In 2023, the CSO reported that 52% of women had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and this figure was increasing year on year. I recently met a fantastic group of women from Wexford who were in visiting the Ceann Comhairle in the Dáil. This group established the Wexford Rape Crisis Centre. I had really good conversations with them but they made it clear to me that there were quite a number of women from Wicklow who were going to Wexford to avail of the services of the rape crisis centre because we did not have one in Wicklow at all. Is the Minister looking to establish a rape crisis centre in Wicklow? How is something like that achieved and how can I go about working with women across the county to ensure that the services they need are available and that they do not have to travel to other counties?

I thank Deputy Whitmore for her question. Like her, I also had the pleasure of meeting the women from the Wexford Rape Crisis Centre when the Ceann Comhairle invited them to the Dáil a number of months ago. I will raise within the Department the fact that there is not a rape crisis centre in Wicklow. Obviously, the Department does not directly employ individuals and put rape crisis centres into counties. We are very much dependent upon the courage and diligence of volunteers who come forward and start it as a voluntary enterprise and then can gain access to State supports, but I will raise it in the Department. I certainly will look to see whether we can identify anyone who would be prepared to play that important role. As a representative from Wicklow, Deputy Whitmore would probably have a good indication as well as to whether that can be provided.