First, I extend a very warm welcome home to Irish citizen and fellow Dubliner, Ibrahim Halawa. I am sure everybody will join me in extending to him and his family our warmest wishes as he readjusts to life back home. Céad míle fáilte ar ais. Fáilte abhaile, Ibrahim.

I wish to raise the refusal of the Government to provide necessary funding to produce up-to-date research regarding the sexual abuse and violence in Ireland, SAVI, report. This report, which documented the impact of sexual violence on the Irish population, is 15 years old and so many aspects of the 2002 research are outdated. The importance of updating this research cannot be overstated. Ms Noeleen Blackwell of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said that the Government "is in a situation where decisions are being made about how to combat sexual violence in Ireland which are based on evidence that is so out of date that it might as well be from Dickens".

This matter was raised last week by our colleague, an Teachta Catherine Connolly. At that time, the Taoiseach, while professing to have an open mind on the subject, said that Government Departments have expressed a preference for the money to be directed into services rather than into funding new research. He also said: "Departments are satisfied with the statistics and the information that they have." The Department of Justice and Equality cited the Rape Crisis Network Ireland as the source of these statistics yet that organisation has clearly stated that it is no longer able to publish such statistics because of funding cuts. This was a cynical attempt on the part of An Taoiseach to pit two vital pillars in the combating of sexual violence against each other. It should not be a case of research or services. The message should not be that we can have one or the other because we clearly need both. In the absence of up-to-date information, how can we be certain that services are being properly allocated?

The need to fund a new report is not without its supporters within the Government. I understand that members of Cabinet were asked to support the funding of a new report. I know that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, has stated that the Government should fund the new study and that the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Fitzgerald, has said that it is something the Government should consider. However, it seems that all of this has fallen on deaf ears. At the Fine Gael presidential dinner last Saturday night, the Taoiseach's open mind had closed shut.

He confirmed that the Government would not fund a new report and said the money would instead go on legal aid. In so doing, he has again played the needs of research and services against each other. Both are required and should be properly funded. This is about choices. It would cost €1 million to produce this report. Five such reports could be produced for the cost of the Taoiseach's vanity project, the now infamous strategic communications unit. It is difficult to imagine that the Government could not find the money if it were so minded. I ask the Minister to come to his senses and commit to funding a new report.

I also welcome the return of Ibrahim Halawa to Dublin this morning. I thank all Members, including the Ceann Comhairle, who helped make that happen, along with the many others who made Mr. Halawa feel very welcome on his return. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has spent more time on this case than any other in consular history. Many Members have been involved in a campaign to highlight the injustice in this case. I am glad that, despite four very difficult years, there has been a happy ending for the Halawa family. I hope to meet Mr. Halawa later today.

On the comments made by the Taoiseach last week in respect of sexual assault and violence in Ireland, my understanding is that he has an open mind on this issue, as does the Government. He merely pointed out that if €1 million is to be spent in that area, regard must be had to the most acute current priorities. That question needs to be asked by the Government if it is to allocate fresh resources that were not provided for in the budget. That is not to say that the Government will not do this if it is the right thing to do. There is no disputing that the SAVI report was ground-breaking when it was published in 2002. However, much has happened since then, including the formulation of the first and second national strategies on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. There are additional sources of more recent data in respect of sexual violence. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' study on violence against women in 2014 provided comparative prevalence data across the 28 member states and a Eurobarometer study provided comparative data for 2016 for each member state. The European Union statistics body, EUROSTAT, is gearing up to survey gender-based violence and victimisation. It is anticipated that the Central Statistics Office, CSO, will take part in any EU-wide victimisation survey. Existing Garda data on sexual crimes published by the CSO have also been strengthened, thus ensuring we have more robust current data. The Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Stanton, met the director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, this afternoon. The Government will consider the issue and if it is right to prioritise spending on research, that will be done. However, that decision has not yet been made and, therefore, I cannot announce it today.

It is the right thing to do. Although the Minister has cited studies that have been and will be carried out, none are comparable to the SAVI report in terms of the depth of data produced and the depiction of the entire scope of sexual violence in Ireland. This is the right thing to do. The Minister is correct that it is about prioritisation. It is not lost on Members that €5 million was prioritised for the Government's strategic communications unit. In that context, it should be confirmed in the House today that €1 million will be prioritised to fund this very necessary research.

This is not some additional bauble or concession to those in the world of research; it is absolutely essential to the guiding and shaping of our responses and our services to care for people who are victims of sexual violence. This is a necessary part of service provision and, to repeat, it is very wrong to suggest that one should choose services over up-to-date, reliable information.

That is not what I am suggesting.

The one feeds into and directs the other. I would like the Minister, as a member of Cabinet, to state his personal support for the funding of a new SAVI report and to state that he recognises the priority of this and that he is prepared to see an allocation-----

The Deputy's time is up.

-----of €1 million for this purpose.

I call on the Minister to conclude.

Neither the Taoiseach nor anyone else in Government has been pitting one against the other, and the Deputy should not present the matter in those terms because it is simply not true. The Government's commitment in respect of domestic and sexual violence is clear. We have the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, and more than €22 million in funding for the purpose of tackling domestic and sexual violence is now available within Tusla. This is an increase of €1.5 million on last year. There is a commitment on the part of the Government to try to deal with this issue comprehensively. The issue is whether we should now prioritise spend on further research to build on that which is already there but outdated. I will take my advice from the experts in this area through the Department. If trying to find €1 million for this research is the right thing to do, the Government will do it.