THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE for assault causing harm will double from five years to ten years under a new Government initiative dubbed its “zero tolerance” plan to tackle domestic, sexual and gender based violence. 

Assault causing harm cases are one of the most common offences in domestic abuse cases.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee will today seek Cabinet approval for the five-year plan and the €363 million package to underpin it.

The strategy, which will be published today by the minister and Taoiseach, will also double the number of refuge spaces across the country – from 141 to at least over 280 – over the lifetime of the plan. 

There has been much criticism of Government over the number of women’s refuges, with some counties not having any.

Co-leader of the Social Democrats, Róisín Shortall, said that the planned number of refuge spaces still falls “very far short” of what Ireland currently needs.

“There’s a there’s been a very big increase in demand for services over the last decade,” said Shortall

“Certainly the number of calls to helplines has increased by 100% over the last decade, but in recent years in particular, and especially during Covid. It really showed up huge gaps in the area of refuge spaces.”

Shortall said that under the Istanbul Convention, which is a European agreement to protect women, Ireland is required to have 340 refuge spaces.

“That would still fall very far short of what the country requires in terms of the established need and the size of the population.”

Labour leader Ivana Bacik called for a refuge centre in each county, saying that there is currently fragility within state infrastructure.

“Covid-19 has exposed the frailty in state-infrastructure which aims to prevent and respond to domestic violence. We need the Government to act with urgency to deliver the promised refuge spaces, but also to increase the number of spaces committed,” said Bacik.

“Government must aim to provide adequate refuge spaces in each and every county to keep victims in their communities with the support of friends and family.”

The new delivery structure plans to further accelerate the supply of refuge spaces through the establishment of a new statutory agency and the development of new refuge design guidelines.

For the first time, funding will be ring fenced from the Department of Housing for refuge accommodation.

The plan will also see increased training across frontline services, such as new training for healthcare workers to be developed by the HSE to identify domestic violence and refer victims to appropriate supports and services

The funding will also be used to increase awareness and change attitudes which underpin domestic, sexual and gender based violence.

The establishment of the new statutory agency for domestic, sexual and gender based violence is to be set up by 1 January 2024. The new agency will co-ordinate the implementation of the new strategy and report back to the justice minister on the progress made.

The Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Equality will provide political oversight for the implementation of the plan 

The new agency will also take the lead on awareness raising campaigns to reduce incidence of domestic violence and ensure victims can access supports. 

The plan being published today contains 144 detailed actions with set timelines to be implemented this year and next, with the minister stating that the plan will be delivered according to strict timelines.

Additional reporting by Tadgh McNally