Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal, Louise O’Reilly, said the revelations that a specialist unit set up to deal with domestic violence and sexual offending in north Dublin does not have the resources to fully operate is ‘a shocking indictment on the State’.

Teachta O’Reilly said:

“Last year a new Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) was set up in the Dublin Metropolitan Region North to tackle and investigate domestic violence and sexual offending.

“This was an extremely welcome initiative, and it was hoped that the new unit would combat these heinous crimes.

“However, yesterday it was shockingly announced at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors that because of the volume of work the unit has, and a lack of resources, it has not been able to investigate a single case of domestic abuse.

“The importance of this unit cannot be overstated; indeed, it is emphasised by the fact that all their limited resources are currently concentrated on investigating hundreds of child sexual abuse cases.

“The Gardaí in this unit should not be faced with a choice of investigating one crime over another, they should have the resources to investigate all domestic violence and sexual offence crimes.

“That the government have not provided An Garda Síochána and the Dublin Metropolitan Region North’s Divisional Protective Services Unit with the resources to operate to their full capacity and the best of their ability is a shocking indictment on the State.

“I have written to the Minister for Justice about this situation and have requested an urgent meeting about staffing, resources, and funding for the DPSU in north county Dublin. This situation where victims are being failed cannot be allowed to continue.”