Domestic Violence Judgments Register Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-25
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Lynn Ruane (IND), University of Dublin

I move amendment No. 5:
In page 4, line 20, after “justice” to insert “, safety, and the best interests of a child,”.
We welcome this legislation. We hope that it will bring about a level of safety for people, especially women, who often enter into relationships without knowing the type of people they are entering into relationships with. Women sometimes end up in very complex relationships, even when they do know that the people they have entered relationships with have caused harm in their communities. It can be very difficult to understand the vulnerabilities that exist for women in those complex situations.
Our amendment is concerned with a person's address. I understand that the previous Labour amendments wanted to ensure that people were identified accurately. Including an address, a date of birth and so on could ensure that people would not be misidentified. However, we also need to understand that people who abuse someone often do not only abuse one person. While they may have a conviction relating to a relationship with someone else, they may go on to create another family with somebody who does not know about that. They may have children. Our concern is whether the best interests of such children will be taken into account if an address is to appear on a public register. While we are creating safety for anybody who encounters and ends up in a relationship with a person that is known to be violent, there may be other family members within that household. What does that do for them? How are they protected? Should we reduce their levels of safety? They are already in an unsafe situation if they are in a household with a violent man. Obviously, the ideal solution is to create safety and to remove them from that situation. If they are not removed, however, will a person's name being included on this register lead to minors being exposed? In the worst-case scenario, children in school may become aware that their classmate's father is on a register. They know it is him because the address will be included rather than just the name. People in the community may then descend on the house. What protections or safety plans have been put in place for other people who are living in that house? They obviously need to be protected from that individual, but they may also need to be protected from the public. We have had vigilantism in this country before. We had it in the eighties and nineties in relation to drugs, and we have seen it where paedophiles have lived in communities. I have witnessed this is in my own community. My fear is that in seeking to protect some people, we may risk reducing the safety of others who are living within a household. What does including a person's full address mean for the protection and rights of other people who live with that person?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-25