I share the Deputy's frustration and his ambition to right many of the wrongs inflicted on many people over the years. I thank the individuals and various groups and organisations which came together to make the recommendations and ensure we could right those wrongs. The work in ongoing and I hope to progress it as soon as possible but I do not have a definitive date for it yet.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Although short in length, the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 is very significant legislation. It addresses important constitutional infirmities in law that were recently identified by the High Court. The High Court ruled that a person who commits murder as a child but turns 18 years of age before he or she is sentenced cannot be subject to the mandatory life sentence for murder. The specific purpose of the Bill, therefore, is to disapply the mandatory life …

They do. I do not think copies have to be circulated but I can see if-----

We will ask for that. A child convicted of murder may receive a life sentence, whereas a child convicted of murder who has turned 18 must receive a life sentence. The practical effect of the High Court decision is that it will now be difficult to proceed with prosecutions in these types of cases, given the lack of clarity on what sentence can be imposed if the person is found guilty. There is an urgency to these amendments as there are several murder trials scheduled over the coming months involving this cohort of …

I am sorry.

That is not true.

I thank Members for their contributions and, for the most part, broad support for the proposed changes. I thank them for their assistance in bringing it forward. I will touch on the Bill itself and then, if the Chair allows some latitude, I will respond to other issues raised. The Bill is clear; we need to make sure there is equity. Nobody is disputing the fact that murder is the most serious crime, irrespective of who commits it. If it is committed by a child who then happens to age out by the time of sentencing, …

Absolutely, but mandatory sentencing for murder is being disapplied in this case and that means we are reverting back to common law. If the two are separated, there is no sentence for a child who commits murder. I commit to engaging with my team on that to get clarity before speaking on it tomorrow. More broadly, the best thing we can do for young people is to make sure they get the best start in life and that, where there are challenges in their lives, as they go through school or in their communities, we provide …

The amendments in this grouping are amendments Nos. 1, 3 and 4 and Seanad amendment No. 1. Amendment No. 1 provides for a change to the Long Title to reflect the fact that the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 is to be amended by the Bill. Amendment No. 3 provides for changes to the Bill’s commencement provisions owing to the insertion of amendments on Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann. Amendment No. 4 is a Government amendment, inserted on Committee Stage in the Dáil. It inserts a new section 4A in the 1956…

I thank the Senators for their points. It is clear this is not a new law that, de facto , will suddenly create a two-tier system or different system. This is a law that has existed since 1956. It is already there and has been used sparingly. As we have heard, it has been used eight times. It is not thrown about willy-nilly. It was challenged and we know the Damache outcome. It was clear from that decision that the Supreme Court did not challenge the availability of this law to a Minister, nor did it challenge the c…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. When I was concluding the debate last week, I asked all Deputies to make sure we keep this on the agenda, so I welcome the fact today’s motion has been put down and that we have a debate on this issue directly after Topical Issues this morning. It means that we are all prioritising it and keeping that focus on it. The Deputy is right that it is not just women who are impacted. We need to make sure, when we roll out refuge accommodation, supports and services, that while i…

All the components need to come together at the same time. That work is being done. As I said, it is being driven by Cuan, the new domestic violence agency, with the support of my Department and working closely with the Department of housing. All of these projects are being developed through the capital assistance scheme, CAS. We need to make sure that system, and the structure around it, works. It is also about building capacity. We have been equally focused on building capacity on an ongoing basis. We have been c…

I thank the Deputies for tabling the motion. As I stated in response to a Topical Issue on refuge and accommodation earlier, I welcome the fact we are discussing this issue and I welcome the raising of the issues in the motion. When we finished debating our second motion last week, I called on every one of us to make sure we keep this on the agenda and continue to focus on and prioritise addressing the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence because it is an epidemic and we cannot just discuss it when s…

I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to discuss this issue today. I agree with the previous speaker, Senator Dooley, that we should not shy away from it. We should regularly engage and talk about the facts, what we are doing and what we need to do collectively, not just in the Department of Justice or integration services but also across all of society, to ensure we have an immigration system that functions. It would also allow us to talk about the challenges that exist. There is a challenge; there is no point…

I move: "That Committee Stage be taken now."

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 28, to delete " Sections 3 and 5 " and substitute " Parts 3 , 4 , 7 and 9 and section 14(d) ". Amendments Nos. 1 and 31 are with regard to the Long Title. These are consequential amendments to provide for the insertion of these proposed amendments to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. Amendment No. 1 provides for the insertion of these amendments to the Bill. Amendment No. 31 provides for the consequential change in the name of the Long Title of the Bill. Amendme…

I thank the Deputies for all of their contributions across a variety of issues. At the outset, I have some issues to address. We discussed this last week in terms of the miscellaneous Bill. Throughout the year we have all collectively across the House worked on different Bills and pieces of legislation. Naturally, the way a miscellaneous Bill comes together is that, even with all of the legislation we are passing, certain changes are required that do not naturally fit into other legislation, or they happen at a tim…

I am absolutely happy-----

Absolutely. I think with regard to any further changes, if it were to increase beyond that again, that would be through engagement with any of the associations referenced here but it would be always voluntary. It would be always optional. If we were to change the mandatory retirement age, that would have to be done with the Houses. If we were to change anything regarding the accelerated pension, that would have to be changed in this House as well. This is simply just to give those options to the many people I know …

Deputy Nash had an amendment in this section that was disallowed.