• Meeting 1: 26th April, 2019
• Meeting 2: 26th June, 2019
• Meeting 3: 25th September, 2019
• Meeting 4: 18th December, 2019
• Meeting 5: 29th April, 2020
• Meeting 6: 13th July 2020
• Meeting 7: 9th September 2020
• Meeting 8: 13th January 2021
• Meeting 9: 13th April 2021
• Meeting 10: 7th July 2021
• Meeting 11: 15 November 2021
• Meeting 12: 25th April 2022

• Meeting 13: 21st July 2022
• Meeting 14: 5th October 2022
• Meeting 15: 12th December 2022
• Meeting 16: 1st February 2023

 Terms of Reference 

Background:

• In late 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Services commissioned a national survey and established a scoping group to consider the availability of data and make recommendations on a study to identify the current prevalence of sexual abuse and violence in Ireland and to also examine emerging trends. The group recommended that a new national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland be undertaken in April 2018.
• A Government Decision was taken in November 2018 that the Central Statistics Office (CSO) would undertake a comprehensive national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence.
• On the 10^th January 2019, the CSO and the Department of Justice and Equality signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the undertaking of a comprehensive national survey on the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland.‌‌‌

Role of the Steering Group:

• The parties are the Department of Justice and Equality and the CSO. The Department will act as the sponsoring department for a survey to measure the prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland. The CSO will be responsible for all elements of the survey life cycle.
• The Steering Group will:
  • Review the progress of the survey development against agreed milestones
  • Assess and agree on funding requirements
  • Act as an information sharing point for any issue which may affect the survey. 
  • The CSO will undertake the survey within the framework of the Statistics Act, 1993 and is responsible for all decisions relating to the survey including:
    • the development of the survey instrument(s)
    • the design of a national survey that can, as far as possible, meet national user needs in this area while providing comparability at an international level
    • the conduct, including all methodological issues, of the survey
    • the preparation, including content and timing, of written text of report(s) and analysis.

Operation of the steering group:

• The group will meet on a quarterly basis at the minimum – and the dates for the quarterly meetings will be agreed at the start of the year. Depending on the development phase of the survey, meetings may need to be called more frequently. Either party can call on a meeting to be held.
• Meetings can be held on a rotational basis between Dublin and Cork - depending on the availability of steering group members and office space in either location. The organisation hosting the meeting will chair the meeting.
• Minutes will be written up and circulated to all parties after the meeting. Minutes and agendas of steering group meetings will be published on the website once agreed between the parties.
• The steering group will be in operation until the SVS release is published.