David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I notice a little trend, almost implied, that domestic violence is universally and uniquely by men against women; it is not. There are much smaller numbers, but there are numbers. To my mind domestic violence is always violence, irrespective of whether it is by a man against a woman, a woman against a man, a man against a man or a woman against a woman. We need to bear that in mind in our use of language when discussing the matter.

The Minister of State said that a number of the offences listed can be prosecuted under other legislation, which is true. However, it is also true that offences in the UK include offences prosecutable under other statutes. Rape, financial abuse, threats to hurt or kill or criminal damage are all matters that are susceptible to prosecution under other statutes in United Kingdom law and yet these matters survive in the list that is appended to the legislation. Therefore, this duplication does not seem to worry the United Kingdom. We have an example we can look to and it seems to call into some doubt the Minister of State's attitude on this matter. I ask him to reconsider that in light of the United Kingdom experience.