Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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956. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of adults and children who spent time in Tusla funded domestic violence refuge and step down accommodation in 2017; and the average length of time these families spent in emergency accommodation. [44927/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Tusla, the Child and Family Agency has responsibility for the provision of funding, co-ordination and support to 59 organisations nationally that deliver a range of services to victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence. 22 of these organisations provide emergency refuge and emergency non-refuge accommodation to victims of domestic violence and their children.

Tusla does not have access to live data on refuge use. Tusla-funded services provide data to Tusla on a retrospective basis. Tusla is currently in the process of gathering and processing this data for 2017 and expects to be in a position to report on it shortly. At present, the information sought is not available. Initial indications from funded domestic violence services are that refuges consistently operate at full or near full-capacity. 

It should be noted that transitional or step down accommodation units, which may be run by Tusla-funded organisations, are not directly funded by Tusla. However, Tusla provides funding to many of these organisations for a range of community-based services to victims of domestic violence, and residents in transitional or step down accommodation units may access these services.