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

I too wish to record my sympathies to the wife and four children of Christopher Stalford, MLA, and his wider circle of friends, family and colleagues in the DUP.

The Taoiseach and his office have assumed an oversight role in the delivery of the third strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. What part will the shared island unit play in that work? The Tusla review of domestic violence accommodation very starkly demonstrates the absence of refuge places for victims and their children along the Border counties. We know anecdotally that services North and South support women who travel across the Border. For example, a victim in Buncrana may travel to Derry city for the purposes of anonymity and, worse still, because of the shame and stigma that still attaches for many in respect of the violence and abuse they endure. The inclusion of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in the shared island schedule of dialogue this year would be a constructive and useful piece of work.

I raised the Government's outstanding commitment to a referendum on presidential voting rights with the Taoiseach a couple weeks ago. As he knows, there is cross-party support for voting rights to be extended to citizens living on our island beyond the State. When does the Taoiseach expect the Minister to bring the heads of Bills to Government for approval?

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