Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of familicides or domestic homicides that have taken place in the past five years; and the estimated cost to her Department or any other organisation of reviewing the causes behind each incident of same. [28599/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, murder can be one of the most complex crimes to investigate and it can take some time before a suspect is identified and prosecuted.

Therefore I am informed that, until that happens, it is not possible to fully determine if there is any relationship to the victim, so there is a time lag in data regarding familial relationships being collated from PULSE.

The latest Garda Síochána report was published in late 2022 and reported on the crimes of murder and manslaughter (amongst others) reported between 2013 and 2021; this included reporting on the victim-offender relationship, following the introduction of a victim-offender relationship field to PULSE in July 2021. The CSO also adopt this lag in their publications on crime victims and offenders, their most recently published edition related to offenders from 2021:

The work of the Homicide Investigation Review Team remains on-going for more recent years but I am advised that figures cannot be released until there is a confirmed suspected offender and the HIRT has completed the work for the relevant year. I am also advised that further updates will continue to be published when possible.

According to the 2022 Garda report referred to above, the number of Murder/Manslaughter/Infanticide incidents with a domestic abuse element has ranged between 11 and 18 incidents per year between 2013 and 2021, as follows:

I can advise the Deputy that work is ongoing to implement the recommendations of the independent study into Familicide and Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews published last year.

As the Deputy is aware, the review was commissioned by my Department and involved an independent study lead who consulted with a wide range of stakeholders including family members of victims, non-governmental organisations, and State agencies. The cost of this review was €685,788 .

I can advise the Deputy that a number of the recommendations are already being progressed as part of the work to tackle domestic abuse and protect victims. Others require further consideration and a number of groups have been established to support this work, involving relevant officials, civil society partners and most importantly the families of victims.