Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for accepting the Bill proposed by the Labour Party group, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017, which we will propose on Second Stage on Wednesday, 24 May in Private Members' time. This is an important Bill to tackle the ongoing issue of a gender pay gap, which remains persistent despite equal pay legislation being in place for more than 30 years. I look forward to securing the support of colleagues for the legislation.

I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on policing, now that the detail, terms of reference and membership of the root and branch review of An Garda Síochána have been announced. I understand that while the review group will report within 16 months, it envisages making a series of rolling recommendations. I ask the Leader to arrange a series of rolling debates as the recommendations emerge from the review. I am pleased with the strong membership of the review group, which includes independent individuals, including academics and practitioners from Ireland and elsewhere, and will be chaired by Ms Kathleen O'Toole. It is vital that we keep the matter under political scrutiny through the Oireachtas, as well as having the review group do its work. Given that the review will make rolling recommendations, we should examine these recommendations as they emerge.

The Fianna Fáil Party's position on this matter is untenable. It has indicated it would seek to remove the Garda Commissioner within six months of taking office if it were elected to government. It is bizarre that the party is not willing to move on the Commissioner's position now, having made an announcement that clearly destabilises her. Who knows what will be the Fine Gael Party's position, given the announcement we are expecting from the Taoiseach today? I also request a debate on domestic violence and perhaps the Leader will indicate when the Domestic Violence Bill will return to the House. Today's reports in the newspapers show a dramatic increase in calls to the Women's Aid helpline, a 70% increase on last year, and its helpline is now a 24 hour facility. It received 16,000 of these related calls in the past year compared with just over 9,000 the previous year. This is a very disturbing and concerning report, especially given the horrific accounts of deaths in recent weeks in the context of domestic abuse. I note that the Women's Aid report says that 80% of the abused women who contacted it had been abused by current or ex-partners. It is a very real and current issue for many families around Ireland and perhaps the Leader might tell us when we might have the legislation back to the House.