Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Government is committed to doubling the number of refuge places to 280 as part of our Zero Tolerance Strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

The development of an estimated 36 refuge units is underway in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan. It is expected that there will be 98 refuge units in priority locations delivered by end 2025 along with further additional and upgraded units by the end of the Strategy.

I can assure the Deputy that Tusla is continuing to support the process of developing a refuge for Carlow. Tusla is also supporting Carlow Women’s Aid to progress the development of Safe Homes and is issuing funding to enable the opening of the first safe home unit in Q4 2023.

As the Deputy is aware, a group of local stakeholders associated with the local domestic violence network established the Carlow Refuge Development Advisory Group, and have been engaging with Tusla to identify possible organisations interested in taking the lead on developing a refuge in Carlow.

This early-stage process was concluded in June and a report was submitted to Tusla with recommendations that will inform the next steps and timeline for the development of the Carlow domestic violence refuge.

Building on outcomes of the work undertaken locally earlier in the year, Tusla has initiated a process to identify a lead organisation to take forward the development of the domestic violence refuge and subsequent provision of domestic violence refuge support services.

Outcomes from this process are expected in December 2023. There is ongoing engagement with local stakeholders to consider how best to ensure that the development is appropriately supported within the local community.

I am informed that further work to identify a suitable site for a new refuge in Carlow is also planned for this month.