Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 February 2022
115. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the progress made to date on securing a suitable location for a domestic violence refuge in Monaghan town; the efforts that have been made to identify a suitable location and secure funding for a domestic violence refuge in County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5320/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI ask the Minister to outline the progress made to date in securing a suitable location for a domestic violence refuge in Monaghan town; and the efforts that have been made to identify a suitable location and secure funding for a domestic violence refuge in County Cavan.
I am aware that this matter is one of importance to the Deputy and to other Members of the House who have also raised questions about refuge provision in counties Cavan and Monaghan with me and my predecessors. I know there is strong interest locally. I have recently received correspondence from Cavan County Council in this regard. The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, is a cross-departmental and multi-agency issue. It is co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides supports for victims of domestic violence, primarily funded through NGO service providers. In 2021, Tusla allocated €28 million in core funding for DSGBV, plus €2 million in contingency funding to address Covid challenges. In 2022, the allocation will be €31 million, amounting to a €3 million increase in core funding. Funding in 2022 will support services to address cost pressures and maintain continued services, including core sustainability costs and the ongoing supportive initiatives commenced in 2021. The additional allocation will also fund the beginning of the implementation of the accommodation review.
I am informed by Tusla that support for victims of DSGBV in counties Cavan and Monaghan is available through the services of Tearmann, which is based in County Monaghan and funded by the Tusla. Tearmann also provides outreach services in both counties. Tusla funded Tearmann in 2021 to the value of €214,000.
The Tusla review of the provision of accommodation for victims of domestic violence has assessed the current and requisite distribution of safe emergency accommodation. It has examined the current level of refuge provision, evidence of demand for service, unmet need and the analysis of proximity to refuges by local communities. The review has been completed and publication is expected in the next two weeks. The Government will be guided by the recommendations of the review. I expect the implementation process for the review will identify priority areas where there is the greatest need for providing safe accommodation for victims of DSGBV. I am very keen to see the gap in geographic coverage in counties Cavan and Monaghan being addressed. I hope to see the accommodation review used as the vehicle to make progress and address that gap.
One of the main reasons many women do not leave an abusive relationship is the shortage of available and affordable accommodation that could rehouse a victim of domestic abuse at short notice. According to the Council of Europe, it is recommended that there be one refuge place per 100,000 people, which means there should be 446 places in Ireland. Currently, there are 137, which is ten less than four years ago. We signed up to the Istanbul Convention. Why sign up to a convention if we are not going to implement it?
In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, there is no refuge place and there has not been one historically. I welcome that the issue is being addressed and I am hopeful that progress will be made in the very near future. I recognise the tremendous work that Tearmann does in the two counties. There are only two or three members of staff employed in that service and they do a lot of outreach work.
According to Safe Ireland, 808 requests for refuge could not be met last year. As we know, the nature of an abuser is to isolate the victim from family and support. Victims go to a refuge seeking support because they do not have anywhere else to go. I shudder to think where such victims find support or what they have to do as a result. Perhaps they have to go back to the violent perpetrator.
There is absolutely no doubt that we do not have enough refuge spaces in this country. No one disputes that fact. That is why the accommodation review was undertaken to outline where the gaps are and where the lack of coverage and availability of spaces is most acute. It was undertaken to identify the areas where there are communities, families, primarily women, fleeing abusive situations, who have to travel very long distances to find refuge. I have no doubt that when the review is published, it will illustrate what the Deputy and her colleagues know, namely, that there is a very substantive gap in coverage in counties Cavan and Monaghan. That is something that needs to be addressed.
As the Deputy is aware, the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and I briefed Opposition leaders, including the Deputy's party leader, last week on this issue. We outlined that there is a substantive change under way. Responsibility for refuge provision is moving from my Department and Tusla to the Department of Justice. All responses to DSGBV will be run through the Department of Justice, including the implementation of the accommodation review.
I welcome that the issue will be the responsibility of one Minister. We know that what is needed to tackle domestic violence and violence against women is a multipronged approach. It is very welcome that one Minister will be able to choreograph all of that. It is scary. We are all aware of the recent death of Ashling Murphy. Almost every week, the newspapers report that a woman has been murdered or a case is being heard in court. Domestic violence is a scourge and a pandemic. The Garda reported that it responded to almost 50,000 domestic incidents last year, which amounted to a 10% increase on the year before. That figure only relates to incidents that were reported. The need for refuges in Cavan and Monaghan and the other seven counties that do not have one could be addressed immediately to support women who need to get out of dangerous situations to save their lives and stay alive.
The significant change that is being made in moving the responsibility for refuges and other services to the Department of Justice is one advocacy groups and the NGOs working in the sector have been calling for for a long time.
We ran this audit and it became clear that this was the call from the sector. We are implementing that now. That is important. Even though responsibility in this area is moving out of Tusla, in the time that I have been Minister, we have significantly increased investment in Tusla in respect of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We put in an extra €2.7 million in budget 2021 and an extra €3 million in budget 2022. We have recognised this epidemic of violence against women, as the Deputy and, indeed, the programme for Government describe it. We have put in place significant additional funding for services, both core funding and Covid contingency funding. The next step is the provision of that additional refuge space. The accommodation review will allow us to focus on that and to bring forward mechanisms to, as the Deputy has put it, swiftly deliver the new refuges.
