Deputy Thomas Pringle:

Yes. There was a request by the Victims Alliance to include the amendment. Due to the nature of harassment, the person against whom the offence was committed may not have been known to the perpetrator, and the person may not want his or her address disclosed in the documentation. The perpetrator may not have known the person's address and may just have developed the obsession online, so disclosure of the dwelling address could put the person in greater danger. The definitions in the section are taken from the Domestic Violence Act 2018. The Rape Crisis Network of Ireland, RCNI, has stated:

This amendment to the existing Section 13 [...] as initiated sets out protections for anyone seeking an order under this Section who is afraid of disclosing their whereabouts because they are fearful about their safety and that of their dependants, and also, sets out a procedure to be followed in any case where an order under this Section is needed very urgently.

We are well aware from our work with survivors, including survivors of intimate partner violence, in whose case sexual violence is part of a wider pattern of domestic abuse, that harassment behaviours including image based sexual violence online, are extremely common and also very harmful [...] To counter harassment effectively, urgent action is sometimes needed because of a specific threat or other risk that a potentially devastating course of conduct will be embarked upon whose effects may be difficult, or even impossible, to reverse or mitigate.

Without the amendment, it would be difficult for the person's address not to be disclosed in court proceedings.