I am not either.

I thank all of the Senators present and those who have left for their contributions to this Second Stage debate. The Bill is an important part of my own justice plan, is part of the overall programme for Government and is part of the overall mission to build stronger and safer communities, which includes reform of the courts. It is a key element of the democratic charter of the State. Judicial independence safeguards a citizen's rights to have his or her own case decided on the law, the evidence and the facts witho…

On the resourcing of An Garda Síochána, it is a matter for the Commissioner as to where they go. My role is to make sure the Commissioner has as many gardaí as possible to be able to allocate into the different regions. We have about 460 that will either come into or leave Templemore this year. With the new recruitment campaign, the intention and the funding that was allocated in this year's budget is for 1,000 additional gardaí next year and we hope to continue that number. That would see 200 gardaí every three mo…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this year's budget. The record Department of Justice allocation for 2023 of €3.3 billion will help keep our communities stronger and safer. It will support victims and maintain a momentum of modernisation right across the justice sector. It represents a 5% increase, which has been welcomed by all. The total gross allocation for the Garda Vote is a record €2.14 billion, an increase of over €7.8 million. This will make a real and tangible difference in our communities. We recogni…

Just two seconds. We are halving the cost of special exemption orders, which means that for one night, €410 will now become €205. The Data Protection Commission budget is now at €26 million, which means it will have gone up sevenfold since it was established. The Policing Authority has been allocated €4.1 million. This includes €200,000 for preparatory work that is needed for the much-anticipated policing security and community safety Bill. I want to voice my thanks to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, and …

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. As the Senator said, it is not the first time she has raised this. Obviously, this is an ongoing concern for members of the community. If I could, I will start by supporting the Senator in condemning what happened the other evening. It is utterly unacceptable that any community should have to put up with this kind of behaviour, as the Senator said, on their doorsteps where people go to work, where children play and where people live, but it is also not acceptable that mem…

I thank the Senator for the invitation. I will be in the area to respond and meet with the Senator, others and the community. This needs to be a holistic and long-term response. It cannot just be overnight and in the coming weeks. The Senator touched on a longer-term and wider issue which is organised crime. People are preying on young people because they can give them nice things and show them a life that they think is wonderful, which really leads them down only one path, which is to prison that the Senator menti…

My colleague sends his apologies for not being able to be here but I am pleased to be able to take this matter. The Government recognises and the Minister, in particular, has argued that the migration crisis confronting Europe is a major challenge that needs to be urgently addressed. It is not a straightforward fix but something on which we need to get a handle. Otherwise, the ordinary men, women and, indeed, babies and children about which the Senator just spoke will continue to die making these dangerous crossing…

I utterly condemn those who are taking advantage of vulnerable people, encouraging people to cross the Mediterranean and sending people to their death. I utterly condemn those who are mistreating those seeking help. I stress that Ireland has always used its voice, as a small country on the periphery of what is happening, to speak up for those who need our help, encourage a more comprehensive and holistic response, and encourage burden-sharing. We have always offered support where it is needed, be it through taking …

I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this important matter and giving me an opportunity to provide clarity on some of the issues and to outline what has been done to date. We have plans to do further work. As the Deputy outlined, the coroners service is a network of coroners and districts throughout the country. Coroners are independent, quasi-judicial officials whose function is to investigate sudden and unexplained deaths so that a death certificate can issue. This is an important public service in particu…

I thank the Deputy. Once again, I will engage with her on this issue and once we have the report and review, and have a greater idea of where we are going in what changes need to be made, we can continue to engage on that. As Dr. Jonathan Jacob is deputy coroner at present, it might be an idea for that request to come in. It may be the case that the changes are not being made on the basis that this review is happening and waiting to see its outcome. In the interim, it would be an option for me, as Minister for Just…

I thank both Deputies for raising this issue in the House today. This incident is very much at the forefront of our mind today and the incident referred to by the Deputies is completely unacceptable for those living in the local communities who have to put up with it. I agree with Deputies in condemning this in the strongest terms. What we saw was a blatant disregard for the law, for members of An Garda Síochána who were going about their business but, most importantly, for the people in the area who should not hav…

I would be happy to meet with the community and with members of the Garda Síochána. I have spoken directly today to the chief superintendent and I think it would be important to meet with the community. We have also engaged with Dublin City Council. I know a report had been done outlining how there can be greater development, not just in the Cherry Orchard area but in the larger vicinity, so we need to make sure that report and that plan is put into action. It is important that Dublin City Council, the local commun…

I assure the Deputy that this is an issue we are prioritising. We had a budget of €2 billion for An Garda Síochána last year. A significant amount of that went to increase Garda numbers. Templemore college has reopened. We have had three attestations this year already and from September and October we will have 200 gardaí coming out of Templemore every 12 weeks. This will significantly increase our numbers. We had a competition that yielded 11,000 applicants interested in joining An Garda Síochána. Separately, the …

I thank Senator Ward. The Senator made many of my responses and clarified them. From the outset, we have not defined either "security of the State" or "threat to the security of the State" anywhere. If one thinks of the most recent legislation, the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act, which we re-enacted only in the past few weeks, in that there is no clear definition of "security of the State" or "threat to the security of the State". We have a situation where the courts interpret it. I would be of the view…

It would have to be decided by a judge in order to be able to retain those particular data, namely, the Schedule 2 data. A judge would have to decide on that.

It will. I stress that what we have proposed here in terms of this emergency legislation reduces the amount of data that can be retained and puts additional safeguards in place that do not exist in the principal Act. There are more safeguards here. Specifically, when it comes to a threat or security, the type of data that now we are able to retain is still on a very restricted basis with that oversight. There is an extra layer that does not exist now. Of course, my preference is that this would be the base that we …

Let me get into some of the detail. First, on amendment No. 4, the recent ruling and the 2020 ruling essentially state user data were not classified as serious in that they do not show the traffic or location details. Retention and access to these data can be justified by the objective of dealing with criminal offences in general. There is no requirement for a specific time-limited arrangement in these circumstances, particularly given that there will no longer be scope for the general retention of the Schedule 2 d…

Yes. It is in relation to time and not the actual data or case. It is the time itself overall for the data. The provision will apply to all general data irrespective of whether they are for a specific case or reason. It is the timeline we are referring to here.

It depends on which the Senator is referring to. The general data are not viewed as impeding on somebody’s rights in the same way as Schedule 2 data. When talking about what is strictly necessary, we are referring to the time limit, not the potential crime or the reason for it.