I thank the Senators. I will speak to amendments Nos. 16 and 17 together because they are closely related. I acknowledged in our discussions in the House last week that there is a fine line between people smuggling and human trafficking. The Senator made some poignant points about the difficulties the most vulnerable people face when seeking safe passage for themselves and their loved ones. I said the following at the time and feel strongly that I must reiterate it now. The issues raised here are more appropriately…

I thank Senators for their engagement on this matter. I look forward to engaging further regarding some of those issues.

I thank the Senators for agreeing to debate this motion at relatively short notice. I request the House to approve Ireland’s opting into a new proposal on facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences. Ireland has an option, provided for in Article 3.1 of Protocol 21 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon, to opt in to individual proposals in the area of freedom, security and justice. The protocol provides that Ireland has t…

I thank Senators Ward, Boyhan, Gallagher, Boylan, Sherlock and Martin for their contributions. Unfortunately, under the protocol there is only ever a three-month window for opting in, and passing it requires a recommendation to the Government, Government approval and passage in both Houses. I regret that it will always be a tight timeline in dealing with options for the protocol. I thank the Senators who contributed to the discussion and I welcome the broad support for the proposal. As I indicated earlier, the prop…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As the Deputy is aware, I cannot comment on any individual cases. However, I can assure the Deputy that each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account. The permission to remain process includes a full consideration of their private and family rights in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights as well as consideration of their work situation, among other issues. My objec…

As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for direct provision centres falls to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and not the Department of Justice. I repeat what I said in the opening, which is that I cannot comment on individual cases. A negative decision on an appeal by the independent International Protection Appeals Tribunal is not the final stage in the international protection process. In these circumstances, an applicant will have their permission to …

I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of the atypical working scheme. I know the fishing industry and community is hugely important to the Deputy and he has raised this matter with me on a number of occasions. I have always been struck by his compassion for the industry, the fishermen, the employees and the communities. As a result of the Deputy and other Deputies raising this important issue, I have had discussions with the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Depu…

I again thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this matter on the atypical scheme. I am pleased to confirm that a review of the scheme is being put in place. Coming from a fishing county myself, Wexford, I know how hard and dangerous the fishing sector is for skippers and their employees. The fishing sector is under huge pressure at the moment. I felt that this is something on which the Minister of State, Deputy English, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and I could work together quickly and in consultation with the b…

I welcome the 2022 budget and the significant commitment of an additional €145 million to the justice sector. This will help protect our communities, support those victims who suffer as a result of crime and help to direct our young people away from a life of crime. In particular, I acknowledge the funding for an additional 800 gardaí and 400 civilians for An Garda Síochána. Next year marks 100 years since the foundation of An Garda Síochána, a force that has provided an unbelievable service to our communities, sec…

I thank the Senators for their proposal. I recognise the desire to increase clarity in this area. In providing a general defence of humanitarian assistance, we are going well beyond what most other member states have done in the implementation of the same directive. The discretion in Article 1(2) to exclude humanitarian assistance from the scope of the offence has been taken up by only seven member states and in many cases, the exemption provided by those states is more narrowly drawn that what we have proposed wit…

I thank the Senators for their comments. There are two aspects to the amendment: adding a definition of "people smuggling" in the first place and including in that new definition a qualification that it is for the purposes of obtaining a financial or other material benefit. In terms of having a definition at all, the specific term of "smuggling of people" is not used in the offences as drafted and it would not have an immediate effect in terms of the Bill. I can see, however, that the term is used in subsequent pro…

I thank the Senators for their comments and I appreciate why this amendment is being sought. It is important to emphasise that the State protects the rights of all of those who come into the State, whether they have been smuggled or not, and those rights arise under the Constitution as well as the 1951 convention, the ECHR and other instruments. Both the ECHR and the 1951 convention are given effect across the breadth of our law. In respect of those seeking asylum, this is most notable in the International Protecti…

I am happy to facilitate the conversation with the Department. I did that with the Conveyancing Act and will certainly make sure that happens again with this legislation. I understand the Senator's concerns. I have seen videos of what is happening on the border of the European Union with Belarus. Our duty is to ensure that these rights are upheld. I do not think the proper approach is to put it in this individual Bill and I share Senator Ward's concerns that having it in one Act and not others may lead to it being …

These amendments would include financial and material benefit as an element of the offence to be proved by the prosecution. I have discussed this at some length in respect of the previous amendments and it is, of course, something which has been considered in-depth by officials in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. I do acknowledge that there is a difference between the UN protocols and the EU instruments in their approach. It is not an option available under these instruments to require financia…

One of the reasons we have not had prosecutions is that the DPP is of the view that it cannot secure prosecutions. This is because of the almost impossibility of proving material or financial gain in a situation where that has occurred somewhere outside of the State. It is not open to the DPP to run test cases. It has to make decisions on whether or not to prosecute, based on principles and guidelines. One of those guidelines is a defence. We hope that where the DPP believes a defence is available that it will not …

I thank the Senators for their suggested change in this regard but, unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment. The elements of defence have been considered carefully with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General. Removing the phrase, "having reasonable cause to believe" would significantly weaken the offence and would inevitably create issues in prosecuting such an offence. It would, effectively, mean the prosecution having to establish that the person knows. In cases of cri…

I thank the Senator and I understand where she is coming from but making it almost impossible to prosecute smugglers is not going to help those people in the sea who are dying or at risk of dying. Of course, we want to protect the humanitarian organisations and the individuals who rescue people and this is why we have sought to strike a balance here. Effectively, nullifying the legislation in its ability to be able to prosecute smugglers is not going to help that situation. We feel that there is a balance in this B…

I thank the Senator. We discussed the definition of "humanitarian assistance" at length, and I do not propose to go over that again. The conduct that has been outlined in the amendment would be covered by the humanitarian assistance defence, as provided, and the phrasing of the defence in general terms is more appropriate than identifying specific instances where that assistance defence would apply.

The Senator raises an important point. I suggest that to ensure there is no lacuna there, she not press her amendment at the moment but reserve her right to bring it on Report Stage and we will engage and look at it more specifically to ensure no lacuna is slipping in there.