Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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520. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the supports and information made available to universities, colleges and other institutions and bodies under his remit to deal with suspected and confirmed cases of domestic abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37422/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Tackling domestic and sexual abuse and providing supports for victims is a priority for Government. On 1 January 2019, the Domestic Violence Act 2018 was commenced, which improves the protections available to victims of domestic violence under both the civil and criminal law.

The Department of Justice is leading on the delivery of a number of commitments to make sure that we are responding effectively to the needs of victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. The development of a new national strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, which will place an emphasis on prevention and reduction, is to be agreed by Government before the end of 2021.

I recently launched National University of Ireland, Galway’s Domestic Violence Leave Policy, and I have also written to our publically funded third level institutions to encourage them to consider implementing such a policy to cover their staff.