Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I support Senator Terry's amendment. In his contribution on Second Stage, the Minister said that the number of protection orders is in the region of 3,400 to 3,800 a year. That is a substantial increase since the legislation was introduced in 1996. The intention of the amendment is to ensure that the same rules that apply in respect of interim barring orders ex parte would also apply to protection orders in this case.