Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Friday is International Human Rights Day. It will mark the end of this year's 16-day campaign against gender-based violence against women. The global theme for International Human Rights Day is reducing inequalities and advancing human rights. Drawing on Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads, "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", we are reminded that the principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of human rights. These principles are relevant in every sphere of public policy, be it the right to a healthy environment, equal access to vaccines, breaking the cycle of poverty or protection from gender-based abuse, violence or death.

The programme for Government commits to legislating for domestic homicide reviews and the Justice Plan 2021 commits to publishing the independent research on familicide and domestic homicide reviews. Work on this study began in 2019. Even allowing for the sad passing of Ms Norah Gibbons last year, we still have no indication from the Minister as to when she expects to receive the final study. It is important to note that it was expected to take months rather than years to be completed. While we acknowledge the independence of the advisory group and its work, surely the Minister should at this point be provided with a date for which the group expects to conclude its work.

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