Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Book me in for that.

I wish to follow up on the two preceding questions. Under Article 41.2, a woman's place is in the home. Many women in Ireland would say that to have a home would be a great thing, but apart from that, there is a saying that the woman's place is in the revolution. It is certainly in the social revolution and women are finding our voice. Actually, we always had it. We just did not have the mic. A great deal of work has already been done on Article 41.2. We had the Convention on the Constitution, which reported in May 2013. We subsequently had a task force comprising officials from the then Department of Justice and Equality. In July 2018, the then Taoiseach requested the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality of the time to consider the general scheme. The urgency was so great that the committee was recalled from its summer recess to report on the matter. I do not know whether there were women on the committee, but its members were brought out of their homes and back here to report, such was the level of urgency.

There is already a significant body of work for the Minister to go by. I would like to see his proposal. It would not be disrespectful to the committee. Something I have learned in the two years since being elected is that committees work well across parties. For the record, I will outline the bodies that have done work on this matter: the Constitutional Review Group; the Convention on the Constitution; the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution; the UN Human Rights Committee; the Irish Human Rights Commission; the National Women's Council of Ireland and other advocacy groups; the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality; and the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. It would be good if the Department worked on the wording now. There is a great deal of legal expertise on this committee. At the previous meeting, it was interesting to hear members going through the legal connotations. Will the Minister commit to tabling his proposal before the summer recess? Yesterday, I read a comment saying that the person who left everything until the last minute got all of his or her work done in a minute. It is good to have a deadline.

Of recommendations Nos. 37 to 41, No. 37 has been taken by the Minister for Justice. It is being dealt with by her Department solely. That is great. It is mad to think that, in 2022, we are more than 50% of the population yet we still need a national strategy for women and girls. Here we are, though.

Sentencing is always frustrating. Recommendation 38 states:

Eliminate tolerance in our society of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence by developing and implementing awareness, prevention and education campaigns which may include children.

I know people say there is a certain tolerance in society, which gets the blame for everything in this country. I argue against the idea that there is tolerance of gender-based violence in society. The women of Ireland, all across the country, have had enough after Ashling Murphy was killed. Candles were lit in every square. I spoke in the Dáil and said that society is waiting for the candles to be blown out so that we can get back to normal. We repeatedly see sentencing that is insulting to the women of Ireland. The tolerance in society is in the system, not the people. A recommendation in the report relates to, "Developing guidelines and specialist training for judges and lawyers". We have to get on with that, as well as introducing tougher sentencing and rehabilitation programmes. When I look at sentencing in courts, I do not know how much more women are prepared to take. I know about the separation of powers and will not mention any cases. I think the committee should concentrate on that. I would like to see the Minister's Department working with the Department of Justice.

Will the Minister clarify the process which both Departments will use to make sure that we devise a proper policy that will be included in the national strategy for women and girls?