Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Section 26 of the Bill provides for the granting of civil orders against "relevant conduct" and the Bill, as drafted, provides that civil orders can only be granted in circumstances where "relevant conduct" has been engaged in by a respondent towards an applicant. The issue these amendments try to address is that "relevant conduct" currently only captures behaviour which constitutes stalking but not harassment. As we believe it is important that civil orders should also be available to victims of harassment, the amendment simply seeks to expand on the interpretation of "relevant conduct" within the Bill. We have taken the standard of conduct from the stand-alone harassment offence and simply included it within the definition of "relevant conduct" in Part 5 of the Bill. While we acknowledge that the offence of harassment is likely intended to capture less severe conduct than stalking, it is behaviour which can have a significant and distressing impact on victims. As noted by Women's Aid in its submission on the Bill, the persistence of harassment means its impact will be cumulative. If the behaviour is not addressed, it risks escalating in the future. It is not always possible for victims to successfully initiate criminal proceedings for harassment. It is important that victims have access to other recourse and other paths to safety. This amendment would ensure that victims of stalking and harassment would, importantly, have the same access to justice.

In addition to expanding the definition of "relevant conduct" so that it includes harassment, amendments Nos. 10 and 11 separately deal with the same issue that amendments Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 try to remedy, that is, the removal of the qualifier within the Bill that provides that a respondent's behaviour must have a substantial adverse impact on a victim's usual day-to-day activities.