Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Gallagher for bringing this Commencement matter before the House. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee.

A central element of delivering on the zero tolerance goal of the third national strategy is the establishment of a statutory domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, agency, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, was delighted to establish Cuan at the start of the year. Cuan has a specific mandate to drive the implementation of the strategy across Government, bringing the expertise and focus required to tackle this complex social issue. Under budget 2024, in excess of €7.9 million in additional funding for combatting DSGBV has been allocated. This represents a significant increase and will support the implementation of the zero tolerance plan, including through the new agency, which has an overall budget of €59 million for 2024.

The agency works in collaboration with the NGO and DSGBV services sectors to ensure that the best possible services are in place to meet the needs of victims and survivors, including safe and accessible accommodation. One of the key actions in the third national strategy is doubling the number of refuge spaces available during the lifetime of the strategy to 280. The 2024 implementation plan sets out the following deliverables for safe home and refuge delivery by quarter 4 of 2024 - to have active planning and engagement under way for the delivery of 150 additional family refuge units; the delivery of eight new family refuge units; ensuring 25 additional family refuge units are under construction; and increasing the number of safe homes by a further 35%.As well as delivering on supports such as accommodation, Cuan is tasked with putting in place a robust set of national service standards and governance arrangements to ensure adherence to the appropriate standards for these supports.

As the Deputy is aware, the Cavan-Monaghan region has been identified as a priority area for refuge development. Cuan has a dedicated team in place to support the development of domestic violence refuges. This team has been engaging with the local service provider in the Cavan-Monaghan area and has supported the organisation in terms of its capacity and governance. Following significant engagement, this local service provider will work with Safe Ireland, which will now lead out on the development of refuge accommodation in the Cavan-Monaghan area. As an identified priority area, every effort will be made to ensure that supports are put in place to achieve delivery of refuge and support services in Cavan and Monaghan as quickly as possible.