Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators who have spoken on the Bill and for the general support from the House for the passage of this important legislation. I have already taken on board a lot of the issues that have been in the public arena in recent months and years in terms of what people would like to see in the legislation. As I said, I will also be tabling some amendments at a later Stage.

I am struck by the common themes that have been addressed in the course of the presentations today. Senator Conway-Walsh, along with other Senators, spoke about how there are no boundaries on this issue. It is all across the country and across gender. We have heard the LGBTI issues about it. We have heard about age from Senator Kelleher. We have heard about the complexities in the court situation. Senator Colm Burke described the complexity of cases. Senator Bacik spoke about the period of time that cases can take to go through the courts. She stressed the need for more joined-up thinking, whether it is custody and access, or domestic violence issues. There are very big issues here in terms of ongoing reform of the courts to ensure that there is joined-up thinking and joined-up processes within our courts systems to enable people have a better experience overall.

There is really good work being done on court reforms, and we are seeing those coming through. It is clear there are huge demands on our courts. We are trying to give them extra resources so that, for example, technology can be used more effectively, so there is more efficiency, and that people do not have the delay in waiting times. The physical conditions in Dolphin House were also discussed by Senator Bacik. Those conditions need to be changed as quickly as possible.

Most Senators also spoke about how the scale of the issue and how it is almost hard to believe that scale. According to the statistics, 4,103 orders were applied for in 2015. There were 7,564 orders granted. Almost 2,000 complaints of breaches of orders were initiated in 2015. According to some research 300,000 people are experiencing severe or very severe domestic violence in their lifetimes. That figure was quoted by Watson and Parsons in a 2008 study done by the ESRI for the National Crime Council. Many people will find that extraordinary. It is clear this is a very big issue which we are speaking about it more openly now than in the past. This legislation, along with the new victims' rights legislation, is intended to support victims.

A number of particular issues were raised by Senators. I will try and run through some of those. We will have an opportunity on Committee Stage to tease out some of these issues. I will look at all the submissions I have, including those I received very recently.

Senator Colm Burke asked about forced marriage. If a person is taken out of Ireland for the purposes of a forced marriage, that will be an offence, whatever the nationality of the victim. If an Irish citizen commits a forced marriage offence anywhere in the world, whether or not the victim is an Irish citizen, the perpetrator can be prosecuted here. We can address that a little further. Senator Norris asked about its prevalence. Obviously forced marriage is very hidden. It is hard for the Garda or others to know precisely what numbers might be taking place in Ireland. Every year over the past few years a very small number of cases have come to attention. However, that may be the tip of the iceberg. As our culture and society become more diverse, it is clear this is something that we need to be aware of. It is important to have legislation in place.

The issue of coercive control is not included the Bill, and I do want to address that. It is accepted that behaviours in the domestic setting that involve emotional abuse, humiliation and fear can be as harmful to victims as physical abuse, as they are an abuse of the unique trust associated with an intimate relationship. This issue was considered in the context of the Bill. There was consultation on this issue, as with many sections of the Bill, with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Garda Síochána and the Courts Service. To be effective and enforceable, an offence needs to have a clear definition. It was decided not to include an offence of coercive control as, given the complexity of relationships and the range of behaviours that could be considered coercive or controlling, it would be very problematic to define that in statute. Further, given that the harm caused is non-physical, obtaining evidence of such behaviour and the harm caused, sufficient to satisfy the criminal standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt, is likely to be extremely difficult. That is the advice I have.

Difficulties in securing convictions could send a very negative message to victims. We need to be very aware of that. It must be remembered that courts can already take into account such behaviours when sentencing in domestic violence cases. The Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act of 1997 already provides for offences relating to harassment and threatening behaviour. It is not that this issue has not been considered. It is worth putting the views regarding that on the record.

The question of defining domestic violence is something I have of course considered. I have taken legal advice on it, and I have linked with the Office of the Attorney General, with the Garda Síochána and with the DPP. I have looked at this very seriously. Domestic violence covers a very wide range of behaviours. We have heard that from Senators here today.It covers physical behaviour such as assaults, rape and sexual assault as well as psychological abuse, intimidation, harassment, mental cruelty and economic abuse. A number of existing offences capture the range of behaviours associated with domestic violence. Obviously, physical violence is captured by the legislation I mentioned and sexual violence is covered under other legislation. I do not propose to create a specific offence of domestic violence in the Bill because of the complexity of defining in statute an offence of domestic violence. I have carried out a great deal of consultation on this. There is also the possibility of such an offence giving rise to unintended consequences, especially for the victim. It is not that I have not considered this option and taken advice on it but I am strongly advised that from a legal point of view it would not be helpful to the victim and would lead to other complexities. That should be put on the record.

The question of resources has been raised a number of times. Resources are increasing and clearly must increase. The national budget for domestic and sexual violence services increased to €20.6 million in 2016 and is being increased further in 2017, arising from the provision of increased overall funding to agencies. We must continue to examine the resources in this area. I am aware that many of the front-line organisations found it very hard to continue to support victims over the past seven years when the economy was failing. Like the Senators, I thank them for the work they have done in providing front-line services and for the way they continued to reach out to victims during that period.

I should point out that in exceptional circumstances a judge can be accessed out of hours via An Garda Síochána. There are some recommendations that this service should be more comprehensive. That is something we can examine. It is a resource issue.

I thank the Senators for their support for the Bill. I hope I have clarified why certain things are not in the Bill at this point. I look forward to Committee Stage and further examination of these issues.