Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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365. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to improve services for victims of domestic abuse in the north east with particular reference to the lack of adequate provision of such services in counties Cavan and Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12453/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla, the Child and Family Agency allocates funding for a network of 60 organisations that provide services to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland. This includes 20 services that provide some 147 family units of emergency refuge accommodation to women and children.

In 2016, the dedicated national budget for domestic, sexual and gender-based services was €20.6m. This funding level will increase by €1.5m this year and will allow for the continuing implementation of actions in the second National Strategy for Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention).

Tusla is currently finalising details of funding to be allocated to domestic violence services in 2017 and will be informing individual services shortly.

Currently, there are no refuges located in counties Cavan and Monaghan. However, there are three refuge services located in counties Louth and Meath which are responsible for providing services to women and families across the wider North East area.

A range of supports are required in order to reduce the need for women and families to use emergency accommodation and to ensure that families disrupted by domestic violence can be supported to resume safe family living beyond refuge type accommodation, within the shortest possible time frames. Local domestic violence services play an important role in prevention and supporting families outside of refuge.

Tusla recognises that there are challenges to be addressed in ensuring that there is an appropriate configuration of spaces available to all women and children who require emergency refuge accommodation, and that those with the greatest need for safe accommodation, are prioritised appropriately.

As part of its commissioning process, Tusla is looking at levels of need and will work with domestic violence services and all key stakeholders to ensure that appropriate responses are in place for those affected by domestic violence in counties Cavan and Monaghan.