Domestic violence court applications on the increase

The number of domestic violence applications to the courts has risen in recent years, official figures show.

The number of court orders granted, barring individuals from the family home, dropped from by 1,420 in 2007 to 877 last year, a 38% decline.

However, figures from the Courts Service show that there has been a rise in the number of safety orders (up 30%) and protection orders (24%) granted in 2014 when compared to 2007.

Some 5,500 applications for safety orders were made last year - up by 55% from 3,553 in 2007.

Barring orders require a person to leave their home, staying away from both the person applying for the order and any dependent children.

Safety orders prevent a person from violence or threats of violence without having to leave the family home.

Overall, the number of domestic violence applications to the courts rose from 11,394 in 2007 to 13,275 in 2014.

The total number of orders made by the district court rose from 6,797 to 7,499 in the same period.

A 2005 ESRI study estimated that 213,000 women and 88,000 men in Ireland have been severely abused by a partner at some point in their lives.

Margaret Martin, director of Women's Aid, said that there has been shift to safety orders in recent years.

"We're not actually surprised at the increase in the safety orders...because up to 2011 they were not available to couples who did not live together that had a child in common and to same-sex couples," she said.

"So then in August 2011 that extension came into effect - so there's more people eligible for just safety orders, because they weren't living with their partner."