Nearly 19,500 cases of domestic abuse reported to gardai so far this year
Nearly 19,500 domestic abuse incidents have been reported to gardai so far this year, shocking new figures have revealed.
Of these, one-third of the incidents were reported in Dublin.
However, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan also warned that this is not the full picture of domestic and gender-based violence incidents and gardai will provide more comprehensive data soon.
Labour's Marie Sherlock said gardai must ensure there are enough supports in place to support people who have been brave enough to contact them in the first instance.
She asked Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan to confirm the number of reported domestic and sexual-based violence incidents so far this year in each garda district.
The data provided included cases that had been logged on the Garda Pulse system as Breach of a Barring Order and Breach of an Emergency Barring Order'.
It also included any incident type that was recorded as having a 'domestic abuse' motive.
Between the start of the year and May 27, 19,417 cases were reported. Of those, 6,267 incidents were reported in the six Dublin Garda districts (33%).
The largest number of reports was in the Northern district of the Dublin Metropolitan Region, where 1,552 people reported domestic abuse.
And 1,329 incidents were reported in the Louth/Cavan/Monaghan area, 1,283 in Wexford/Wicklow, and 1,196 in Kildare/Carlow.
The lowest number of reports was in Sligo/Leitrim, where there were still 335 reports.
Minister O'Callaghan warned Ms Sherlock this was not the 'full breadth of incidents that could be regarded as domestic and sexual based violence'.
He said: 'An Garda Siochana and my Department are continuing to work hard to strengthen trust and confidence in the system, so that victims will feel confident to report what has happened to them and get justice.
'The nationwide rollout of Divisional Protective Service Units has ensured that when victims of crimes such as domestic abuse and sexual violence present to gardai, they are met with a consistently high standard of specialist assistance.
'This is not reflective of the full breadth of incidents that could be regarded as domestic and sexual based violence.'
Ms Sherlock told the Irish Sunday Mirror that gardai must ensure there is enough support in place for victims and survivors of domestic abuse.
She said: 'When you look at certain parts of Dublin, there's certainly a frightening level being reported.
'It requires a huge amount of very sensitive and delicate policing because you're dealing with a complicated set of factors.'
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