I thank the Senator very much for her kind words. I also thank her for volunteering Limerick for the trial. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, is pursuing a dual approach to address the issue of prison overcrowding by increasing prison capacity and pursuing further measures to support increasing the use of non-custodial sanctions like the Senator mentioned. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is leading a cross-agency project to introduce electronic monitoring of specific categories of individu…

I thank Deputy Ryan. She makes a great case for the pilot. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is committed to implementing electronic monitoring in line with the commitments set out in the programme for Government. The electronic monitoring project is progressing and is expected to be operational this year. We are quite far down the road with it. The Minister is also committed to progressing other commitments in the programme for Government relating to the expanded use of community sanctions that will contribute to …

I regret that I cannot accept the Senator's amendment. The e-evidence package provides for co-operation between member states of the European Union. It does not allow one member state to unilaterally suspend its operation. The amendment would be in clear breach of our legal obligations under EU law. On a point of principle, giving a member of the Executive the power to interfere with the exercise of judicial functions by a judicial authority within the European Union would be a breach of the democratic principles o…

Obviously, our Department is aware that the SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy. Regretfully, I cannot accept any of these amendments. With regard to amendment No. 2, the legal obligations on service providers, including small-to-medium-sized enterprises, are determined by the regulation and directive and it is not open to the director to alter them. Furthermore, even if it were possible for Ireland to exclude SMEs from the scope of the e-evidence package, to do so would create a gap that could easily be exp…

Regretfully, I cannot accept these amendments. Section 20 requires the publication of an annual report, which shall include such information as the director considers appropriate or as the director may direct. The section deliberately did not prescribe in detail exactly what statistical data should be included. We are setting up a new entity, and until we have some experience of how it operates, it would be premature to determine what statistical information is most relevant and available. I believe we should maint…

I thank the Senators for this amendment and commend them for raising what is a very significant topic of concern and one that has been debated recently in this House at length. I understand exactly why this issue matters so much to survivors of sexual violence and domestic abuse. For many survivors, counselling is a crucial and essential part of recovery. Counselling notes record some of the most private and painful information that a person will ever share, often at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. H…

There is obviously a presumption of non-disclosure, so unless it is relevant, it would not be disclosed. That is my understanding.

When it comes to regular legal privilege, such as between a solicitor and client, one would get the material only if it were absolutely relevant. If it were not relevant, it would not be disclosed. It would not be admissible.

I thank colleagues for their engagement today and for the Bill's progression through the Houses.

I thank the Senator for his kind remarks at the outset. I thank him for raising the issue today. Firearms are now one of my delegated responsibilities. While the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is the competent authority for the importation and exportation of firearms and the licensing of firearms dealers, An Garda Síochána, as the Senator knows, has a range of functions with regard to the operation of firearms legislation, including the issuing of firearm certificates and authorisations, and is t…

I am listening and the Senator’s point is very well made. Officials from my Department intend to continue with the ongoing stakeholder engagement meetings and the proactive and open engagement that has taken place. I will pass on the point the Senator has made. The objective of the meetings is to provide a mechanism for ongoing engagement with firearms stakeholders across a broad range of areas within the firearms community, ensuring their valuable insights in specific areas of firearms can be considered in any fut…

Yes. Various stakeholders have expressed their appreciation and satisfaction as to how the series of meetings have progressed thus far. I am informed that they thanked the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for its willingness to initiate a programme for change and look forward to working positively with the Department in the future.

I thank the Deputy for her question. The students, prospective students and teachers are in a very difficult situation. What is really important now is that we have a clear information stream going to the students so they know what is going on. The Department is aware of the current issues regarding Student Campus college in Limerick. Officials in my Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are monitoring the ongoing and evolving situation. They will provide in…

I note the Deputy's points. We cannot allow profiteering on foot of students whose families have made huge sacrifices to send them to Ireland to learn English. The new TrustEd Ireland quality mark will hopefully provide a better regulated environment for providers so that when people are coming to Ireland they will be able to come here with the assurance that their college will be well accredited and from that will flow the stamp 2 visas in the correct format. Obviously, my Department has responsibility for immigra…

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and allocation of Garda resources. We are assured by the Commissioner that, when allocating Garda resources, consideration is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the annual policing plan. The requirements of all Garda divisions nationwide are also taken into account, which include local and national crime trends and workloads, policing arrangements and operational strategies, local population and trends, and geographical area and size. Transfer …

Obviously, population trends are monitored on a continuous basis, but looking at what we are doing to ensure overall community safety in County Meath, the Department is pleased to secure €8 million in budget 2026 for the national office for community safety to ensure the office carries out its functions, including its support for local community partnerships and the work on the national development of a national strategy for community safety. Much of the Deputy's constituency is obviously rural. One of our success …

I take the opportunity to commend the gardaí on the street. We are seeing huge effort being put in gardaí, not just in Dublin city but on a nationwide basis. We can see the number of people going through Templemore and the standard of the gardaí coming out of Templemore is really noticeable. Population trends and community trends are always under review. We are using census data to ensure that populations are represented according to increases in the local population. This will be reviewed on a continuous basis. Th…

The Deputy, the Minister and I all represent inner-city Dublin constituencies and we know very well the devastation the grooming of children into criminality has on all our communities. I have delegated responsibility for youth justice, and it has been a priority of mine since before my appointment to the Department of justice. I am very glad to take this question today. The Government’s Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 creates a whole-of-government framework to address the challenges around children and young adul…

As the Deputy knows, we are coming up to the end of our youth justice strategy and we will have a new strategy as of the end of 2027. The Greentown project has been extended. The extension of the programme has reduced the influence of criminal networks on children at risk of involvement in crime and improved the likelihood of pro-social outcomes for children who are already involved in criminal networks. We know that investment in these programmes does work, albeit in pilot and smaller models. I agree with the Depu…

Sorry.