Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1265. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to establish refuge centres for male victims of domestic violence; the options available to men who experience domestic violence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19887/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Tusla provides funding to 60 organisations in the community and voluntary sector delivering specialist support services to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. This includes funding and support for 20 domestic violence refuges and funding to a range of organisations providing accommodation-based services to victims of domestic violence.

To date, funding the revenue cost of refuge services has been provided through Tusla and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Housing Authorities have been key stakeholders around capital funding of new refuge developments.

Refuge services supported by Tusla typically comprise short-term emergency accommodation in a secure, high support setting for women and children at medium to high risk whose needs can’t be met in other settings. Only a minority of those experiencing domestic violence and engaging with support services need to access a refuge. In general terms, the need for provision of the current refuge model of service for men or transgender people on an extensive basis has not been a feature of Tusla engagement with stakeholders to date.

However, Tusla recognises the importance of having available and responsive DSGBV services for people of all genders, with the need to consider access to safe accommodation for men fleeing domestic violence. To begin to address this, Tusla is focusing on developing pathways to safe accommodation for men. Access to designated safe supported domestic violence accommodation for men is being established in 2022 in the Dublin area initially, but it is expected that this type of initiative will be extended once an effective approach can be established.  

Tusla funds two organisations to provide dedicated supports to men who are dealing with domestic violence, Men’s Aid and the Men’s Development Network. Increased funding has been provided to both of these organisations since 2020 to extend their services.

Both of these organisations can provide support, information and signposting for men who may need safe accommodation. Men (and their children, as relevant) who need to access accommodation because of domestic violence can be supported to access accommodation through Housing Authorities, and the Domestic Violence pathway to Rent Supplement introduced by the Department of Social Protection in 2020 is available to all victims, regardless of gender.

Tusla published a review of accommodation for victims of domestic violence in February 2022. An initial ten priority locations were identified for development of new refuge services. Implementation of findings from this review is being led by my Department and will be taken forward in the context of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The strategy is gender neutral. 

Addressing the range of needs for those who experience domestic violence, particularly for people with complex or additional needs, is identified as a recommendation from the domestic violence accommodation review, and relevant actions are due to be included in the strategy, which I intend to bring to Government in the coming weeks.  

Given the current rate of delivery of accommodation I have established a high level Inter-Departmental Group to critically review the existing model of accommodation and develop revised model(s) of delivery.

Any groups with proposals around new refuge developments have been invited to notify Tusla in the first instance on plans in this regard.