The Deputy will appreciate that the deployment of gardaí and resources and how they are deployed are a matter for the Garda Commissioner. As Minister for Justice, I must make sure the resources are available and that gardaí are coming out of Templemore. As I mentioned earlier, more than 10,000 people have applied to the recent Garda recruitment campaign. That is very welcome. The more of them who come out on the beat as quickly as possible, the more they can be spread throughout the country and not just into areas …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am very much aware that Deputy Murnane O'Connor is very passionate about making sure her county and the community she works with has a refuge and accommodation for women and their families who are fleeing violence and instances of domestic abuse. A number of streams of work are under way at present. As I have outlined previously, we are working to publish in the coming weeks the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. While there is a whole…

Initially, we need to engage with the groups working on the ground in Carlow that are ready to go with progressing and opening up a new refuge and new accommodation. I said a decision had been taken to bring services to the Department. A decision was subsequently taken to establish an agency that will be responsible for the delivery of services. This agency will work very closely with the community and voluntary sector, many bodies in which are already delivering services on the ground. The work being done by the i…

I reassure Deputy Ó Cuív and Deputy Murnane O'Connor that there will be engagement from the interdepartmental group soon. It is working to identify how we can improve the overall process. There will then be engagement with county councils and those already working on the ground. It is really important that Tusla remain deeply involved in this process. While the delivery of service is moving from Tusla to this new agency, Tusla will still have a very significant role and part to play. That is why it is represented o…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I am acutely conscious that the roll-out of community CCTV schemes across the country has benefited many communities, helping people to feel safer in their local areas. It ensures people are safe and supports the Garda in its work. It also supports local authorities, particularly in trying to address illegal dumping. A number of Bills are being progressed to try to ensure we have the most robust programmes in place. We have encouraged local authorities to establish these schemes…

I hope my legislation will be enacted this year. That will ensure that the GDPR issues are addressed. It will set out in a clearer way the role An Garda Síochána and the local authorities have in community CCTV. In some areas there has been a reluctance to take on these schemes because of the uncertainty in the local authorities and An Garda Síochána. The Circular Economy Bill was published last Friday and it may take a little longer to move through the Houses. We need to ensure we get the right balance. While CCTV…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I acknowledge his contribution and commitment to the implementation of this strategy. I also acknowledge the community in Drogheda. As the Deputy will be aware, the implementation of the recommendations of the report are key actions in my Department's justice plan, which was published this week. I am grateful to the former director of the Probation Service, Mr. Vivian Geiran, who made over 70 recommendations in his scoping report on short- and long-term responses to challen…

I also acknowledge the people who are working, not just those on the board but also the community members. If we are to make the progress we need, it is important that everybody comes together and works together, as has happened to date. I thank everyone for their co-operation and their collaborative approach. Resourcing is one element. The Deputy has rightly mentioned the possible boundary change. I am aware that the Garda Commissioner has engaged with the Deputy and indicated that this is the direction he might l…

As the Deputy said, the two issues he raised relate to various other Departments. At the same time, my Department has taken responsibility for leading in the response to and the implementation of this report. We are engaging on a regular basis with the Departments of Education and Health and the HSE to make sure that we can follow through and implement the recommendations that are set out. In acknowledgement of the specific recommendation around the DEIS status of the schools, where further progress and work needs …

I thank Deputy Carey for raising this issue. As he is aware, budget 2022 provides for the establishment of the new community safety innovation fund, which will enable local communities to seek funding for innovative projects which will improve community safety in their areas. Community safety is about people being safe but also, as I have mentioned a number of times this evening, about feeling safe within their communities. This goes beyond traditional, high-visibility policing. The Commission on the Future of Poli…

I join the Deputy in thanking members of the Garda in Clare and other counties for the work they do in seizing these types of criminal assets from criminal gangs. It has been raised time and time again by the Deputy and many of our colleagues that it would be important to communities to see the assets going directly back into communities which are negatively impacted by these gangs. The fund will be available to all communities. I anticipate and hope that in the coming years, when we go beyond the three pilots and …

The intention is that the pilots will run for two years. That is to allow the communities to come together to set up community safety partnerships, to put a plan in place and to embed that plan. That is well under way. I recently visited Longford, where they are on target to have a plan in place. They have engaged with members of the community, from Comhairle na nÓg to the local women's support network to education, schools and everybody else. A huge amount of work is under way to ensure that the three pilots are u…

I agree with the Deputy. CCTV systems are very important in local communities. The legislation to which the Deputy referred, the general scheme of the Garda Síochána (digital recording) Bill 2021, has been approved by the Government and was published in April 2021. We are ensuring that it will be brought before the Houses this term and the aim is to complete the Bill's passage through the Oireachtas later this year. It will address many of the GDPR issues which have arisen since the introduction of legislation thro…

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, sends her apologies for not being able to be here. The Citizens Information Board, CIB, under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection, is the statutory body with responsibility for the Citizens Information service, CIS. The Citizens Information Board provides funding to 22 companies in order to deliver services on its behalf. This includes eight CIS companies that operate a national network of Citizens Information centres, including south Leinster CIS, which encompasses Coun…

While it is not my area and I am not fully up to speed on this, I do appreciate that providing services in Arklow and Bray is not the same kind of support for people living in Wicklow town. At the same time, they really have tried to make sure there is as much support available as possible while the service is not immediately available in the town. Arklow Citizens Information centre is open for drop-in callers on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Appointments are also available. Callers can…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he said, the deployment of body-worn cameras by An Garda Síochána has been sought for some time. The recommendation in this regard was made by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland in September 2018 and work commenced on the legislation in March 2019. The Deputy has raised the issue many times in the Dáil and I know he is keen to make sure the provisions are introduced as quickly as possible. Justice Plan 2022, which I published this week, commits to the p…

In addition, it will ensure that when incidents occur, including where members of An Garda Síochána are attacked, there is evidence to ensure prosecutions are carried out.

Much of my response focused solely on the legislation because it is the part that applies to me and my Department. The code of conduct that has to be set out and the procurement process are matters on which the Garda will be, and already is, working. A lot of meetings have been taking place between my departmental officials and me, the Garda Commissioner and his team, the Attorney General and others to ensure we do not have a situation whereby the legislation is passed and it is only then that the other work that n…

I thank the House for facilitating the taking of his motion today. On Tuesday, the Government approved my request to seek the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas to opt in to this EU Commission proposal. The proposal seeks to extend the list of EU crimes under Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU, to include hate crime and hate speech by way of Council decision. We discussed and approved the proposal in the Dáil yesterday and I am delighted to have the opportunity to present …

I thank Senators for the general support for the Bill, albeit some concerns have been raised. I reassure everybody in the House that in no way will the national legislation or the legislation we propose to opt into at a European level get in the way of everybody's right to free speech. It is vital that freedom of expression continues but where speech incites or encourages others to commit crimes against a person or group of people because of who they are, the colour of their skin, their gender, their sexual orienta…