Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for choosing this Commencement matter. I agree with Senator Buttimer regarding the lack of availability of the line Ministers for Commencement debates in general. That said, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, who is always very amenable to coming before this House. Any time I have raised issues related to his area of responsibility, he has been here.

It goes without saying that the rape crisis centres nationwide do invaluable work. They are hugely important and while we all wish there was no need for them, unfortunately there is such a need and there will be in future as well. Galway Rape Crisis Centre is the second largest rape crisis centre in the country. At present it has a waiting list of 86 people and it has requested extra funding from Tusla. That funding is needed both to enhance services and to maintain the current level of services being provided. The centre provides extra clinical hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, with counsellors working until 9 p.m. Since November 2020, the centre has run a Saturday clinic, with two counsellors seeing clients, but without the extra funding requested, it will no longer be able to provide the Saturday clinic or the extra midweek counselling hours that have been provided throughout the year.

On the current waiting list, there are 23 adolescents and two adolescent supporters. The centre covers the geographical area of Galway city and county, north Clare, south Mayo and Roscommon but anybody who has experienced sexual trauma or abuse can present to the rape crisis centre. There are two universities in Galway, the National University of Ireland at Galway, NUIG and the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, which are attended by thousands of people from the region and from across the country. In effect, Galway Rape Crisis Centre is seeing people from every corner of this country. Obviously, clients from the universities add significantly to the workload and waiting times at the centre.

From January to October of this year, the Galway Rape Crisis Centre offered 4,375 counselling appointments. It offered 4,727 such appointments in the whole of 2021. From January to October 2021, it offered 3,687 counselling appointments which means that in the same period in 2022, the centre offered an extra 688 appointments. Despite this, the centre still has a significant waiting list. It is possible that such figures are replicated in other parts of the country. Clearly the need is there and the invaluable work the rape crisis centres do is evident. The waiting list is a statistic in its own right. The Galway Rape Crisis Centre also plays an invaluable role in the city's two universities.

The additional funding that is required is pivotal to the future of Galway Rape Crisis Centre. Without it, the centre will have to turn to the public and engage in fundraising. While fundraising is an important source of income, the cost-of-living crisis is putting pressure on households and limiting people's ability to give generously to the most worthy of causes, including the rape crisis centres. I am hoping the Minister of State, on behalf of the Minister for Justice, will provide additional funding to allow the centre to maintain and enhance its existing service provision in order to provide the support that is so needed by women and men across Galway city and county and the wider area.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Kyne for raising such an important issue. The statistics he raises are quite shocking. They are also quite enlightening and make us all sit up and pay attention to the scale of the problem the Senator has raised. On behalf of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, I fully acknowledge the vital work undertaken by Galway Rape Crisis Centre, by all rape crisis centres and by anybody who works with victims of sexual violence. The service that the centre provides to victims of domestic and sexual violence is recognised and appreciated, as is the service provided by all of our NGO partners who work with and advocate for victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I would like to start by thanking them for the work they do.

We know that the demands on services have increased over the past two years, as the Senator has outlined, and we know that costs have risen. This is not just true for Galway Rape Crisis Centre, but for most of the front-line service providers we engage with. As the Senator mentioned, Zero Tolerance, the new national strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, was launched earlier this year. It is an ambitious five-year programme of reform, a whole-of-society plan of action. Implementation is a whole-of-government priority, backed up by a substantial funding commitment under budget 2023.

The total allocated to Tusla for funding domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services is now at €37 million, representing an extra €9 million, or a 22% increase, in funding for 2023. This record allocation is representative of our commitment to continue working with our NGO partners to deliver on commitments made in the third national strategy. The extra €9 million provided includes increased funding of €6.8 million for organisations funded by Tusla, which is being made available through a targeted funding call. Some €6.8 million will be used to maintain existing services, to address existing acute demands and costs and for the enhancement and development of new services. There will be an emphasis on supporting projects to address geographic need, on those with additional vulnerabilities or complex needs, and on supports for young people who have experienced sexual violence. Senator Kyne referred to the two universities in Galway, which was an appropriate comment to make in that context. Some €900,000 will be specifically made available for sexual violence services to meet the needs of younger people and to address geographical gaps in provision.

I fully appreciate that security of funding is of key importance to front-line service providers. We are looking to offer multiannual funding commitments to the NGOs. This will promote more sustainable service delivery and planning to cover areas such as court accompaniment, accompaniment to Garda interviews and to sexual assault treatment units, emotional support, counselling and referral to other services. The introduction of standardised multiannual funding structures is something we will be examining under the strategy.

Separate to the funding of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services, the Department of Justice has allocated €6.1 million for other measures to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including through awareness-raising campaigns and funding for perpetrator programmes. The Department of Justice has allocated a further €5.8 million to promote and assist the development of specific support services for victims of crime within the criminal justice system, including victims of domestic and sexual crime. These services provide important information and supports including emotional support, accompaniment to Garda interviews, to sexual assault treatment units and to court, as well as referral to other services.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I assure the Senator that we will continue to work closely with the sector as we progress the implementation of the third national strategy and realise the actions aimed at combating all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and at ensuring that victims and survivors have the full range of supports they need. I will bring the specific issues the Senator has raised with regard to Galway to the attention of the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and Humphreys.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive response on behalf of the Department. Certainly when I was putting down this Commencement matter I knew that the functions were split between Tusla, which is under the Department of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Department of Justice. That creates a little bit of confusion. The Minister of State highlighted the delivery of the rape crisis centres covering areas such as court accompaniment, accompaniment to Garda interviews and to sexual assault treatment units, emotional support, counselling and referral to other services. There is a very hands-on approach that the rape crisis centres provide for victims of rape and sexual assault. It is extremely important work of support for victims. That is what this funding is about, to ensure the supports are continuously provided over the course of this year and into the future. I would welcome engagement from the Minister of State and will certainly follow up with the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and Humphreys on support for Galway Rape Crisis Centre.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I will refer the Senator's comments to both Ministers concerned.

Without being in any way disrespectful to the issues he and others have raised here, I wish to raise the more fundamental issue of how he as a Senator is able to engage with the line Minister who has responsibility for policy. I do not disagree with anything the Senator has raised here but I am sure there are other moving parts within the Department that I am not aware of in this context. A suggestion I have made to Senator Buttimer already this morning is that the House might look at some sort of scheduling mechanism in order for it to be of value to Senators to raise matters on behalf of their constituents or policy-related matters. I am thinking of a provision whereby if a Minister gets advance notice of maybe a week or ten days, they or someone from their Department must be made available to the Seanad on that day. If there were five or six people who wanted to raise different issues in a fixed period to that Minister on that day, almost like a live mic or Question Time, it would be far more beneficial than having somebody like myself giving a scripted answer without the policy knowledge needed for a comprehensive level of engagement. As Senator Kyne has been in this position, I know he understands the point. I would not suggest anything to the Upper House as to how it should run its affairs. I have always enjoyed my engagement here. It is far more productive than the Dáil, to be quite honest. I have had many a good sword-fight with Senator Higgins. I think something needs to change in this regard. It is not fair to the scale of the problems individuals are raising, and nor is it fair to the Government Departments that want to get a message out.

Pat Casey (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for that advice and for coming in this morning.