Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

On the technicalities of this, the Minister will be aware that as a small party Solidarity has little Private Members' time to progress Bills. Will he consider amending the Domestic Violence Act and conduct an inquiry into this? I will outline some research from Scotland where non-harassment orders, on which we based the Bill, have been introduced. It is a very similar jurisdiction and has a similar culture. Before introducing the non-harassment orders, a study was conducted that involved interviews with the police and many people involved in the area. Male ex-partners were found to be the largest group of people who could not accept the end of a relationship. The Minister spent a large amount of money telling people what they should do if they see violence, but there is nothing to help women - obviously there can be male victims but I am referring to the majority - if they are trying to get away from somebody who is not willing to accept "No" for an answer. In the study the sheriff said: "... the isolated incidents which have led up to the non-harassment order may not actually be criminal offences. It's the cumulative effect ... it is very concerning that somebody can keep on texting ...". Another person said: "These men will quite often pose a serious threat to women." We have seen cases recently where women have been severely beaten and killed. We want to prevent that happening and give people a means of escape.

See this speech in context