Sexual assault units - Government must allocate proper funds

DESPITE the fact that rape and violence against women are on the increase in Ireland, three of the country’s four sexual assault treatment units are in danger of closing due to lack of Government funding.

According to a report out today, the centres at Dublin, Donegal and Waterford are in jeopardy. At present, the Cork unit alone has adequate funding.

It is a damning comment on an administration which purports to be concerned about a 35% rise in reported rapes.

In the midlands and the mid-west there is serious under-reporting of sex crimes. Unsurprisingly, rape often goes unreported because those regions lack treatment units which could be set up there for a paltry €300,000.

Shamefully, funding for Ireland’s 16 rape crisis centres has been capped since 2002. That is unconscionable.