Sir, – Further to Julien Mercille's "Climate of fear has spread through rape crisis centres over cutbacks" (Opinion & Analysis, July 30th), I'm not quite sure where he got his estimated €20 million or "five times current levels to provide adequate services". It is disingenuous and unhelpful to say that "cutbacks have led to some degree of infighting among the centres".
I don’t know one of the 16 rape crisis centre managers in this country who would be “against criticism of cuts to services for victims of rape”. I have written numerous articles and given many interviews on the subject. Various groupings of rape crisis centres have lobbied all the relevant Ministers and criticised the cuts to funding and as a consequence we have not had further cuts to our frontline service grants this year. We hope that in 2016 we will begin to see a restoration of the approximately €4 million that is needed to fund the frontline services adequately.
Like many agencies in this country, such as disability and children’s services, rape crisis centres have received cuts to their statutory funding since 2008. Of course we want the funding restored, and of course we are lobbying Government to ensure that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, which is responsible for rape crisis centre funding, is itself properly and appropriately funded to deliver its remit.
The sum of €4 million is a very small amount of money, in the bigger scheme of things, to fund the 16 rape crisis centre in Ireland that deliver timely, professional services to victims of sexual violence. For Government, this is, by any stretch of the imagination, amazing value for money. Rape crisis centre provide the essential services for victims of sexual violence to recover throughout the country. – Yours, etc,
ELLEN
O’MALLEY DUNLOP,
Chief Executive,
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
70 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2.