I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 before the House. The Government approved the drafting of the Bill in July of last year. Following publication of the report on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme by the Oireachtas joint committee in March, the Bill was published just before the recess in July. The sexual offences and human trafficking Bill will update our sexual offences legislation and enhance…

The Bill sets out a package of measures that will introduce important reforms across a number of areas. I would like to stress that the common ground underpinning all of these measures is our commitment to strengthening the protections of vulnerable victims. Victims of sexual crimes and human trafficking undergo harrowing personal journeys. These can often be long, difficult and traumatic. They deserve to feel safe and supported in accessing justice and in availing of protections that they deserve. They also deserv…

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

I thank the Senators for raising this very important issue. I can assure the House that the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and I fully recognise the important role played by barristers in the administration of justice, both in the context of working to defend those accused and working with the DPP in respect of prosecutions. We are engaged in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, on the issue of criminal legal aid fees as part of…

Again, I thank the Senators for raising what is a very important matter. As I said already, the Minister for Justice and I are engaging with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform on the issue of criminal legal aid fees as part of the budgetary process. It is also worth mentioning that I am progressing legislation to modernise and improve the operation of the criminal legal aid scheme more generally. This proposed legislation will strengthen oversight and governance stru…

I thank the Senator for raising the important issue of the necessity of regulating non-government immigration services and establishing legal criteria that must be met by those doing business as immigration consultants in order to limit and prevent exploitative immigration arrangements and aid the fight against human trafficking in Ireland. Legal services are heavily regulated. I recommend that a complaint be made to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA, in respect of any person offering legal advice who i…

Solicitors in this country are very heavily regulated and anyone who has any concerns about the actions of any solicitor should report them to the LSRA. On the position of immigration consultants, as I said, this encompasses a very broad spectrum of people, from family members or friends giving legal advice, to some who are offering services. I ask that people make sure that whoever they are dealing with engages with their background to see whether they have the skillset that they are holding themselves out with. T…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." On behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, I am pleased to introduce the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill 2023 to the House. This is timely and much-needed legislation and the Minister and I hope it will attract the strong support of the House. The key purpose of the Bill is to establish a dedicated and specialist State body under the aegis of the Minister for Justice with responsibility for driving and co-ordinating the whole-of-gov…

There has been a number of important questions here. I will not be able to address every single one of them but I will certainly endeavour for the Department to get responses to each of them. I wish to thank the Deputies for their contributions to a very important Bill. I am pleased to respond where I can on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. It is very encouraging to see the levels of support and goodwill towards this legislation. I think everybody was in favour of it, albeit with ce…

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

I assure the Deputy that record funding is now being provided to An Garda Síochána. There is significant recruitment happening at the moment in Templemore, where more gardaí are going into training. On the rosters, the Garda roster that is currently in operation was introduced by the Garda Commissioner to deal with the specific policing requirements of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Westmanstown roster is the only roster that is actually agreed between An Garda Síochána and the representative unions. I know that the Mi…

I hear the Deputy's concerns, and I will bring them to the Minister for Justice. Obviously, the provision of Garda stations is a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the first instance, working with the OPW but I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the Minister for Justice.

I thank the Senator for bringing forward this Bill and speaking on it this afternoon. It is a very important issue. The contributions have been quite interesting and enlightening. I know there has been a general discussion on this Bill. The Minister, Deputy Harris, spoke on the Bill on Second Stage and he noted that observations are being sought from An Garda Síochána and the DPP and that engagement is ongoing. However, the situation is extremely worrying for people. Setting out to spike a drink is an horrific thin…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which was signed by the President on 5 July 2023, makes a number of amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018. As the Deputy will be aware, section 67 inserts a new section 26A into the Data Protection Act to provide a prohibition on disclosure of confidential information by persons engaged with the Data Protection Commission, DPC, in connection with certain defined functions. The purpose of this am…

The amendment was sought by the Data Protection Commission in support of its ability to carry out its functions under GDPR in an effective, efficient and lawful manner and to ensure fair procedures are maintained for data controllers and data subjects. I will give an example. The Data Protection Commission will, from time to time, need to engage with parties other than the entity whose processing is under examination. For example, to enable complainants and, in some circumstances, representative bodies that may hav…

As I outlined, this will protect very particular information that is given in confidence, in line with the relevant functions of the Data Protection Commission. It is very important that the Data Protection Commission can carry out its duties under GDPR in compliance with EU law in a safe manner that can protect the information provided to it through its audits, investigatory powers or any of its other functions. To have a situation where anything provided to the Data Protection Commission will simply be available …

I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of prison access to psychology services. As he pointed out, a significant number of people committed to prison have mental health issues. I assure him I am aware that if we address these issues, we can help to break the cycle of offending. The programme for Government commits to considering the mental health and addiction treatments of persons in prisons and the primary care support provided on release. The Deputy will be aware that the report of the high-level ta…

I agree that the numbers are unacceptable. That is why we are determined to get them down. Competitions for principal, senior and staff grade psychologists are under way, with a closing date for applications of Friday, 4 August 2023. It is envisaged that recruitment will be completed and assignments made to existing and new vacancies by the end of 2023. The prison psychology service provides an integrated service to people in custody and is responsible for mental health and criminogenic offence-related assessments …

It is worth noting that the increased staffing in prisons of one additional psychologist has allowed the Prison Service to do more group sessions in 2022. An additional 1,842 group sessions were held in 2022 compared with 2021. Consequently, I believe the additional recruitment that is ongoing will provide significant help. In working to reduce waiting lists for psychology interventions, the Irish Prison Service psychology service is proactively reducing the time spent doing assessment and, in turn, increasing the …

I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of the number of applications on hand for international protection, the average length of time to process applications and the steps being taken to reduce the processing time. My Department is taking all necessary steps to manage the international protection process fairly and efficiently, as part of the broader Government response to this challenging issue. The number of international protection applications last year was 13,651, a significant increase on recent …