Kingston welcomes Tusla’s review of domestic violence accommodation

Labour Spokesperson for Equality, Cllr. Deirdre Kingston has welcomed the extension of Tulsa’s review of the numbers of refuge spaces needed for domestic abuse victims. 

Cllr. Kingston said;

“I welcome the news that Minister Zappone has admitted that there needs to be a review of the way in which Tusla calculates the number of refuge spaces needed for domestic abuse accommodation, as well as agreeing that an analysis of refuge spaces in Dublin needs to be expanded nationally. 

“I have been calling for the Minister to clarify her position on the issue and direct Tusla to stop using out of date information as its basis to calculate the number of refuge spaces. We need to start using European guidelines of one space per 10,000 people. Anything less is not acceptable. I am glad that the Minister has finally admitted that this issue needs to be looked at.

“Tusla is currently only providing one-third of the numbers of domestic violence accommodation spaces needed in Ireland. I hope this planned national review will lead to the appropriate allocation of the spaces, including a refuge in my area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, where there is no dedicated refuge at present. 

“The Minister needs to act on this without delay. Now that we have ratified the Istanbul convention we have to take a more urgent approach to providing for the needs of victims of domestic violence. “