To ask the Minister of Justice whether her Department will consider consulting on the role of pets in domestic abuse and the barriers this presents for victims accessing family court protections.

While I recognise that pets can be used to perpetrate domestic abuse, policy responsibility for the substantive law applied by courts in private family law cases sits with the Department of Finance. This includes the legislation (the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998) under which courts can make non-molestation orders and occupation orders. It would, therefore, be for the Department of Finance to consult on whether the legislative framework could be enhanced for victims where the behaviour in respect of which protection is needed involves pets.