Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 567: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he will take to give legal protection to victims of domestic violence who are currently not protected by the Domestic Violence Act 1996, in view of the fact that they are not married to their abuser or those who may not apply for a safety order in view of the fact that they have not lived together for the specified period of time under the Acts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29883/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Domestic Violence Act 1996 already provides protection for victims of domestic violence who are not married to their abusers. As it stands, a person who is not married to the respondent may apply for a safety order under section 2 of the Act if he or she has been living with the respondent "as husband and wife" for a period of at least six months in the previous twelve, or is a parent of the respondent where the respondent is of full age and not a dependent of the parent, or is of full age and living with the respondent in a relationship the basis of which is not primarily contractual.

A person who is not married to the respondent may apply for a barring order under section 3 of the Act if he or she has been living with the respondent "as husband and wife" for a period of at least six months in the previous nine, or is a parent of the respondent where the respondent is of full age and not a dependent of the parent subject to the limitation that such an applicant, unlike a spouse, must have a legal or beneficial interest in the property which is not less than that of the respondent.

My proposals in the Civil Partnership Bill 2009, which I presented to the House on 24 June 2009, make important provision for the following amendments to the Domestic Violence Act:

removal from section 2 of the residency requirement of cohabitants in order to apply for a safety order,

extension to registered same-sex civil partners of the protections currently available under the Act to spouses, and

amendment of sections 2 and 3 to refer to "cohabitants" within the meaning of the Bill instead of persons living together "as husband and wife" to ensure that persons in same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiting relationships have the same protection.

I look forward to debate in this House in due course on the details of that Bill as they apply to domestic violence and other matters.