Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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176. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the progress in addressing Supporting a Victim's Journey: A plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases, recommendation 9.5 (details supplied). [30068/21]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter as the full implementation of the recommendations of the O'Malley Review has been a priority for Minister McEntee and that will continue during my time as Minister of State in the Department of Justice.

Following publication of 'Supporting a Victim’s Journey' - our plan to implement the recommendations of the O'Malley Review - the Department established three specific sub-groups to work on implementing some of the recommendations.

One of these sub groups is focused on meeting the training needs of a wide range of front-line staff and professionals, including legal professionals.

The sub-group has been tasked with

- identifying gaps in the current provision;

- recommending measures to address them;

- ascertaining the types of training that is needed; and

- designing a framework for its delivery.

In the coming weeks, my Department will be engaging a consultant to conduct a mapping exercise to establish what training is already being provided, and in what areas. This exercise will commence as soon as practicable and have a relatively short timeframe for completion so the development work can begin.

Following the mapping exercise, evaluation of the effectiveness of current training will take place and the sub-group will flesh out what gaps exist with support from the consultant.

Once these first two stages are complete, measures will be brought forward to address any gaps and meet the training needs identified.