Two month wait for barring orders

WOMEN suffering domestic violence are being forced to wait more than two months to get a court hearing to try and get an order barring an abusive partner from the home.

While an initial order to protect the woman in the home can be obtained from a court clerk relatively easily, a court date must be sought in order to obtain a safety or barring order.

Waiting times for court dates vary throughout the country. In some court districts the process is speedy, but chair of Women’s Aid Ursula Regan said the family law courts at Dolphin House in Dublin were in crisis and lengthy waiting lists meant women were questioning whether or not the process was worth it.