Tougher sentences for domestic violence, as well as organised and serious crime, becomes law from today.
The Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Provisions Act also introduces longer sentences for people convicted of attacks on gardaí and other on-duty emergency personnel and creates a new standalone offence of stalking.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the new legislation is part of Government policy to tackle domestic, sexual, gender-based and gang-related violence.
The maximum sentence for assault causing harm has doubled from five years to ten years.
The scope of the existing harassment offence has been widened to include any conduct that seriously interferes with a person's peace and privacy, or causes alarm, distress or harm.
A new standalone offence of stalking has been established in law with a maximum sentence of up to ten years, with similar penalties for the standalone offence of non-fatal strangulation or suffocation.
In cases of non-fatal strangulation or suffocation causing serious harm, there is now a maximum sentence of up to life imprisonment.
Minister McEntee said these offences are often indicators of further, potentially lethal violence against a woman.
The maximum sentence for attacks on gardaí or other on-duty emergency personnel has been increased from seven to 12 years, while in cases of conspiracy to murder, usually prosecuted in cases of gang-related crime, the maximum sentence has been increased to life in prison.
The maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder increases from the current penalty of ten years to life imprisonment to further toughen laws around gangland crime.
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The CEO of Women's Aid said the issue of domestic violence is its own shadow epidemic in Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Sarah Benson said that one in four women in Ireland will be subjected to abuse by a current or former partner, and one in five by the age of 25.
She said there had been an upsurge in the number of people contacting Women's Aid and referrals to local services around the country.
Ms Benson said tougher sentences for non-fatal strangulation or suffocation causing serious harm is very important.
"This is actually really important because previously whilst an act of strangulation could have been covered under some of the assault legislation, the fact that it has been pulled out and made a stand alone offence is extremely important."
She said non-fatal strangulation is something that very commonly happens in domestic violence and it can be an indicator of a seven-fold increased risk of murder because it is so dangerous.
