Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Maurice Quinlivan (SF), Limerick City In January this year, Ireland South MEP Kathleen Funchion and I met the midwest rape crisis centre in Limerick city. We all know the vital work these centres play in supporting those who have been subjected to gender, domestic and sexual violence. Their focus is on the survivor and what is best for them. Their supports range from therapy and counselling to support for court appearances. In some cases, the volunteers are simply a sounding board and confidant with whom survivors can share their stories. Meeting the executive director was a useful reminder for me of the important role these centres play. One of the concerns raised with me was that the rape crisis centre midwest has 80 people on its waiting list for counselling support. I hope in a follow-up with the Minister for Health she can liaise with it to help it reduce its waiting list. It must be difficult for those who have suffered such terrible attacks to have that trauma compounded by an absence of counselling support. What is of utmost concern to me is the absence of sexual assault trauma units in the midwest region. More concerning again is the response I received from the HSE to a parliamentary question last week when I queried this. It advised me that there are currently no plans to establish a sexual assault trauma unit, SATU, in Limerick. I appreciate that there is availability of forensic medical examination in University Hospital Limerick. However, this service is only available in the evening time when somebody presents at the hospital. There is no forensic medical examination available prior to 7 p.m. When a rape or sexual assault occurs in order to protect the integrity of the forensic evidence, the person against whom the crime was committed is advised not to change their clothes, shower, brush their teeth or go to the bathroom. To have suffered such an attack and have to remain as they are for hours afterwards, unable to shower or even brush their teeth seems to me to be a further layer of trauma that could be avoided if a sexual assault trauma unit was available nearby. If such a heinous crime occurs in Limerick during the morning hours, the assaulted person has limited options. They can wait until the evening to visit the forensic medical examination service or seek transfer to the nearest sexual assault trauma unit in Galway. What happens if a person cannot drive or is still processing the attack and not ready to share their experience with loved ones or a friend? Should they get the bus to Galway or sit in the clothes they were wearing until 7 p.m.? Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons sexual crime is under reported to An Garda Síochána. Due to the trauma of the attack people sometimes delay reporting such an incident to An Garda Síochána. The lack of a sexual assault trauma unit removes the opportunity for forensically collected evidence to be stored for up to a year, giving the survivor the ability to proceed with making a criminal complaint later, while simultaneously having access to medical assessment and medications. However, if you only to present to a forensic medical examiner you do not receive support services. You only get the use of a kit for evidence-gathering purposes. This is a fundamental difference in how survivors of sexual assaults are treated. A sexual assault trauma unit is patient-centred and fundamentally focused on the well-being of the patient. It is a more care-based service that provides necessary medication, health assessments and a forensic examination. People can access care without involving An Garda Síochána as sometimes they may not yet be ready to do. If you have access to a sexual assault trauma unit, you have a dedicated phoneline to call and it is open 24 hours, 365 days a year. If you are raped or sexually assaulted in Limerick, you can dial 999. Appreciating Limerick's central location within the mid-west region, and that it is a university city with three major campuses and just under 13,000 third-level students, it strikes me as appalling that no sexual assault trauma unit is stationed there for use by the wider mid-west. There are currently six sexual assault trauma units in the State. They are in Cork, Donegal, Galway, Mullingar, Waterford and Dublin. There is an urgent need for more and one should be located in Limerick. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17