Government vows to tackle rape centre crisis
The Department of Health is also considering reducing from six to one the number of departments funding the violence-against-women sector.
A report by an interdepartmental sub-group of the National Steering Committee (NSC) on Violence against Women (VAW), warned that three of the country’s sexual assault treatment units (SATUs) would be forced to close unless additional funding was made available.
The majority of the 16 rape crisis centres have had to curtail services because funding has been capped at €12 million annually since 2002, leaving the centres with a shortfall of €7m.
A spokesman for Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney confirmed she is looking at streamlining funding by allocating money through one Government department. He also said she was “positively disposed” towards increasing funding to the sector which has been capped at €12m since 2002. The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland (RCNI) said they would welcome any development.
Opposition parties last night rounded on the Government for failing to address the shortage of funding for the sector at a time when the number of attacks on women is on the rise.
Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton called on the Tánaiste immediately to act upon the “shocking findings” of the report.
During an adjournment debate in the Dáil last night, Ms Burton called on the minister to intervene “to ensure the existing SATUs receive the funding they need to offer a full service to victims of rape and sexual assault”. She also called for funding to provide new SATUs in the Midlands and Galway, as recommended in the report. Minister of State at the Department of Justice Frank Fahey, who chairs the NSC on VAW, said he was committed to a service for the West. He said the recommendations of the report, Sexual Assault Treatment Services: A National Review, were under consideration by the departments of Health and Justice.
