Ivana Bacik
Ceist:
544. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Justice the number of reports to An Garda Síochána for breaches of protection orders, safety orders, and barring orders in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8065/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
I have requested the information sought by the Deputy, however, this information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51.
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 544 of 21 February 2023 where you asked for: “the number of reports to An Garda Síochána for breaches of protection orders, safety orders, and barring orders in 2022 ”
As you will recall the information was not available at the time, and I undertook to contact you again when it was to hand.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that the table below shows the number of incidents under each of the requested categories that were reported in 2022, as recorded on the PULSE system 15 February 2023. Please note this information is operational and liable to change.
|
Incident Type
|
Count
|
|
Breach of Barring Order
|
697
|
|
Breach of Emergency Barring Order
|
*
|
|
Breach of Interim Barring Order
|
138
|
|
Breach of Protection Order
|
2306
|
|
Breach of Safety Order
|
1598
|
* Where the recorded number is less than 10, An Garda Síochána do not release this data in order to protect the identities of the individuals involved.
It is important to note that a breach of any order under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 is a criminal offence. An Garda Síochána take breaches of domestic abuse orders extremely seriously. Where there is a domestic abuse order in place and that order has been breached, the Gardaí can arrest the perpetrator and bring that person before the Courts. If a person is convicted of breaching an order they may be liable to pay a fine of up to €4,000 or a serve term of imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.
Last year, Minister McEntee launched Zero Tolerance – The Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. The strategy commits to review DSGBV related legislation where further reforms may be necessary, including instances of breaches of barring orders where there is a history of violence. In such cases we will be examining if limitations on access to bail for the accused can be introduced. As part of this work to review and reform our legislation, I am progressing legislation to double the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from 5 years to 10 years - one of the most common charges in cases of domestic abuse.
I trust that this information is of assistance.
