Jim O'Callaghan: Introduces Jennie's Law Domestic Violence Register

time. I welcome the opportunity, Cathaoirleach and Senators, to present the Domestic Violence Judgements Register Bill 2026 to the Senate. Last October, Government approved the drafting of the Criminal Law, Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence and International Instruments Bill 2025, in which today's legislation was originally contained. Publication of the report on pre-legislative scrutiny of that general scheme by the Joint Oireachtas Committee took place in May of this year. Recently, I expedited the provisions in relation to the Domestic Violence Judgements Register, as this necessary reform has been an absolute priority for me since taking office. I secured Cabinet approval to publish this as a stand-alone bill last week, and I took the earliest opportunity to bring it before this House. I am determined that this legislation will be enacted before the summer recess, and I am grateful to Senators for facilitating this important work. Before setting out the content of the legislation, I want to welcome to the Senate Jason Poole and his father, Joe Poole. I want to pay tribute to the Poole family, and in particular Jason, whose tireless campaigning for this bill has turned it into reality, and I welcome Jason and Joe here in the Senate this evening. Senators will be familiar with the tragic story of Jennifer Poole, Jason's sister, Joe's daughter, who was brutally murdered by her former partner in 2021. Jennifer was not aware her former partner had a history of violence against women, including previous criminal convictions in this regard. The Poole family has been steadfast in achieving change to protect women like Jenny from violent predators. I want to take this opportunity to affirm that the legislation they have worked so hard for will be known as Jenny's Law in memory of this cherished young woman. Jenny's Law is a short piece of legislation, a simple piece of legislation, but a piece of legislation I believe is a key component of the work we as legislators are undertaking to keep individuals safe. It is a fundamental principle of Irish law that justice should be done in public. As it stands, there may be journalists present in courtrooms to report on such cases, but equally and regrettably, there may not be. It should not be the case that serious incidents of domestic or sexual violence, assault or abuse go unnoticed or unreported. The purpose of this legislation is to provide for the publication of judgments relating to serious domestic violence offences, ensuring that these are effectively publicised as part of the trial process. A publicly available register of judgments will assist people who are in a relationship or considering a relationship with a person to ascertain whether they have a history of serious domestic violence convictions. Let me turn now to the provisions of the Bill itself, which I would like to outline for the House. Section 1 of the Bill amends the Domestic Violence Act 2018 by inserting a new Part 3A into that Act. This new Part 3A provides that the court service will establish and maintain a register of judgments. This will be known as the Domestic Violence Judgments Register, and it will be available on the courts.ie website. The register encompasses serious offences such as murder, manslaughter, rape and sexual assault. In addition, a number of indictable offences under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, such as assault causing harm and serious harm, harassment and stalking are covered. Coercive control under section 39 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 also comes within the scope of the legislation, as well as distributing, publishing or threatening to distribute or publish an intimate image without consent under COCO's law. In short, the register will capture these extremely serious crimes where they are committed by a partner or a former partner, usually but not always a man, against a victim, usually but not always a woman. It is at the discretion of the trial judge whether or not to publish a judgment, which must include details of conviction and sentence, as well as the name, age and address, where available, of the abuser. The judge in a case is best placed to determine whether the publication of a judgment is warranted, given the particular circumstances of each case. It is also open to the judge to omit the residential address of the perpetrator where it is not considered appropriate to publish this information. I want to stress that the judgment may only be published where the victim gives their consent. Such consent is a prerequisite to publication. I am very aware that domestic and sexual abuse trials are difficult for victims. They have had the courage to stand up to their abuser and secure conviction in respect to the violence perpetrated against them. To be clear, the victim will not be named in these judgments. Nevertheless, where the perpetrator is named, the victim may be identifiable. As such, publication cannot and should not occur without their consent. Where a victim is deceased, the decision on publication rests with the court. Part 3A also sets out a procedure by which a convicted person can apply for the relevant judgment to be removed from the register. An application can only be made three years after the person has served their sentence and has been released from prison. In considering whether removal of the judgment is warranted, the judge must have regard to any further convictions or any efforts at rehabilitation on the part of the perpetrator. Importantly, the views of the victim are also to be considered where they are available. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Bill provide for consequential amendments to the Criminal Law Rape Act 1981, the Nonfatal Offences Against a Person Act 1997 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, respectively. In essence, these amendments ensure that nothing in those pieces of legislation precludes the publication of a judgment in the Domestic Violence Judgments Register. Section 5 of the Bill is a standard provision which provides for the short title and commencement of the Bill. As I said at the outset, this is a short and simple piece of legislation, but nevertheless one which will provide a person, and we know they are mostly women, with important information in relation to safety. It will establish a mechanism to seek out from an official source details of a history of serious offending that would give warning of an increased risk of domestic sexual or gender-based violence. This will benefit those in a relationship or considering entering a relationship with such a person, rather than relying on secondary material such as media reporting. At this juncture, I would like to reiterate that this measure is one component of our fight against violence against women and girls. Combating all forms of domestic and gender-based violence and ensuring that victims and survivors are fully supported remain absolute priorities for me and for the government. These commitments underpin our third national strategy on domestic sexual and gender-based violence, which sets out a zero tolerance approach in this regard. We're taking unprecedented whole of government action to tackle the scourge of domestic sexual and gender-based violence. Since 2020 we've moved from a fragmented system to a coordinated national response centred around zero tolerance. This includes the establishment of CUN and also the publication of the CSO sexual violence survey 2020 to significantly strengthen the evidence base with a further national survey planned for 2027. We've also delivered high impact national awareness campaigns to improve understanding of domestic violence and increase awareness of available support. These actions are supported by a budget of 80 million euro under budget 2026, ensuring sustained support for frontline services, the delivery of safe accommodation is being accelerated and that commitments have been made in that regard. I recently published a progress report on the implementation of the zero tolerance strategy for 2025, which highlights delivery across key priority areas, including improving access to justice, advancing the national emergency domestic violence accommodation plan and progressing legislative reform. The enactment of the family court act 2024 establishes dedicated family courts to provide a more appropriate and sensitive setting for victims. I also secured approval for the publication of the guardianship of infants amendment bill 2026, inspired by David French and I welcome him to the channel this evening as well, which provides for an application to the courts following conviction for murder or manslaughter of one parent by the other for the consideration of whether guardianship rights to be restricted or removed. The bill passed second stage in the Dáil on the 21st of May and completed committee stage last week. That bill will give effect to examine reforms in this area, including proposals to remove or restrict guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child as part of the ongoing work to implement appropriate recommendations from the familicide report. I want to stress that I and the government are taking decisive steps in this regard and it is something I wish to continue to do so and I say that the legislation before this house today allows for further protections through at the discretion of the court, the publication of information in relation to those who have committed very serious offences. As I would say, knowledge is power and the register will provide people with this vital information so that they can make informed decisions about their relationships. I would like to close again by once again paying tribute and affording thanks to Jason Poole and his family. Their dedication to the campaign has been inspirational and the legislative reform that we are introducing is a fitting tribute to Jenny's memory. I conclude by asking senators to work with me to get this law through this house before the recess.