Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

We also know it happens all around the country, that it affects people of all ages and social classes and is present in both urban and rural communities. I consider that it would be useful to outline what the current and planned response is to this problem. The starting point for the State's response in recent years, as many Senators will be aware, is the 1997 task force report. Arising from that, the Government established the national steering committee on violence against women, which I am very pleased to chair. This committee involves all the Departments and agencies tasked with responding to the issue as well as representatives of a wide range of voluntary groups working with victims of violence.

The committee has a number of objectives, including promoting public awareness of the problem and co-ordinating responses from both the State and voluntary sector. Above all, the committee acts as a forum for co-operation and cross-fertilisation of experience and insight between the groups involved. A system of regional planning committees is in place, based in each of the old health board areas. Local State and voluntary groups are also represented on these planning committees.

A great deal has been achieved by the committee and the regional groups since their establishment. Their work has focused mainly on the recommendations of the task force report. However, in more recent times we have realised there is a need to re­focus our efforts. Earlier this year we commissioned the development of a new strategic plan for the steering committee. This will take account of developments since its establishment and chart our work for the next five to ten years. It will also review the effectiveness of the mechanisms in place for delivering on our objectives. I have no doubt there is room for improvement and that we will be able to identify necessary improvements as part of this exercise. This project has involved consultation with a wide range of organisations and individuals throughout Ireland and is now coming to fruition. I expect it to be finalised early next year when we will begin its implementation.

While it is essential that we have a strategic direction for our efforts in this field, it might appear that discussion of plans and strategies are a bit removed from the harsh reality of domestic violence. What we are dealing with is a crime. Society must treat it as such and punish offenders. Unfortunately, it is a difficult crime with which to deal, in large part because the relationship between perpetrator and victim is not a normal one. There are usually barriers of influence, authority, shame and even affection which militate against reporting and prosecution. Ireland is not unique in this; the international experience is identical. The key is for the State to seek to break down these barriers.

I am pleased to report that the Garda has done a great deal to ensure domestic violence is dealt with as a serious criminal matter. A domestic violence and sexual assault unit was given a national role in 1997 and an assistant commissioner has been assigned specific responsibility for the area. To direct its approach, the Garda has a written policy on domestic violence intervention. That policy is arrest oriented which means the decision to arrest or not is not down simply to the stated wishes of the injured person upon arrival at the scene. The policy recognises the vulnerable circumstances in which the victim finds himself or herself. Any evidence of fear or harassment is brought to the attention of the court in the event of a bail application.

The Garda role is, in a sense, to come between the power and dominance of the offender and to seek to break the hold over the victim. This domestic violence policy is an integral part of Garda training and is reinforced continually. The feedback suggests that the policy is well regarded nationally and internationally and has made for an improved response. Nonetheless, the Garda has been involved in a major review of its features, with a view to modernising and honing them further. As is proper, wide consultation has taken place on this and we expect to see the finished product very soon.

In order to respond effectively, however, a legal framework for tackling domestic violence must also be in place. Again, this is an area where good progress has been made. A comprehensive range of offences is available to the Garda with which to charge perpetrators, including measures which take account of previously unacknowledged phenomena such as harassment or stalking behaviour. This is also an area where, I understand, our European colleagues believe we represent good practice. A key element in this framework is that established by the domestic violence legislation. As Senators will be aware, this provides for a range of orders to protect the victim from the threat of abuse and to punish breaches of those orders. The Garda policy is to always arrest where there are reasonable grounds for believing that such an order has been breached.

Despite the progress that has been made, there is no doubt that the level of reporting remains low. We know this from a range of studies, the most recent being the authoritative National Crime Council report which found that a little under a quarter of all people surveyed who had experienced severe abuse had reported it to the Garda. The crime council report looked in detail at the reasons for non-reporting and pointed towards areas in which we must work. Lack of confidence in the system and-or the Garda feature in these responses but the overall picture is complex. More than half of those surveyed attributed non-reporting to such factors as a belief that it was not serious enough, that is was the victim's own fault in some way or that it could lead to the end of the relationship. This highlights how difficult an issue this is to tackle and how we need to do everything we can, not just to improve the response of the criminal justice system at all levels, but also to build up the confidence of victims in the system. Victims must feel they can rely on the system and that what they have experienced will be taken very seriously. We must convince them of this through our actions and in continually improving the effectiveness and the co-ordination of our responses.

An important element in our response is also to improve society's awareness of the problem, to emphasise that domestic violence is a crime and that help is available. Some of the best work of the national steering committee has been in this area and I believe it has borne fruit. The steering committee has run national print, poster and broadcast campaigns and the response received has been positive. We have also funded local groups to run awareness raising programmes in their areas. A key element in much of our campaigning work has been to let people know they can play a part in ending domestic violence. We hope these campaigns will encourage members of society to help make a safer and better life for those affected by violence.

Another less high profile but invaluable task has been to make available information leaflets and other publicity material. These are widely distributed. People experiencing violence must be able to easily access information in a simple format about where they can turn for help and what are their rights. We have also provided funding on a pilot basis to programmes which involve awareness raising among older secondary school students and are interested in working with the Department of Education and Science to ensure this is expanded.

There is obviously much more to be done to encourage further and earlier reporting and to improve the criminal justice sector response. I expect this will form a central part in our new strategic plan and we will not be afraid to look critically at every element of what we do. As I stated, however, we will need a multifaceted approach to this problem and thus we are incorporating a range of more novel solutions into our overall approach. Consequently, the Department funds a number of perpetrator programmes designed to promote changes in personal behaviour and prevent future abuse. This is challenging work and far from being straightforward but, in some instances and with the right safeguards, it does have a role to play in tackling the problem.

In recognition of the difficulties experienced by persons appearing in court under the aforementioned circumstances, the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime within my Department also provides funding to Women's Aid and Rape Crisis to assist with running court accompaniment services. We also fund a pilot domestic violence intervention exercise in the Dún Laoghaire and Bray areas which aims to work with all of the agencies in the locality, including the Garda, the courts and the probation and welfare service so as to make the criminal justice system and other response systems work together better. I look forward to reviewing the lessons we can learn from this exercise.

Our record demonstrates that we will examine any model or listen to any advice that may contribute to tackling the problem. If it seems to have the capacity to add to the solution, we will test it and seek to integrate it with other efforts. We also work closely with non-governmental organisations, academics and others in commissioning and funding research into all aspects of domestic violence. We realise that the problem is complex and that the solutions need to be evidence-based. As already stated, the problems experienced in Ireland are similar to those in other jurisdictions and we are involved in regular co-operation with other authorities. In particular, we co-sponsor a very productive forum, Raising the Standards, which involves a wide range of official and voluntary bodies in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

I am conscious that my comments so far have focused on the criminal justice response. In emphasising that we need to treat domestic violence as a crime, we should not lose sight of the fact that victims will need services that are outside the capacity of the criminal justice system. If these are effective, it may encourage people to report crimes but, even if they never do, it is essential that their health and welfare needs are met as a priority.

The Department of Health and Children is responsible, through the Health Service Executive, for the provision of services to victims of violence, including domestic violence, rape and sexual assault. As the Senators will know, these are mainly provided by non-governmental organisations. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government assists in the provision of crisis accommodation, including refuge accommodation for people who are forced to leave their homes as a result of domestic violence.

All of our work with the relevant non-governmental agencies takes place on a partnership basis and I am very conscious of the need to ensure they are adequately funded to provide their vital services. As many Senators will be aware, the scarcity of resources in this area has been a matter of concern for some time. Funding from the Department of Health and Children, for example, has been increased to €12 million from the base of less than €4 million that obtained when the national steering committee was established but there appears to be a need to consider increasing this further. I am sure this issue has been raised with many Senators — as it has been with me — by various groups throughout the country.

The funding question was, as many Senators will be aware, highlighted last week by Women's Aid when it presented its annual helpline statistics. I do not want to engage in a micro-discussion on the funding needs of any particular group but I appreciate that Senators will have an interest in this instance. It certainly calls attention to the issue generally. I am pleased to say that the Health Service Executive will be meeting Women's Aid shortly and that the funding issues can be raised directly with it, as the responsible agency. My Department already provides funding to Women's Aid under a number of headings and is also in discussions with the organisation regarding certain of its needs that fall within our funding remit. I hope this will enable it to direct resources towards frontline services such as its helpline.

On the more general funding question, arising from concerns regarding this issue I established an interdepartmental group earlier this year to examine funding for the whole sector. The group is examining the needs that exist, the funding already available and the co-ordination of funding across Departments. The aim is to ensure that the sector is in a position to provide proper treatment and support services to all who need them and that the national budget for these services can be planned in a co-ordinated way. The group will shortly be making its report and I hope to be discussing the recommendations very soon and planning their implementation with my colleagues in Government, including in the context of the Estimates campaign.

I pay tribute to the many non-governmental organisations that have, over the years, provided services and support to victims of domestic violence, many of whom I have had an opportunity to meet. As I said, we are open to suggestions on how to take this work forward and I look forward to hearing Members' views on the subject.