Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1944. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons arrested for sexual assault, in each county in the State, in each of the past five years. [41143/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is absolutely committed to tackling all forms of sexual violence.

'Zero Tolerance,' the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), sets out an ambitious five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin it and a key objective of the strategy is to encourage victims to come forward and report the heinous crimes being committed against them.

This is important, because historically there has been significant under-reporting of such crimes.

My Department is continuing to work with agencies to strengthen trust in the criminal justice system, so that victims can feel confident to come forward and report what happened to them.

In relation to the specific information sought by the Deputy regarding the number of persons arrested for sexual assault in each of the past five years, An Garda Síochána has supplied the table at thee link below, which outlines this data.

A key action of the Zero Tolerance Strategy was the nationwide roll out of Divisional Protective Service Units (DPSUs). I can confirm that there is a DPSU in every Garda Division.

These units ensure that when victims of crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual violence present to Gardaí, they are met with a consistently high standard of specialist, sensitive, professional and expert assistance.

I want to reassure anyone who is subject to, or at risk of, domestic or sexual abuse that practical help is always available.

The below table outlines the number of cases by region/division where the incident type was ‘sexual assault’ over the past five years.

Please note An Garda Síochána provide figures based on the Garda administrative boundaries, this relates to their Operating Model. As such, the data in this response is provided for the relevant Garda Divisions and not on a county-by-county basis.