Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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846. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide an update on development of the zero-tolerance plan; the timeframe for its implementation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54353/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The implementation of Zero Tolerance, our third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, has been a priority for me since it was published earlier this year. 

It is an ambitious five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it.

The €363 million strategy is built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention framework and the accompanying implementation plan contains 144 detailed actions for implementation this year and next.

I will not be able to give an update on each action, as I am sure the Deputy can appreciate, but I am sure he will be interested to know that an updated version of the implementation plan for the Strategy, with an update on each specific action, will be published on the Department's website at a later stage. 

I am also happy to provide some overarching implementation updates to the Deputy in the meantime: 

- The first Interdepartmental Group meeting of the implementation bodies for the new DSGBV strategy took place on 17th October and there was an excellent response from Departments and Agencies, with updates received from the launch of the strategy in June to end of Q3. 

- The Senior Officials' Group for the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Equality met previous to this on 12 Oct and the Secretaries-General High-Level Oversight Board, which is co-chaired by Department of the Taoiseach, met last week.  

- I will be meeting the wider DSGBV sector NGOs and stakeholders in person on 23 November for a debriefing/consultation session.

- I have committed to establish a new DSGBV Agency to come into operation on 1 January 2024 and my Department and Tusla have been working in close collaboration to ensure a smooth and orderly transition of DSGBV services before that date. A memorandum of understanding, to continue the

- provision of services while the new Agency is being developed, took effect on 26 June and will continue until the new Agency is up and running.

- The Programme Board to provide high level strategic oversight and monitor programme progress will meet on a monthly basis, with the first meeting having taken place on October 4th.

- The new Strategy commits to doubling the number of refuge places. This will be the fastest ever expansion of refuge spaces. By the end of the strategy, there will be over 280 refuge spaces, with additional safe house and step down accommodation also delivered. The Interdepartmental Steering Committee on DSGBV Accommodation held its first meeting on 7th of October and will manage and oversee progress of the actions necessary to deliver on these additional refuge units.

- Development of 24 refuge units is currently underway in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan and will be delivered by 2024 and there will be 98 refuge units in priority locations delivered by 2025 along with a further 19 additional and upgraded units by the end of the strategy. 

Finally I would like to add that implementation of the new Strategy is backed up by a substantial funding commitment under budget 2023. Under the budget, I was able to secure an extra €9 million for 2023, a 22% increase for continuing our work to combat domestic, sexual and gender based violence.