Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I asked that question because the State signed the Istanbul Convention to tackle domestic violence on 5 November 2016 and there are several outstanding Bills, the new domestic violence Bill, the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill and the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015, which are all legislative actions required to facilitate the State's ratifying the convention. I understand that the domestic violence Bill will be published this week. Will the Taoiseach confirm this? Members are told the drafting of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill is a priority. What precisely does that mean in terms of publication?

I welcome media reports that the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality brought a memorandum to Cabinet this morning to include within the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill a definition in law of sexual consent and, subject to seeing the detail, I hope it will fill a serious gap in the law because it is almost 30 years since the Law Reform Commission recommended changes in this regard. Can the Taoiseach tell Members when the amendments will be published and perhaps tell them whether it includes creating new criminal offences targeting online sexual predators? In light of all this, can he indicate when he expects the Istanbul Convention to be finally ratified?

I am advised, from the Garda Inspectorate report of 2014, that there is a deficit in the recording of incidences of domestic violence. The Central Statistics Office has said no specific assessment of the quality of domestic violence incident reporting has been conducted. Does the Government intend to ensure a proper record is kept of domestic or reported domestic violence incidents?

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