I wanted to raise again the zero-tolerance strategy published by the Government yesterday, which is the third strategy against domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In particular, I wish to ask the Minister about the family law reform Bill and the family courts work which I hope is about to be published either before the Dáil recess or in the very early weeks of the next term. It is crucial that we stop the family court system being used by perpetrators to continue to exert coercive control over their former partners and, as Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, highlighted yesterday, that people have access to legal support and advice to help them deal with coercive behaviour that follows them through the court system. Can the Minister provide an update on the publication of the Bill?

I can confirm that the Government approved the drafting of a family court Bill along the lines of the general scheme in September 2020 which has been published and the drafting of the Bill is ongoing. It is quite an intensive amount of work ongoing in respect of that with a view to publishing it as soon as possible. The family court Bill will make provision for the establishment of a family court as divisions within the existing court structures, that is, providing for a family high court, a circuit family court and a district family court, each dealing with family law matters as appropriate to its jurisdiction. It is a priority for Government and we expect to make progress shortly.