Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the past week, the media have been full of heartwrenching stories about children caught in domestic abuse. The tragedy of the situation is that those children do not now have the protection of law. We are assured that the domestic violence Bill will be published soon. I am sure that the Minister and, certainly, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs are aware of the campaign by Barnardos calling for badly needed protections for children to be included in the Bill, including safety orders, protections for children from abusers who are not their parents, and so on. Can the Minister assure the House and all of us who have signed the Barnardos petition that those measures will be included and set out when we will see the Bill?

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