I thank all my colleagues for their support in passing this important Bill. The objective behind the Bill is to support, enhance and improve the management and monitoring of sex offenders in our country and communities. I am sorry to hear that the Deputy is not happy with the final Bill, but I think the measures we have brought in make this good legislation. It has come about following significant co-operation across all sides of the Houses, working with An Garda Síochána and the Probation Service. It feeds into br…

I thank Senator O’Loughlin for tabling this issue specifically and more generally raising the issue of domestic violence and the work we are doing collectively to respond to it. We can all agree it is an issue that has not had the attention or focus it should have had for many years, but that is changing. While I will respond on a number of different fronts to the Senator's questions, I will say from the outset, having met Jason Poole and discussed the tragic circumstances of his sister's death - she was a beautifu…

I was looking at the clock thinking I had more time.

That is okay.

While this is obviously a key priority for Jason, I know there are many other issues he has been focused on and I am pleased to work with him and many others to make sure we can make those changes. We have seen an increase in reports and numbers of people going to the Garda reporting domestic violence and sexual offences over the last year. We can look at that in two ways. First, unfortunately with Covid-19, there have been new cases as well as an increase in violence across the board. Second, I see it as a positiv…

We are amending it in the miscellaneous Bill. I can speak to the matter later. I was not sure what had been ruled in or out.

The Constitution provides for judicial independence and this Bill supports judicial independence. I support the Senator's last comments that we have an independent Judiciary, one that we can be very proud of and one that is held up right across the world. I thank the Senators for tabling this amendment. The amendment provides for a new section. It provides for an object of the Act being judicial independence and obviously there has been an explanation as to where this has come from. The object of the proposed Act i…

What is very clear in this Bill is that a person cannot be and will not be appointed unless he or she has gone through the process. As the Senator has outlined, there may be a situation, as is currently the case or had been previously the case, where vacancies are not filled. For example, in the Supreme Court if a vacancy arises but it is not to be filled immediately, then it is not absolutely the case that the Minister of the day may ask for or should ask for a process to start. The Bill is absolutely clear that n…

There are a number of elements to this, as the Senators pointed out. One aspect I wanted to ensure was that there will not be a large commission whose number just continues to increase. There are a number of later amendments regarding specific numbers of lay persons who should be appointed and how to reduce that. I do not think the figure, therefore, would go from nine to 11 but rather to 13 because, as I have set out clearly, there need to be an equal number of legal persons as well as lay persons on the commissio…

I have to stress what we are talking about here. I appreciate that these amendments propose moving from nine to 11 people, but it would in fact become nine to 13, because I could not or would not accept that there would be a minority of lay persons. We have tried to strike a balance to ensure an equal number of laypeople and legal professionals on the commission. The Senator mentioned the fact that the Chief Justice will not have a casting vote and that decisions will be made on the basis of consensus. That is how …

We are not talking about the degree of connection to the profession here. Regarding the two nominees from the Judicial Council, it is about an understanding of the role, how it operates, how people feel and an appreciation and understanding of what is required. This is why we have the interview process as well. It is not about the connection to the profession and removing that connection or suggesting it is not important. It is about the role itself, and making sure the interview process focuses solely on the role …

I thank Senators for their amendments. Amendment No. 4 very much relates to whether or not amendment No. 6 is passed and is to balance out the number. I appreciate that. I reiterate what many colleagues have outlined. The Attorney General is a constitutional officeholder. He or she is not there to represent the Government. He or she is not on the commission to represent the Government. He or she is independent of the Government. That needs to be very clear. The independence has been consistently recognised in decis…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I welcome the opportunity to introduce the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. It brings several improvements to our criminal law, including important provisions to help us to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and to tackle organised crime. It includes new measures to address stalking and harassment, a new stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation, and an increase in the maximum penalty or sentence for conspiracy to murder fr…

I thank Deputies for their contributions and for the general support of the Bill; it is welcome. As I said earlier, it is a wide-ranging Bill and I appreciate there are many different elements to it, but that is the nature of a miscellaneous Bill. It contains many important measures and changes across many different aspects, not least organised crime, domestic violence, firearms and other areas. I acknowledge civil society, community and voluntary groups, victims, survivors, members of An Garda Síochána and many ot…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)(a) and 181(1).

I stress that there has been a great amount of focus and priority placed on not only the Drogheda area, but an area extending into east Meath. Through the Vivian Guerin report, there has been a great amount of investment in our communities and supporting the Garda across Louth and even into the east Meath area. The Garda Commissioner has visited a number of stations in the area the Deputy has mentioned and there are plans afoot to ensure that we have a 24-hour response and the services that people require. However,…

Tá an-bhrón orm ach beidh mé ag caint i mBéarla, if that is okay. I thank Senator Clfford-Lee for raising this important matter today and for giving me the opportunity to provide clarity on some issues. I reassure her that we are on track, progressing and going through the stages. As the Senator has rightly outlined, funding of €100 million was allocated, so we intend to make sure that money is spent and that the hole in the ground is filled as soon as possible. I was down near the site only recently and could see …

Once the process continues as I have outlined, which means the design stage is approved and it goes through planning with no complications or issues - obviously we cannot predict how that will go but I assume there will not be any objections - and once the exact costing for this is agreed and it goes to tender, then we will be moving into ground and getting things moving. The year 2026 is still a target I intend to achieve and to reach, but obviously we have to go through all of these steps I have just mentioned. T…

Yes.

I may ask for a little more time but I will go through things as quickly as I can. I am pleased to be in the House today to present the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022, which provides for fundamental reform of the judicial appointments process. We have a strong record of judicial excellence and independence. We are well served by the Judiciary and it is important to acknowledge this. It is also important that we review our legislation to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose. The Courts and Cour…