Laws needed to establish domestic abuser register could be in place in weeks

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan will bring Jennie’s Law to Cabinet on Tuesday, and he will seek to secure approval to publish the text of the Domestic Violence (Judgments) Register Bill 2006. File Picture: PA

Laws enabling the establishment of a public register of the names of domestic abusers could be in place within weeks.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan will bring Jennie’s Law to Cabinet on Tuesday, and he will seek to secure approval to publish the text of the Domestic Violence (Judgments) Register Bill 2006. 

That will allow it to progress through the Dáil and Seanad, with sources telling the Irish Examiner that it is hoped it can be enacted before the Dáil rises for the summer in mid-July.

Under the plans, the names of those convicted of domestic violence against a partner or former partner will be included on a public register as part of the conviction process.

The register will be published on the Courts Service website, with victims and survivors required to provide consent before the convicted person can be named.

The trial judge will have discretion to publish a judgment in an appropriate case. This will contain details of conviction and sentence, as well as any other information relevant to the offence that the judge deems appropriate.

The list of offences that will be published includes murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, non-fatal offences, assault causing harm, non-fatal strangulation or suffocation, threats to kill or cause harassment, coercive control and threatening to publish intimate images, amongst others.

It is also intended that the information on the register will be linked to domestic violence supports.

Previous convictions 

The legislation will be named after the late Jennifer Poole, who was murdered in April 2021 by her partner Gavin Murphy.

The 24-year-old mother of two, who was stabbed in her home in Finglas, Dublin, was not aware of Murphy’s previous convictions for domestic abuse.

He had previously been jailed for two years for attacking a former partner and her mother with a knife in 2015.

Jennifer’s brother, Jason Poole, has been campaigning since her death for the establishment of a publicly available domestic violence register to allow women and men to check if their partners have prior domestic violence convictions.

Mr O’Callaghan paid tribute to Mr Poole, saying that he had “tirelessly campaigned” for Jennie’s Law following his sister’s death.

“If a person is convicted of a serious criminal offence before the courts, that is a public conviction and the public are entitled to know about that conviction,” he said.

“Depending on the circumstances of any given domestic abuse case, there are also a number of fundamental measures that An Garda Síochána routinely assists with, and implements, such as supporting the victim to obtain a domestic abuse order, providing information in relation to domestic abuse support services, and ensuring a proactive arrest policy where there is clear evidence that an offence such as assault causing harm, or threats to kill, or stalking and harassment has occurred."

Last month, garda statistics confirmed that more than 1,000 domestic abuse reports were made each week in 2025.

In the first four months of 2026, more than 17,900 incidents of domestic abuse were reported across the country.

Some 920 arrests linked to domestic abuse were made during the same four-month window, representing a further 10% increase compared with the same period in 2025.

Separate statistics indicate that one in five domestic abuse incidents reported between 2022 and 2025 involved a male victim, while one in eight involved a child victim.

• Louise Burne is the Political Correspondent with the Irish Examiner.