Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle for facilitating the discussion of this Topical Issue matter. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, recorded 2,892 victims of sexual violence in 2021, with roughly 80% of these being girls and women. For that same year, Women's Aid received 1,104 disclosures of sexual abuse, including 411 disclosures of rape. This is a specific and serious dimension of the epidemic of gender-based violence.

Today, I am focusing on one aspect of this broader issue, namely, sexual assault treatment units. It was revealed this week that there was a 25% rise in the numbers presenting at the six HSE sexual assault treatment units. This was the first year the figure was above 1,000. One fifth of those were aged between 14 and 17. These units, in Dublin, Galway, Cork, Waterford, Mullingar and Donegal, do incredible work in treating and helping victims who arrive in a highly vulnerable state. They provide specialised care that is focused on the person. These figures underline their crucial role.

Based on the increase last year, I urge the Minister of State to work with the HSE to provide additional funding and posts to support existing services and the expansion of outreach services. The outreach clinics, in particular, are essential. The Cork city unit recently opened clinics in Bantry, in my constituency, and in Tralee. These are welcome developments and we need more of them. We cannot tolerate a situation where, for example, victims of rape have to go two hours in a car before they get to one of the assessment units because, without going into too much detail around it, people cannot shower before they have those assessments and the further people are from those units, the more traumatic it is for them to travel there.

There is clearly an established need for these centres and for more of them. This is specific work that needs highly trained professionals and there must be investment to recruit and train more staff. This is a complex area to discuss. Each and every incident is truly horrific and wrong and it is important that when people experience these awful crimes and violations that they feel they can turn to and trust our health services. It is also important to say that this is a health service that is separate to the Garda. The health services work closely with law enforcement but no one is compelled to make an official report. It is a highly victim-centred approach.

Professor Maeve Eogan, the national clinical lead for the HSE's sexual assault treatment units and consultant obstetrician at the Rotunda Hospital, described the situation very well when she said:

If you are an optimist you would say more people know about our service, so hopefully the totality of sexual crime is not increasing and people are seeking care and seeking support and accessing that at a time and place that suits them and is responsive to their needs.

Given that we know that reported cases of sexual assault and rape are only the tip of the iceberg and that more people are attending these units, it is clear that more specialist centres will facilitate more victims in coming forward and getting tailored medical and psychological assistance.

There is also a need to understand the implications of these numbers. As Professor Eogan stated, it is unclear if these figures relate to an increase in sexual assaults or in reporting.

We need a unified approach to understand the issues involving the HSE, An Garda Síochána, violence support organisations and researchers. Will the Minister of State clarify when the updated Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland survey will be published? It was commenced by the CSO in 2018 and was due for completion within five years. It will be significant in shaping our understanding and policy development.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic. It is a terrible reality that sexual assault and violence continue within our society. The 2022 annual report for sexual assault treatment units, SATUs, in Ireland is yet to be finalised but the provisional data for 2022 show that approximately 1,050 people attended across the six units in Ireland in that year. This represents an increase of 191, or 22%, on the 2021 attendance figure of 859. I note that the 2018 and 2019 attendance figures were almost identical at 941 and 943, respectively. The 2022 figure shows an increase of almost 110, or 12%, on both 2018 and 2019. This 12% increase over the four-year period since 2018 gives perhaps the most balanced view of trends over recent years and should be viewed through the lens of work we are doing across government to encourage more victims to come forward to seek supports and report these heinous crimes.

Sexual violence is defined as any sexual act performed on the victim without consent. SATUs support people who have experienced rape or sexual assault and provide responsive and person-focused care for people aged 14 years and older who have experienced sexual violence. There are six SATUs throughout Ireland located in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Mullingar, Letterkenny and Waterford. Each unit aims to provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week and respond within three hours to ensure that people can access care in a timely fashion, as set out in the 2023 publication, Sexual Assault Treatment Unit National Guidelines on Referral and Forensic Clinical Examination Following Rape and Sexual Assault. The SATUs are geographically distributed to enable any patient nationally to access the service within a three-hour window, optimising both the health and criminal justice responses to sexual crimes. The Government has always been very clear that regardless of the circumstances in which sexual violence has occurred, a victim of these crimes can and should report their experience to An Garda Síochána.

Victims of these crimes also have the option of calling the excellent front-line services provided by organisations such as the Rape Crisis Centre, which offer non-judgmental support, a listening ear and information. Their services are for both women and men and the work they do in this difficult space needs to be commended. The services provided by SATUs have two main components: the provision of health and supportive care, and the collection of forensic evidence. SATUs are the key health sector supports available to victims of rape and sexual assault. Responsibility for responding to sexual violence is shared across government.

The Government's commitment to tackling the issue of sexual violence is further demonstrated by the publication of the O'Malley review implementation plan, Supporting A Victim’s Journey: A Plan to Help Victims and Vulnerable Witnesses in Sexual Violence Cases, and the work being progressed through the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which was launched last year. Through the Supporting a Victim's Journey plan, a number of recommendations to support victims of sexual crime have been progressed, including recommendations on the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences, the introduction of trained intermediaries, training for front-line professionals and actions to reduce delays in the trial process.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State. I have no doubt that she understands the significance of this area. I urge her to speak to the Minister for Health about how the HSE can develop increased capacity and geographical spread to deal with this horrific epidemic. I draw attention to the fact that the initial data show that one fifth of those who attended these units last year - over 200 people - were aged 14 to 17, a particularly worrying number. We do not know if this is due to an increase in rates of assault and violence or an increase in reporting. Regardless, it must be a wake-up call. We know that these figures are replicated in other findings. The National Women's Council of Ireland has highlighted that young women aged 18 to 34 are twice as likely to be subjected to sexual harassment and violence than women on average. In all of the Government's efforts to address gender-based violence, there must be a clear emphasis on responding to these worrying levels among young women.

Every time I raise these issues, I call for immediate reform of sexual and relationship education. Young people need to be properly educated on matters of consent and sexual health; it is that simple. It is clear that delays in these changes are facilitating harm. The debate is long over; we need those reforms now. Sexual assaults and violence at a young age impact a person's whole life. We must do everything we can to prevent these despicable crimes. There must be specific integrated strategies involving health, education, law, youth organisations and sports clubs to respond to this issue. Nothing less than a whole-of-government response is required to intervene effectively.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy again for raising this important topic. In my concluding remarks, I wish to refer to the SATU policy review, which began in September 2018 and concluded in February 2019 and examined the efficacy of these treatment units. The review team comprised staff from the Department of Health, the then Department of Justice and Equality, the HSE and the SATUs. I am pleased to say the implementation of the policy review recommendations has been completed. The fifth edition of the National Guidelines on Referral and Forensic Clinical Examination Following Rape and Sexual Assault, have been developed this year as an inter-agency document to ensure clearly defined referral pathways exist in order that all people, regardless of age or gender, can access appropriate individualised care that is responsive to their needs. The implementation of the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy for the period 2022 to 2026, as well as the completion of a range of other projects across many Government Departments, will be essential in achieving the aim of reducing sexual crime. Responsibility for responding to sexual violence is shared across the Government. I am aware that the Department of Justice has agreed with the CSO to the development and delivery of a significant new national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland. It will look in detail at the experience of sexual violence and abuse for both women and men in Ireland. Having the most relevant and up-to-date data on the prevalence of sexual violence will continue to help us to plan for better services and supports for victims, including across SATUs.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We will suspend until Private Members' business.