As the Minister of State said, this motion facilitates the State opting in to Council Decision (EU) 2023/1076, relating to the EU's ratification of the Istanbul Convention in areas related to judicial co-operation, asylum, and non-refoulement. Sinn Féin will not be opposing this motion. Primarily, as recognised by Ireland having the opt-out under Protocol 21, matters related to justice should be dealt with through domestic law, with the exception being areas where cross-border and international co-operation is required. I am very conscious that as we discuss the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, in the news today there are two cases of women who have been killed in violent circumstances, including in one case where a husband has been charged with the murder of his wife. These deaths are shocking and a reminder of how much more needs to be done to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. While we need to ensure there is focus on the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, we also need to put the supports in place to help those who are seeking to escape such violence to get justice and rebuild their lives. I make the case that there have to be increased efforts to deliver refuge places, including delivering refuges in both counties in my constituency, Cavan and Monaghan. I will raise a number of specific issues with the Minister of State. The first relates to bail and domestic violence. I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on a number of occasions about the recommendation of the Staines report on bail laws that a breach of a domestic violence court order, as per section 33 of the Domestic Violence Act, should be added to the Schedule of the Bail Act. Issues related to bail and domestic violence have been raised with me, both by members of the legal profession acting on behalf of victims of domestic violence and those who are survivors of domestic abuse. From survivors, there is a sense that the application and enforcement of bail laws are not adequate to ensure their safety. They feel their abusers know they can get away with breaches of bail. The Minister has acted by adding a number of additional offences to the Schedule of the Bail Act, as recommended by the Staines report, but the issue of a breach of a domestic violence order has not been added to date. In his closing remarks, I ask the Minister of State to set out the timeframe under which it is intended to add a breach of domestic violence to the Schedule of the Bail Act. That, of course, also requires the maximum penalty on conviction to be increased to five years' imprisonment, if tried on indictment. A specific issue that has arisen is the misuse of civil protection orders for coercive control. I raise the vexatious misuse of applications for civil protection orders as a form of coercive control or harassment. I am talking about circumstances where an individual repeatedly initiates unfounded court proceedings against the same person. I am aware of one particular case, but I am sure there are others, where such actions continued over a period of years, costing the persons subjected to the vexatious applications tens of thousands of euro as well as considerable time and stress. Cases were taken in multiple District Courts across the State and it was clearly a pattern of harassment of a former partner with whom the person had no ongoing contact. Is this something the Minister of State is aware of? Are legislative measures being considered to provide greater protections for victims in such cases? One of the few options open to people dealing with such circumstances is seeking to obtain what is called an Isaac Wunder order in the High Court, but the costs associated with this make it prohibitive for many. Has the Minister of State looked at the issue of financial barriers faced by victims of vexatious litigation such as I have outlined? Previously, I raised with the Minister what I believe to be the need to review the operation of section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act in relation to information regarding investigations and criminal proceedings. This needs to be expanded to include informing a victim of the death of an offender who is released under supervision. I raised this with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. I do not believe it would be overly burdensome if applied to those released under supervision. I hope the Department will examine this. However, there also needs to be a review of its operation to ensure the legislation is right to meet the needs of victims and that victims are constantly informed about its provisions. I recently spoke to someone who had secured a coercive control conviction against the perpetrator and who did not know about their entitlements under this section. When I asked the Minister about this previously, he stated that officials in his Department would highlight issues such as this with An Garda Síochána. I ask the Minister of State for an update on that. I will also raise the issue of civil legal aid. The Minister of State may be aware that the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration published a report last week on the crisis in civil legal aid. We had the review of the civil legal aid scheme carried out by an independent review group, chaired by the former Chief Justice Frank Clarke. That has been on the Minister's desk since last year. There is an urgency in dealing with this and I raise it because of the particular issue as regards victims of domestic violence trying to secure civil legal aid representation. I ask the Minister of State to give us an update on plans to move forward with the recommendations in the independent review group's report or the justice committee's report published last week. Violence against and abuse of women and girls are all too prevalent in society, with often devastating consequences, as we saw in news bulletins today. It is imperative that when this House becomes aware of anomalies or issues in the legal system that we address them head-on and with urgency. It is not good enough for us to simply sign up to conventions or EU frameworks if we are not domestically introducing the measures required to save people who are under constant threat of abuse, often in fear of their lives.

Sentiment score: -0.20