Istanbul Convention and estimates
Seán Ó Fearghaíl asks whether the Government will sign the Istanbul Convention and provide supplementary funding for family refuges; the Taoiseach says no Estimates decisions have been made but notes that approval to sign the Convention is being pursued.
I hoped to get this question in when the Minister for Justice and Equality was beside the Taoiseach. I wish to return to the issue of the Istanbul Convention, about which the Minister has spoken frequently. One wonders, given the current speculation about an early general election, whether the Taoiseach can state emphatically that the Government will sign the Istanbul Convention and bring it into effect.
We read in the press that there are suggestions that many Government Departments may require Supplementary Estimates. I refer to Tusla. Throughout the country, family refuges are suffering enormously because of inadequate funding. In my constituency, a project built using heavy capital investment is not fully open - two apartments remain closed because of a lack of funding.
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Sorry, Deputy. There are other Deputies waiting to speak. That is not a matter for the Order of Business, by the way.
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It is a question of whether-----
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-----there will a Supplementary Estimate for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs which would address these important issues.
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Normally, Supplementary Estimates have to be presented before the budget. They are a matter for discussion between the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the relevant Ministers, speaking on behalf of their Departments. A number of Supplementary Estimates have been referred to, and obviously health is one of those. No decisions have been made as yet. I will take note of the point he mentioned.
On 25 September, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, indicated that he would seek Government approval to sign the Istanbul Convention in the coming weeks. It is a multi-annual action plan with timescales for implementation that was drawn up in consultation with other Government Departments and agencies in regard to implementing the small number of remaining actions required to enable Ireland to ratify the convention. I will update Deputy Ó Fearghaíl on the work that has taken place in respect of the few remaining items.