Waterford Fine Gael Senator John Cummins has warmly welcomed the announcement of €304,684 in funding for Oasis House, who provide a safe and supported place for women and their children to stay when they have been subjected to the awful crime of domestic violence.
Under Budget 2024, the Department of Justice was allocated €6.85 million for measures to tackle DSGBV, including through awareness raising and campaigns and funding for perpetrator programmes. An amount of approximately €3.8 million was made available through a targeted call to established DSGBV organisations operating services and supports specifically focused on victims and survivors of DSGBV. Oasis House made a submission for a number of items and have been duly rewarded with a significant allocation of over €300,000 to expand their services.
Senator Cummins said “When I had Minister Helen McEntee in Waterford in 2022, I made sure to bring her to Oasis House whom I know do phenomenal work to support women and their children who have been victims and survivors of domestic violence. I have worked on a number of exceptionally difficult cases over the years in my role as a politician and I have always found the team at Oasis House to be very supportive of constituents who need help. Minister McEntee has taken an exceptionally strong approach asMinister for Justice on this topic and she rightly ensuredringfenced funding was put in place to further develop services and supports for women who are subjected to awful instances of domestic violence.
2.5 WTE posts have been secured to roll out a Childrens First Outreach service and project worker posts. In addition, funding for a single storey extension and the repurposing of four units to domestic violence accommodation is provided for.
Senator Cummins concluded by saying “the expansion of services and facilities, specifically for women who aresubjected to domestic, sexual and gender based violence is very important and I commend my Fine Gael colleague for making this funding available to Oasis House whom I am certain will put it to very good use”.