Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 358 of 16 September 2009, the position regarding same. [9633/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The implementation of the National Review of Sexual Assault Treatment Services is ongoing but essentially complete. Currently there are 6 Sexual Assault Treatment Units (SATUs) located around the country - all of which strive to provide a 24 hour a day service, 7 days a week. The units are located at The Rotunda Hospital (Dublin), South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (Cork), Waterford Regional Hospital, Midlands Hospital (Mullingar), Galway and Letterkenny. Due to infrastructural constraints, which have on occasion limited their ability to offer a 24/7 service, alternative ring-fenced accommodations have been sourced for the units in Mullingar and Letterkenny to place them in a better position to provide care around the clock.

On 20th April 2009, I presented certificates to the first group of clinical nurse/midwife specialists who completed the academic component of the Higher Diploma in Nursing - Sexual Assault Forensic Nursing Examination in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. This course equips participant with the knowledge, skills and competence to carry out forensic clinical examinations in a systematic objective manner, whilst caring for the victim, and recognising their physiological and psychological trauma. The nurses are now working in their sponsoring SATU areas providing holistic care to the victims of sexual assault. As well as undertaking clinical and forensic examination of men and women who are engaging with the criminal justice system, these nurses also provide care for people who choose not to report an incident to An Garda Síochána. Care for such people is internationally recognised to be beneficial in order to reduce the immediate and long-term effects of assault but the limited SATU services in Ireland had been unable to offer such support prior to 2009. Plans are underway to run another education programme in September 2010 to increase the number of nurses available to provide holistic care and undertake clinical forensic examination of victims of sexual assault. The training and appointment of these nurses/midwives has had an immensely positive impact on provision of SATU services around the country.

In relation to data collection, final national figures for 2009 for attendance at SATUs are expected to be available over the next month from all 6 centres.

A revision of the 2006 Rape/Sexual Assault - National Guidelines on Referral and Forensic Clinical Examination is currently underway, as mandated in the National Review. The revised interagency guidelines will be available by mid 2010 and will be distributed to all relevant stakeholders. These revised guidelines will mirror the developments and improvements that have taken place in this sector in the intervening years, such as the provision of services for non-reporting clients and the inclusion of preventative care, for example in relation to sexually transmitted infections, in the treatment available to clients.

Finally, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2010 was published on 19th January 2010. It has two main purposes: to update our laws on the taking of samples from suspects for use in evidence, and to provide for the establishment of a DNA Database System for use by the Garda Síochána as an intelligence source for criminal investigations and also to assist in finding missing persons and identifying unknown persons including human remains. The Bill is awaiting Second Stage in the Dáil.

It provides that most persons detained in connection with a serious offence (generally an offence punishable by imprisonment of 5 years or more) will be required to provide a sample for the purposes of the DNA Database System. It also provides that:

offenders subject to a sentence of imprisonment at the time of commencement for a serious offence (irrespective of whether the offender is in prison or on temporary release), and

all offenders subject to the notification requirement in the Sex Offenders Act 2001 at the time of commencement will be required to provide a sample for the DNA Database. DNA profiles relating to offenders will be retained on the Database indefinitely.