I thank the Deputy. There is no register of convicted criminals currently in place and no such register is under consideration. Justice is administered, as the Deputy said, in public in accordance with the Constitution and court outcomes can be reported in the media. The Deputy will appreciate that a decision on whether to convict a person and for what crime is a matter for the presiding judge and, quite properly, I have no role in this. Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts …

It goes back to the Deputy's original point, which I referred to in my response, that any person convicted of a serious crime will have gone before the courts in a public manner. The media can report, though I accept that does not happen in every instance. In relation to Jason Poole and the awful circumstances of his sister's murder, I cannot commend him enough on the work he has done in advocating on her behalf and that of all victims of murder at the hands of their partners. I have given a commitment, as was clea…

Anything we would introduce or consider would need to be with the support of and in consultation with An Garda Síochána to make sure it is effective. Where serious criminal offences are committed, it is important that the punishment matches the crime and that those convicted serve the right sentence or penalty, while acknowledging that we need rehabilitation and reform in our society. We need to make sure the sentence matches the crime and that is why in the last week I have made proposals that the maximum penalty …

Justice Plan 2022 commits to the implementation of the Government’s youth justice plan whose aims include preventing offending behaviour from occurring and diverting children and young adults who commit a crime away from further offending and involvement with the criminal justice system. The youth diversion projects, YDPs, are community-based projects that offer that vital support to the statutory Garda youth diversion programme. There are currently 105 YDPs across the State and the youth justice strategy commits t…

I fully agree. I acknowledge the youth diversion projects in my own county. Knowing the fantastic work they do with young people, it is absolutely vital that they are supported. The Department has identified gaps and is looking at areas in which the current 105 YDPs cannot provide the needed service and support through expansion. This list has not been finalised and we will need to have further engagement with An Garda Síochána but the provisional list identifies south and west Wicklow, south Monaghan, Claremorris …

An Garda Síochána is the agency we initially engage with when identifying areas in which there is a need to expand but we also engage with the 105 YDPs to determine whether the expansion of their services can serve the areas where they currently do not operate. That is where these issues have been identified. We are not just working with An Garda Síochána but with the youth diversion projects which, in turn, are working on the ground with many of the organisations and agencies Deputy Michael Moynihan referred to. I…

As of 31 May, there were 14,347 members of An Garda Síochána throughout the country. The Government has allocated An Garda Síochána an unprecedented budget of over €2 billion for 2022. This level of funding is enabling sustained ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, the number of gardaí is now 14,347 and we have more than 3,100 Garda staff nationwide. The Deputy may be aware that there was a very strong interest in the recent Garda recruitment campaign, which only closed recently. Over 11,000…

The way we will achieve this is through the roll-out of the new operating model. This new model has been proposed through the Commission on the Future of Policing and the subsequent implementation plan, which will result in the reduction of the number of districts. Most important, it will entail a merging of Garda members working in the back office, in the various finance and HR functions, allowing for more front-line gardaí. There are four key areas of finance, HR, crime and community engagement. Merging finance a…

My intention is to get as much funding and resources as possible for An Garda Síochána in this year's budget. The €2 billion in last year's budget was the largest budget we have ever had, building on significant increases in previous years. An element of that will go towards pay and other areas of current spending. It is important that we invest not just in the physical infrastructure of cars and equipment but in other areas like body-worn cameras. Deputy Richmond has been pushing for and supports the introduction …

I fully support the Deputy's sentiments. There needs to be continual engagement between governments in general on these matters but also between individual Departments and Ministries. I am pleased there is ongoing contact between myself and my colleague, Naomi Long, who is the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, as well as excellent ongoing cross-Border co-operation between our respective Departments on a range of issues. There is also engagement between An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ire…

I agree with the Deputy that we all have a role to play in upholding and maintaining the Good Friday Agreement and on how the relationship on this island has developed. From my engagement with the Minister, Ms Naomi Long, and the Department's engagement, a significant way in which we can uphold the Good Friday Agreement is by maintaining peace and making sure that those who seek to disrupt that peace are brought to justice. That is why the work of the IGA, which I mentioned previously, is so vital in this regard. S…

Without knowing the details of the case, I will be happy to talk to the Deputy outside the Chamber. As he rightly pointed out and as we all know, agreements and arrangements are in place which were reached following a ceasefire, particularly relating to prisoners in the North and the South. We adhere to those arrangements. It is important that we do so and that we ensure we maintain that peace. It is important to acknowledge that there are some who wish to disrupt that and continue to engage in criminal activity an…

The development of the community safety innovation fund is a key commitment under justice plan 2022, which I believe will have a significant impact on the development of community safety projects throughout the country. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department opened applications for the new community safety innovation fund on 11 April. The new fund will use money seized from the proceeds of crime to support investment in innovative community safety projects. This a fitting reflection of the successful work of An…

One of the most important elements that I have tried to convey, which is why we had the consultation process to make it clear to people, is that the projects we want people to put forward should not be able to be funded through existing streams, such as the victims of crime funding from my Department, the HSE, Tusla, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, or any other organisation. There are various different streams, such as funding for staff of sporting organisations on an ongoing basis. W…

I will respond to that last question. Grants range from €20,000 to €150,000. We must look at the types of projects that have been applied for. We are still going through that. How many projects receive a grant and how the funding is divided up would then depend on the types of projects that have been sought. The fewer of the €150,000 type projects there are, the more we can spread it across. This is just the first year and it is my intention it will expand. I brought the Criminal Assets Bureau 2021 report to the Ca…

My objective is to have recommendations made as soon as possible on international protection applications. This ensures people who are found to be in need of protection can receive it quickly and can begin to rebuild their lives here with a sense of safety and security. I assure the Deputy that my Department continues to innovate to improve our processes and to reduce processing times, in line with the recommendations made by the Catherine Day expert advisory group, and the commitments in the Government's White Pap…

The Deputy will appreciate that is a different Department, but I believe I can speak on behalf of all us when we acknowledge the huge amount of work that is being done by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, led by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, not just in responding to the significant numbers of people coming in from Ukraine, which is more than 40,000 people at this stage, but also with the significant increase in the international protection applications. It is vital an indivi…

I thank the Deputy for his question. There are probably a number of factors which have resulted in the significant increase. Yes, it is true to say that one of those factors is possibly the policies which have been implemented within the UK and it is possible that the change and the sentiment following Brexit has also had an implication. Post the Covid-19 pandemic we have seen more people on the move, having not being able to move in the past number of years. There have also been other militating factors. The war i…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 14 together. I will start by saying a sincere thanks to those who were involved in the development of the strategy. This is a follow-on and builds on the great amount of work that was done in the previous two strategies by our former colleague and Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, in particular. We have worked very closely not just with all Government Departments but also with our State agencies and, in particular, with the community and voluntary sector and our service providers…

I thank both of the Deputies for their contributions. On the delivery of refuge accommodation, a great amount of work is to be done. I am working very closely with Tusla and with service providers. I am building on the work that has been done to date to put in place a very clear structure so that we have a common design and service delivery right across the board. Where we have a county with no service provision at the moment, we will be able to put that structure in place by bringing together the relevant bodies a…