Today we celebrate International Women's Day. I wish mná na hÉireann a very happy International Women's Day. It is an important occasion on which we remember the struggle for women's equality over many decades. While progress has been made, it has to be said that it has been made through the efforts and determination of generations of Irish women in tackling the historic injustices of this State. The legacy of their treatment remains for women in Ireland today. An example is pay inequality. We had only to go outside the door of Leinster House to see the protest in this regard yesterday. There is a scarcity of women in many areas of public life, including politics, leadership, government and academia. There is a lot of work left to do.

The Government has yet to deliver on the commitments it made some five years ago to the survivors of the Magdalen laundries. It is an absolute shame that those survivors are still being forced to wait.

The prevailing legacy of the eighth amendment is a blight on our society and one that the people will soon be given the opportunity to remove. Let us not forget that the 1937 Constitution of this State still asserts that a woman's place is in the home. If one said that to a member of the younger generation, her or she would regard one as absolutely insane and we look forward to removing that clause in a referendum in due course.

The continuing mistreatment of women is not just a prevailing myth; it is very real. It is even more obvious when it comes to the issue of domestic violence. Violence against women and girls remains prevalent in our society. I commend the ongoing work of organisations providing domestic violence supports and services to women and their children throughout this State. Many provide the services in a voluntary capacity. They do incredible work, for which we should all be indebted.

Late last year, Sinn Féin welcomed the decision by the Government to update the sexual assault and violence in Ireland, SAVI, report of 15 years ago. We highlighted shortfalls in policy, including those related to data collection and management within State services, such as An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service and Tusla. Are these to be included in the SAVI report?

I urge the Tánaiste to take heed of what Ms Orla O'Connor from the National Women's Council said this morning. She called for the promised review on domestic homicide to be completed. In 2016, the then Tánaiste, Deputy Fitzgerald, gave a commitment that this would be published in February 2017. It is now March 2018.

The time is up.

It is now International Women's Day. When will the review be published? How seriously does the Government take it?

Please, Deputy. The time is up.

Does the fact that it has not been published to date reflect the fact that the Government does not take it seriously?

I thank the Deputy for her question. I welcome the opportunity to outline some of the things the Government is doing and prioritising on International Women's Day. Women's empowerment is a key theme running through A Programme for a Partnership Government and it is being advanced within the framework of the national strategy for women and girls, published last May. Women's groups, civil society actors and the trade union movement were among the stakeholders across society who contributed to the development of this strategy. Stakeholders continue to be closely involved, in particular in their participation on the strategy committee advising on implementation. Our focus is now firmly on the implementation of the strategy and the Government is committed to leading by example in multiple areas.

The public consultation and national symposium were held in recent months with a view to identifying measures to address the gender pay gap, which is still at nearly 14%. This is what the figures tell us for 2014. Work is advancing on a proposal to promote wage transparency by requiring companies to complete periodic wage surveys and report those results. Work is under way to develop options to give effect to the commitment to significantly increase paid leave for the first year of a child's life to support families and the choices men and women may make. The Government is piloting a gender budgeting initiative which, during the 2018 budget cycle, will test gender equality objectives and performance indicators across a diverse range of expenditure programmes and across multiple Departments, including mine.

The Government is committed to establishing an independent business-led review group to recommend measures to boost female representation on boards of companies. The current proportion in Ireland is 17%, which compares poorly with the average across the European Union of 25%. The Government is committed to a follow-up survey to the 2002 report on sexual abuse and violence in Ireland to further inform work on eliminating violence against women. Legislation on domestic violence that the Government has promised and has already begun considering in this House will be back in this House before the end of this month.

There is a series of areas in which we are determined to try to give leadership. There are many strong women advocates for this change. The Government as a whole is absolutely committed to it.

I thank the Tánaiste. As I was listening to him speak of gender equality and leadership, there were four men and just one women in the Front Bench. I remind the House, lest we forget, that the homicide review arose when the National Women's Council of Ireland and Women's Aid requested it. It did not come from the Government. It is the groups representing women — the groups that fight women's causes day in, day out, particularly in regard to domestic violence — that have been pushing for the review, which we are still awaiting. It is being driven entirely by the groups representing women, not the Government.

Did the Tánaiste actually hear the evidence given at yesterday's justice committee? Was he alarmed by it? Will he offer an apology to the two brave women who were heard yesterday, namely, Laura Galligan and Lois West?

I thank the Deputy. The time is up.

Does the Tánaiste accept that there is a culture within the Garda of not taking incidents of domestic violence seriously?

The time is up, Deputy.

If that culture exists, as many believe, it stems from the fact that the Government does not take it seriously.

The time is up.

If it did, the Garda would not be allowed to be so dismissive of domestic violence cases.

I do not know about the culture in An Garda Síochána, but there is definitely a culture here of ignoring the clock.

I think I answered Deputy Michael McGrath regarding how seriously the Government will take the evidence given yesterday by two brave women at the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. On one of the Deputy's previous questions, it is worth nothing today, on International Women's Day, that the Government has made a clear decision, with unanimous support across Government, to bring forward legislation to remove the eighth amendment from the Constitution and is determined to stick to a timeline to provide for the opportunity to do that in late May. I look forward to the debates that will take place on that sensitive issue. It is important to recognise the role of Government in taking a leadership position towards changing the Constitution to protect women's health, first and foremost. It is significant and it is appropriate that it is happening on a day like today.