Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to introducing consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation to address all aspects of domestic violence, threatened violence and intimidation in a manner that provides protection for victims. I have raised this promised legislation consistently, but we still have no sign as to when we can expect it. The State has not yet signed the European Convention on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The Minister for Justice and Equality has advised me that the reason for this relates to problems with Article 52 of the convention and provisions for emergency barring orders which raise dilemmas around property rights. I do not find this an acceptable rationale for not signing this important convention. When does the Government propose to sign the convention and what has it done to resolve the legal difficulties?

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