I thank the Senator for putting down this amendment. This section of the legislation provides that a person may apply to be recognised as a victim of human trafficking by making an application under the national referral mechanism. I assure Senator Keogan that this Bill and the existing human trafficking legislation are in line with the EU directive on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings. Indeed, the existing EU directive is currently being updated and a key component of this revised directive is t…

On the US Trafficking in Persons report, human trafficking, as I have said, is an exploitative and a particularly heinous crime that preys on some of the most vulnerable people. There is no question that combating it is an absolute priority for this Government. While acknowledging the lead taken by the US in producing this report, I regret that recent progress we have made has not merited an upgrade. We have introduced a number of significant measures to combat trafficking, to create a more victim-centred approach …

I thank the Acting Chair and welcome the opportunity to introduce the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024. This Bill introduces a number of very important reforms in the law across a broad range of areas. These amendments reach across many aspects of people's lives and have the potential to make a real difference. They include increasing the number of judges in the Court of Appeal, increasing carrier liability fines as part of our ongoing reforms to strengthen the…

I thank the Senators who contributed to the debate. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have noted the points made. It is very evident that we need to proceed quickly with the enactment of the Bill. As I highlighted at the outset, the discussion on this Bill cuts across a number of areas of society and will have a real impact on people's lives. At this point, it is useful to consider the main provisions of the Bill. It will enable a committee of inquiry to begin its work on examining the effectiveness of a complain…

I thank the House for taking these two motions today. The two motions seek the approval of the Seanad to continue in force provisions in the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 aimed at combating terrorism and organised crime. Given the nature of these important provisions, the Houses of the Oireachtas have decided that they should be periodically reviewed. The House will be aware that the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 contains a series of …

I am grateful to the House for its consideration of these important motions today. I thank all the Senators for their contributions, particularly those in support of the motions. As I have said, terrorist groups remain a threat to the people on this island. They are opposed to the benefits that have flowed from the peace process and are determined to undermine it. The State must retain in its laws the capacity to defeat them. We have a duty as legislators to ensure that this is so. Likewise, the renewal of section …

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of restorative justice initiatives. As he will be aware, restorative justice is a process that evidence shows can support victims to recover from the impact of crime as well as serving to reduce reoffending. It is an integral part of the work of the Probation Service, which established a restorative justice and victim services unit in 2018. The process helps to identify and repair some of the harm caused by offending. Its value was recognised in the 2020 programme …

The Probation Service will soon publish a three-year restorative justice action plan aimed at promoting greater awareness and supporting increased use right across the system. This plan will detail how the Probation Service will further drive the integration of restorative justice into all its services. Restorative justice is really important. We did some very good work back in the 1990s in this area, but it probably has not been expanded in the way we would have hoped since then. That is one of the reasons the Min…

I agree with the Deputy that restorative justice has huge potential. There are three elements needed, namely, the community, the victim and the offender. For the victim it can have quite a cathartic effect when it is handled right. The Deputy understands restorative justice needs to be handled very carefully. The offender has to be willing and understand and face up to their offence. The victim needs to be willing to participate. Then there is the community aspect to it. We need to have those three points for it to…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue around the amount of unpaid court-imposed fines in 2023. It is important to note that the principal penalty applied under the Road Traffic Act is a Garda fixed charge notice, FCN, combined with the imposition of penalty points. These measures provide an effective and appropriate enforcement response aimed at encouraging responsible driver behaviour without the need for court intervention or court-imposed fines in most instances. Since 2019, more than 550,000 fixed charge no…

The outstanding amount was the amount at the time the figure was obtained. In that, there are people who were fined recently, with an expectation that they will pay. Fines are generally imposed in the District Court for minor offences. However, a small number of fines are also imposed in the higher courts. Once imposed, the Courts Service starts a process of communicating with the person to recover the fine. This process has a number of stages, which are followed to give the person every opportunity to pay that fin…

I acknowledged in my initial reply that the current process is cumbersome and takes up considerable court time. A review is being carried out as to how that can be streamlined to ensure that the process is much more straightforward and to reduce the opportunities for kicking the can down the road. We want to ensure people pay these fines and are not wasting court time. I am very much in agreement with the Deputy that we need to have a more streamlined process so that people cannot evade their responsibilities and t…

Dealing with fines is always a matter for the courts.

I thank the Deputy for this question. The antisocial behaviour forum that I established in the Department of Justice is considering such behaviour within housing estates and how we can strengthen laws around that core issue.

I will begin by stressing the benefits of migration to Ireland. At present, just under 500,000 people in our labour force were born outside of Ireland. We would face significant challenges in many areas of our economy without migration. I also highlight that Ireland benefits immensely from membership of the European Union. A combination of factors, such as our highly educated workforce and being a member of the EU Single Market, encourages businesses to invest in Ireland. Recognising the importance of EU co-operati…

There are copies available.

This is a Schengen measure, but Ireland will align with these provisions in national law insofar as is possible. We will also have access to this important security information. The Eurodac regulation improves the current IT system that allows us to check whether someone has claimed international protection in another member state, thereby enhancing data collected on irregular migration. The asylum procedures regulation provides for faster and fairer processing of asylum applications across the EU. Accelerated deci…

Opting in to the pact is Ireland's opportunity to undertake co-ordinated, wide-ranging reforms in an area that has seen mounting public interest in recent times. It will provide better co-ordination between member states, the faster processing of applications and return of inadmissible and failed asylum applicants, reduced secondary movement and enhanced data sharing and screening through an improved Eurodac system. We in Ireland have seen record numbers of asylum applications in recent years, with 13,651 internati…

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising the very important issue of Hearns Hotel in Clonmel being used as a facility for international protection applicants. I am responding on behalf of Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, who sends his apologies for not being here this morning. Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase in people seeking international protection. The arrival numbers remain significantly elevated and in the first 21 …

All I can confirm, based on the information provided to me by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is that the International Protection Procurement Service is responding to an offer made to it of accommodation in respect of the property and the Department is assessing the property as to whether the accommodation is suitable and whether a contract should be agreed. However, I do not have any more specifics than that. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, if he can provide further specifics on it. At the moment it is a…