Homelessness and domestic violence legislation
Seán Ó Fearghaíl highlights homelessness among women and children fleeing domestic violence and asks about further Government funding. The Tánaiste refers to forthcoming committee consideration and outlines planned reforms to domestic-violence legislation, including emergency barring and safety orders.
Homelessness is an issue that has generated a good deal of traction with Government and the public in recent times. I am struck by the fact that a significant subset of those who are currently homeless in the State are women and children who have fled the family home due to domestic violence. The Government has indicated a commitment to deal with this problem. Given the commitments made in recent times about homelessness, does the Tánaiste envisage that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will have to come forward with a Supplementary Estimate some time later this year to address the challenge of homelessness and the associated costs that will, inevitably, be involved? Has the Cabinet considered the Istanbul Convention, an international convention that seeks to combat violence against women? The matter is obviously linked to the homelessness issue in the country.
My final question relates to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. Part 4 contains a provision to disappear 77,000 people off the housing waiting lists. Under the Bill the Government has promised and stated that 77,000 people out of the 90,000 people currently on the waiting list will be considered to have their housing needs met. I am not at all surprised at such a proposal coming from Fine Gael but I am absolutely astonished that it would come from the Labour Party. Can the Tánaiste give us some sort of commitment that there will be a change in that legislation before it emerges on Committee or Report Stage?
Comment on this
As I understand it, the Bill is due to be in committee next week. Obviously, if Deputy Ó Fearghaíl wishes to propose amendments, that is the place to propose them and they will be addressed at that stage.
Deputy Ó Fearghaíl referred to domestic violence. Work is under way to reform and consolidate the Domestic Violence Act 1996. It is planned that the reform of the legislation will include new provisions on emergency barring and safety orders. These reforms are needed to enable Ireland to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, that is, the Istanbul Convention to which Deputy Ó Fearghaíl referred.