ORGANISATIONS supporting victims of domestic and sexual violence have welcomed the publication of the first national strategy to deal with such crimes.

The five-year plan was launched in Dublin Castle yesterday by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

"The Government fully supports the vision expressed in the strategy and is committed to the implementation of all of the strategy's 23 actions," he declared.

Two of the main aims of the strategy are to have increased safety for victims and increased accountability of the perpetrators.

Six government departments, agencies such as the Health Service Executive and the Garda Siochana, and almost 100 non-governmental organisations, were involved in producing the strategy.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) director Fiona Neary said the strategy was a very welcome development in their objective to prevent and respond properly to sexual and domestic violence.

Ms Neary said she was pleased that a large number of state departments and agencies had committed themselves to making Ireland a safer place.

Mr Ahern said the Government would introduce a Sexual Offences Bill that would consolidate and modernise all criminal law in the area of sexual offences in a manner that was clear, unambiguous and uncompromising in its objectives of protecting victims, particularly children, from sexual crime and punishing the perpetrators of such crime.