Justice minister promises domestic violence register following report on record abuse complaints

Jim O'Callaghan told the Dáil the 'epidemic' of domestic violence 'will only be resolved if the vast majority of men recognise the need for them to do work to emphasise its unacceptability'.

The Justice minister has promised to roll out a domestic violence register following the latest Women's Aid annual report which reveals the highest number of complaints in 50 years.

Jim O'Callaghan told the Dáil the "epidemic" of domestic violence "will only be resolved if the vast majority of men recognise the need for them to do work to emphasise its unacceptability".

The Women's Aid report revealed increased reports of all forms of abuse against women last year, with physical abuse up 22%; sexual abuse up 30%; emotional abuse up 15%; and economic abuse up 5%.

Mr O'Callaghan said a number of steps were being taken, including amending the Sexual Offences Act, to ensure the issue of counselling notes would be "dealt with properly once and for all".

"Under the legislation I am bringing forward and that Government has approved, it will mean counselling notes will only ever be able to be used in trials if it is the case that to not use them would result in an unfair trial."

Under questioning from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, who described the report as "very grim reading", Mr O'Callaghan said work on a register for domestic violence is also ongoing within his department.

He added while refuge spaces were important, "it should not be the case that the first instinct and the first port of call when a woman is subjected to domestic abuse in her home is that we ask how we can find another place for that woman to live".

"The response should be around how we can get the abuser out of the home," he said, adding this was an area he was committed to ensuring was adequately funded.

"We are going to amend the Guardianship of Infants Act, which will ensure greater rights for the families of children whose mother, generally, has been murdered by the father of the child. We need to ensure that the father does not retain exclusive responsibility after that," Mr O'Callaghan said.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the changes were welcome but said "all of these laws are ineffective if the first line of defence, the gardaí, are not implementing them adequately".

She said the survey found nearly half of the women who sought help from gardaí in the past year found the response “unhelpful”.

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