Zappone Must Clarify Tusla Accommodation Guidelines

01 April 2019

Labour Spokesperson on Equality Cllr. Deirdre Kingston has called for Minister Zappone to instruct Tusla to use the correct European guidelines for the establishment of accommodation for domestic violence. Cllr. Kingston has also asked the Minister to make it publically known if she has already done so. 

 

Cllr. Kingston said:

 

“Minister Zappone must instruct Tusla to use the European guidelines on population ratios for domestic violence emergency accommodation and make a public statement as to whether or not she has done that already. After the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, there is no space for ambiguity on this matter. 

 

 “A report in the Times Ireland over the weekend would suggest that the Minister has yet to make it clear to Tusla what the next step should be. 

 

“It is more than a little worrying that following the ratification of the Istanbul Convention it came to light that Tusla has been drastically lowballing the numbers of refuges places needed in Ireland. The revelation of these numbers was particularly frustrating for those of us who have been campaigning for more domestic violence accommodation such as in Dun Laoghaire, where we do not have adequate domestic violence accommodation to meet demand. 

 

“Expressing embarrassment is not a sufficient response. The Minister must take this matter in hand.  These revelations themselves suggests that she hasn’t been paying an adequate amount of attention to Tusla’s work on this issue. 

 

“Given she knew that Istanbul Convention ratification was on the agenda of this government I am surprised that she would not have prioritised ensuring that Tusla was prepared for the implications of that convention. 

 

“Clarity is needed now so that Tulsa, Local Authorities and relevant public bodies can get on with the essential work of keeping victims of domestic violence safe.”

 

 

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