Safety, protection and barring orders in Ireland: which is which and how to apply

The Domestic Violence Act 2018 gives the District Court four main orders, and the names get mixed up. This guide sets out which order does what, who can apply for each, how the application is made at the family law office, what happens on the day you apply, what the hearing looks like, how long each order lasts, and what happens if an order is broken. It explains procedure only: everything in a domestic violence case is heard in camera, which means in private, and nothing from any case is repeated here.

If you are in danger now, ring 999 or 112. The support page has the helplines, including Women's Aid on 1800 341 900 and Men's Aid on 01 554 3811, and both can send someone to court with you.

The four orders in one table

A safety order does not put the other person out of the home. A barring order does. That is the whole difference, and it is why the barring order has a stricter test about who can apply.

In 2025 the District Court received 10,731 safety order applications and granted 3,596; 10,753 protection order applications and granted 7,495; 2,794 barring order applications and granted 924; and 2,643 interim barring order applications and granted 1,358. The gap between applications and orders is mostly applications withdrawn, struck out or settled before a hearing, not refusals: a protection order is granted on the applicant's evidence alone, and the full orders follow a hearing where many cases end another way.

Who can apply for each

The 2018 Act widened the list of people who can apply. For a safety order you can apply against:

• your spouse or civil partner, including a former one;
• a person you live with, or lived with, in an intimate relationship, whether or not you ever shared a home (the cohabitation requirement for safety orders went with the 2018 Act);
• the other parent of your child, whether or not you ever lived together;
• your adult child, or your parent if you are an adult;
• a person you live with in a non-contractual relationship, such as a relative or someone sharing the house without a tenancy between you.

For a barring order the list is shorter, because the order takes someone out of a home:

• your spouse or civil partner;
• a person you have lived with in an intimate relationship for at least six months in the nine months before the application;
• your adult child, or your parent if you are an adult.

For a barring order against a cohabitant or an adult child, the court must also be satisfied that your legal or beneficial interest in the home is equal to or greater than the respondent's. If it is not, or you have no interest at all, the emergency barring order is the route: it lasts up to eight working days and the Act limits how soon another can be made after it.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, can apply for a safety or barring order on behalf of a person who is unable to apply, for example through fear, where the test is met.

Applying at the family law office

Applications are made at the District Court office for the district where you live, at its family law office where it has one. In Dublin that is Dolphin House on Essex Street East. Use find a court for the office and its hours. The Courts Service lists each office's hours, and the domestic violence desk in the busier offices takes applications in the morning so that an emergency can be put before a judge the same day.

The forms were simplified in June 2025: the 37 District Court family law forms were cut to 7 under S.I. No. 219/2025. The clerk gives you the domestic violence application form, or you can download it from the Courts Service forms page. You set out the relationship, the home, what has happened and what order you are asking for. There is no fee.

Bring whatever identifies you and the respondent, and anything that shows the relationship: a marriage certificate, a child's birth certificate, proof of address. You do not need a solicitor to apply. Civil legal aid from the Legal Aid Board covers domestic violence applications, with a means test and a contribution, and the Board treats them as a priority. A Women's Aid or Men's Aid court accompaniment worker can sit with you while you fill the form.

The same day: the protection order or the interim barring order

When you ask for a safety or barring order, you can ask at the same time for a protection order (or, where there is an immediate risk of significant harm, an interim barring order) to cover the period until the hearing. These are made ex parte: on your evidence alone, without the respondent present or notified.

The clerk takes the papers to the judge, usually the same day, and you give sworn evidence in a courtroom closed to the public. The judge asks what happened and when. If the judge is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe your safety or welfare, or a child's, is at risk, the court may make the protection order at once.

A protection order does not put the respondent out of the home. It prohibits violence, threats and, where you live apart, watching or besetting the home. An interim barring order made without notice lasts up to eight working days; after that it can only continue if the respondent has been given notice and a chance to be heard.

The office then issues a summons for the respondent with the date of the full hearing. The office will tell you how the summons and the protection order are served; in many districts the Garda serve them, and the order does not bind the respondent until it has been served on them or they have been told of it. Keep a copy of the order with you.

The hearing

The full application is listed for a hearing, on a family law day, in camera. In 2025 the average wait ranged from 11 weeks in Dublin to 36 in Naas, with most districts listing within four to eight weeks; the protection order runs until then. The hearing guide walks through the day itself: what to bring, how evidence is given, what the respondent can do, and how the order is drawn up.

For a safety order the judge asks whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that the safety or welfare of the applicant, or of a dependent child, requires it. For a barring order the test is the same, with the added question of the home. The judge can make a safety order on a barring application if the barring test is not met.

Orders can carry conditions and exceptions: the order may let the respondent collect a child for access at a named time, or attend a named address for a named purpose. If access to a child is in issue the court can hear a custody and access application alongside, so say so when you apply.

How long each order lasts, and renewal

The District Court can make a safety order for up to five years and a barring order for up to three. The Circuit Court can make longer orders, and an application can be brought there instead, but the District Court is where almost all of these cases start. An order expires on the date in it. If you need protection beyond that, you apply again before the expiry: the court can make a fresh order on fresh evidence, and the earlier order is part of the history the court hears about.

Either side can apply to vary or discharge an order. The respondent cannot have a barring order set aside simply by asking; they need to show the court that the circumstances have changed.

An appeal to the Circuit Court does not of itself stop the order. The Act says an appeal stays the order only if the court that made it, or the Circuit Court, says so.

Breach

Breaching a safety, protection, barring, interim barring or emergency barring order is a criminal offence under the 2018 Act. The Garda can arrest without a warrant where they have reasonable cause to believe an order has been broken. The breach is prosecuted in the District Court like any other summary offence, and the maximum the court can impose is a Class B fine, which is up to €4,000, and/or 12 months in prison. The court can also hear the breach as contempt of its order.

If an order is broken, ring the Garda, give the order number and ask for the incident number. The order is enforced by the Garda, not by the family law office. The 2018 Act also created the offence of coercive control, which can be prosecuted whether or not any order exists.

Where the person causing harm is not a partner or family member, the Domestic Violence Act does not apply; the route is a civil restraining order under the 2023 Act.

Where this leaves you

A domestic violence application is the one District Court application that can be heard the same day you walk in. If you need protection now, go to the family law office this morning with whatever papers you have; the clerk will put the emergency application before a judge. Use the court date tool to count the days to your hearing and find the office, and keep the protection order with you until then.

If you want a solicitor, the Legal Aid Board means-tests civil legal aid for these applications and prioritises them. The support page has the helplines and the services that go to court with people: Women's Aid, Men's Aid and the Safe Ireland local services. The Family Courts Act 2024 will move these applications into a Family District Court from 2027, but nothing changes in 2026.