TWELVE YEARS after a Kildare-based advisory service for abused women set up a refuge for women and children experiencing domestic violence, the HSE says no funding is now available to run the centre.
Teach Tearmainn was set up in 1999 after members of the Newbridge Community Development Group were approached by the then Eastern Health Board, which has since been replaced by the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster, to set up a refuge in the area.
Having set up a helpline in 2000 and a drop-in and outreach centre in 2002 with HSE assistance, the group continued to pursue the refuge project. It secured Department of the Environment funding under its capital assistance scheme, acquiring €660,000 from the scheme, as well as €109,000 funding from an Pobail and money raised by fundraising.
The group now expects that work on four self-contained apartments for women and children who require refuge will be completed in November. However, it has been told that funding to run the service, an estimated €400,000 per annum to provide for six full-time staff, relief staff and a range of support services, is no longer available.
Teach Tearmainn manager Jacinta Carey said demand for the service was on the increase, noting that it had received 33 requests for refuge so far this year. She added that this was likely an underrepresentation of those who actually required help. Calls had increased by 60 per cent since 2008, while half of new referred clients last year were referred through State agencies.
“State agencies are referring more and more cases to us at the same time as the State is reducing our funding,” Ms Carey said. “The standing response is that the country is broke. Well, it’s certainly broke for those women and children exposed to domestic violence.”
In a written response, a spokeswoman for HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster said the executive had grant-aided Teach Tearmainn for many years but that this year the grant payable to the organisation had been reduced as a result of extreme financial challenges.
“The HSE is actively considering how to support Teach Tearmainn in relation to the newly developed refuge. As there are no new resources available to do this a review of other services is currently being undertaken with a view to ensuring that any available finance is used to best effect.”
Domestic violence services have seen a surge in demand since the onset of the recession. Between 2007 and 2009, there was a 43 per cent increase in demand for a range of supports nationwide.