Domestic Violence Judgments Register Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-16 ============================================================ Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I pause to remember Jennifer Poole and Valerie French. I welcome Joe, Jason and David to the House and thank them for all of the important work they have done. I also thank Fianna Fáil Senators and TDs for bringing forward this important legislation. The Labour Party is very happy to support it. The idea at the heart of the Bill is a simple one. People should have a chance to find out if their partner has a history of domestic violence. We can all agree that this is a very worthy and sensible aim. How do we do that in the most effective, safe and possible way? There have been different approaches to this in different jurisdictions and I want to talk about Clare's Law in the UK. It put in place a domestic violence disclosure scheme allowing police to both disclose and proactively inform people of their partners' relevant past convictions. The new register of domestic violence under this Bill, which we welcome, is different from the one in the UK. It is vital that we tease this out to make sure what the Government is doing here is the best way forward. There are concerns with both models. Given what the Government is proposing here is reasonably novel, we need to make sure we get it right. I am delighted we have this opportunity to speak about this. Domestic violence disclosure schemes, like Clare's Law, have a couple of significant drawbacks. They rely on the police providing the information, and that carries the possibles of delays. Reporting in the UK shows many women waiting hundreds of days for disclosures to be made. For women in dangerous situations, this is obviously too late. They also typically require direct contact with police to initiate the process. Sometimes that can pose a barrier for vulnerable women, particularly those from marginalised communities. The efficacy of those processes under domestic violence disclose schemes has been questioned. With that in mind, I understand and commend the Minister for choosing a different approach here. There are, however, also questions about the idea of a public register and I would like reassurance from the Minister that these have been accounted for. The information to be included on the register is, by definition, limited in nature, only relating to a serious conviction. Of course, the absence of information should not necessarily mean an absence of concern. If a person is concerned enough to consult the register in the first place, how do we make sure that if they find their partner or prospective partner is not listed, they do not take a false sense of security from that. We need to be careful to communicate that if something feels wrong, it probably is wrong and a clear register does not necessarily mean no threat is posed. The need for victim's consent is in the legislation for good reason but could be a double-edged sword if victims come under pressure not to consent. These are vulnerable people who have been subjected to coercion, manipulation and violence in most cases. We need to make sure the supports are in place to allow them to safely make an independent and informed decision. In that regard, I give a shout-out to the safe to call initiative by the Domestic Violence Advocacy Service, DVAS. In my area of Sligo, the first safe to call centre has started up in the Ballymote Family Resource Centre where all staff are trained to recognise if someone is a victim of or has experienced domestic violence and coercive control. This is not a silver bullet. We know the Bill is a start but it is just one part. Under the Istanbul Convention, we are still not meeting our obligations. Unfortunately, I come from one of nine counties where there is still no refuge. All the surrounding counties, including Leitrim, Longford, Cavan and Roscommon have no domestic violence refuge. That is something the Minister can help to address. We know that we need to have more ambition around this. Unfortunately, I am hearing stories around protection and safety orders that judges are ruling in favour of men and that there is an undermining of women. That is something that I hope we can continue to discuss here. I know this from working with Women's Aid and Domestic Violence Advocacy Service, DVAS. I hope that we can continue this conversation. I welcome and support the Bill. I thank the Minister for bringing it forward. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:03+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-16