Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There was a little bit of interference on the line but we got the response. I thank the Minister for her very substantive response.

I have follow-up questions and will focus on specific recommendations that the Citizens' Assembly made on this topic. Again, I thank the Minister for her engagement and acknowledge her personal commitment.

I also acknowledge that recommendation 37, under the DSGBV heading, has been met, which we will acknowledge in our report. No. 37 states: "All Government action to prevent and counter domestic, sexual and gender-based violence should be coordinated by a Cabinet Minister with direct responsibility for implementation of a national strategy." The Minister has clearly set out that she is that "Cabinet Minister", not will be, and that this principle is being implemented in the transfer of responsibilities entirely to the Department of Justice, which is welcome.

We, as members of the committee, are conscious that the murder of Ashling Murphy put an immense focus on the gaps in service provision for the victims and survivors of DSGBV. We are glad that the aim to have a zero tolerance of DSGBV in society has been included in the draft national strategy, which we welcome. I am also glad, as Chairperson, and along with committee members, to see that the draft national strategy is aligned with the important recommendations made by the Citizens' Assembly.

I wish to raise a number of issues that I have with specific recommendations, and that arise from the hearings that we have already had and the previous exchange with Deputy Clarke. First, we are glad to hear that the new national strategy will be published before the summer recess and, indeed, in a matter of weeks. I was glad to hear about the action plan. Will the action plan be published alongside the strategy? I think that the Minister said that both will go to Government together so we could anticipate that they will be published together. That will be important because we need to see the timeline in the action plan and that will inform our own work on the committee.

Recommendation 38 states: "Eliminate tolerance in our society of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence by developing and implementing awareness, prevention and education campaigns" and I am conscious that is somewhat beyond the traditional remit of the Department of Justice. Given the Minister is committed to the establishment a new agency, which is also welcome, will it have a remit to implement or oversee the implementation of an "awareness, prevention and education campaigns"? Next week, the committee will engage with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Simon Harris. We will examine these campaigns and their roll-out at third level, and in future weeks we will look at their roll-out across the education sector. Again, just looking at the need for co-ordination, which underlies the Citizens' Assembly recommendations, the draft strategy and, indeed, the fourth pillar of the Istanbul Convention, which is policy co-ordination, will the agency have that remit?

I welcome that a statutory agency will be established as it will help with the implementation of the recommendations. Is there a timeline for its introduction given primary legislation will be required?

Under recommendation 39(e), the assembly called for the "Putting in place a Victims/Survivors Commissioner as an independent advocate and voice for victims/survivors". Is there a plan to put in place a commissioner for victims and survivors separately or as part of the remit of the new agency? I am conscious that the Minister mentioned the very welcome introduction of an entitlement for victims to their own dedicated legal advice and support throughout the process and that provision may meet the need that was identified by the assembly. The broader issue of "a Victims/Survivors Commissioner" was raised by the assembly.

Recommendation 39 also set out a number of points concerning the justice system, and specifically the courts system. At previous committee hearings NGOs expressed serious concerns about a lack of co-ordination, in particular, between criminal and family court processes. This is something that I have heard about for a long time.

Any of us who have met survivors have heard for so long about real frustration and distress. Real damage has been caused in some cases to children, for example where family courts dealing with custody and guardianship issues do not have information on parallel criminal proceedings around domestic violence, breaches of protection orders and so on. How can we ensure that co-ordination is better carried out? Will that be the remit of the new agency? What measures are being taken now in advance of the establishment of the agency?

A related issue also addressed in the citizens' assembly is the way in which counselling and medical records and the victim's character are addressed in courtroom settings. The assembly has called for guidelines and specialist training for judges and lawyers, which the Minister addressed in her opening statement. At the hearings we heard real concern from NGOs that the new provisions around admission of counselling records in the 2017 Act are still not really addressing victims' needs and concerns and are still enabling defence counsel to undermine the victim's character.

I am sorry, I have gone over time. I have two more questions. One is on coercive control. We heard there was concern about a lack of understanding among criminal law practitioners and prosecution and policing authorities about how to police and prevent coercive control. Finally, on recommendation 42, which the Citizens' Assembly put forward under a different heading, Gender Equality Principle in Law and Policy, the assembly called for a statutory body for gender equality under the responsibility of a Cabinet Minister charged with cross-Government co-ordination of gender equality issues. We flagged with the Minister that we would ask her about that even though it is beyond the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Does the Government have any plans for a broader statutory body for gender equality and broader co-ordination on gender equality issues?