Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It might come as a bit of a shock to most people in this country to learn that men who are convicted of killing their partners fully retain guardianship over any shared children. The killer continues to have the legal right to make decisions that directly influence the lives of those children including, for example, access to therapeutic supports, going on holidays, changing schools and so on. Murder of a mother is child abuse and the law in this country currently rewards the abuser and punishes the children who have been abused. The Minister said there are 212 recommendations in the study on familicide and violence family death review currently being considered by the Department of Justice. I imagine it would take a considerable amount of time to fully consider those 212 recommendations in total. Why would the Minister not separate out this relatively simple and constitutionally uncomplicated change? I am sure the families would support that. It would make such a difference to people living in those tragic circumstances. Why not separate it out and make it law even before this Dáil comes to a close?

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