet organisations under sections 39, 56 and 10 are continuing to suffer from severe uncertainty in terms of their finances because of the Government's failure to clarify matters. As of last week, Cuan, which is the Minister's Department’s statutory agency tasked with reducing the incidence of gender-based violence, had made no contact with more than 70 organisations it funds. We understand the Department of justice, the Minister's Department, was supposed to release funding to Cuan to pay the organisations so they could pay their workers and staff. Moneys were meant to be paid by 1 October to go to payroll this month. We understand that has not come through. Can the Minister, as the line Minister, explain to those who work for such organisations providing such vital services why they are not being paid on time during a cost-of-living crisis? Why has there, apparently, been no sanction for this money from the Departments of justice or public expenditure? I think it is a very serious matter.

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