I thank Senator Higgins for her contribution. At the outset can I say that when it comes to the extension of a public order offence or, indeed, any offence, one of the things I must do, and indeed all legislators must do, is, on the one hand look at the position, as Senator Higgins has, of the alleged perpetrator - the person who may end up being prosecuted for this new offence. That certainly has to be taken into account. Similarly, I as Minister in particular, have to take into account a person who is affected at…

You are.

No.

I will briefly deal first with amendments Nos. 60 to 62, inclusive. They comprise a new Part 17 that concerns electronic technology in certain proceedings. Amendment No. 60 inserts a new section into the Bill to define the types of proceedings in question, including criminal proceedings and relevant proceedings under various international co-operation enactments. Amendments Nos. 61 and 62 insert new sections into the Bill to provide, respectively, that court rules may, in relation to such proceedings, make provisio…

I thank the Senator for his contribution. I take on board his comment that there are a lot of amendments in respect of the passenger name record data. I will make two points in my defence. First, many of the provisions being put forward on Report Stage simply replicate what is in the 2018 regulations. Passenger name records are not something new to Irish law. Provision for them has been in secondary legislation since 2018, applying as it does to extra-EU flights. I listened to the concerns expressed by Senators McD…

On my second day as chair of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union, I think the Senator is being slightly unfair to the European Union. Obviously, when it comes to passenger name record data, that information is not available for the purpose of immigration issues. There is a completely separate system, however, that records details and information in respect of any person claiming international protection within the EU, and that is the Eurodac system. It is now much more advanced than it was wh…

Amendment No. 100 makes a number of technical amendments to the miscellaneous provisions Act 2020 that are consequential on or necessary to ensure consistency with amendments elsewhere relating to the use of electronic technology in certain court proceedings. It also repeals two redundant provisions of the 2020 Act. Those provisions are inoperable because in reality the Courts Service when sourcing any such equipment is bound by specific budgetary and procurement frameworks. A court can therefore only use such tech…

Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 amend section 14 of the Bill, which provides for the commencement. Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 amend section 14 to provide for the following provisions of the Bill to come into effect on enactment; subsections 1 and 4 of section 1, section 4(b)(i), section 49, section 75 insofar as it relates to the Courts Service, section 76, section 80 and Parts 3, 4 and 5. Amendment No. 99 relates to an amendment to Schedule 5 to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 to add the Courts Service to the Sched…

In fairness, this will be a positive development. I should not try to speak for other Senators but it is the case that, in the context of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026, Senators wanted to see more information available within the criminal justice system so as we can identify information about people who are interacting with the criminal justice system and people who are convicted. The information that will now be generated as a result of adding the Garda and the Courts Service to Schedule 5 to the Social We…

Currently, section 12 of the Bill amends section 67 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936 which provides for the Superior Courts rules committee to allow the Chief Justice to nominate an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal or High Court to take his or her place on the committee. It also reduces the number of ordinary judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal on the committee from two judges from each court to one. These changes are being introduced to try to reduce the very significant non-judici…

I hear what Senator McDowell said.

I thank all the Senators for their contributions. Senator McCormack asked why this is being done now. There really is no surprise in the Bill's introduction. It has been proposed for some time. It is designed to ensure that the system in place at present, based on regulations that are approximately 60 years old, is modernised. As I said earlier in respect of another provision within this miscellaneous provisions Bill, it is preferable that details in terms of the exercise of important powers are set out in primary …

I thank the Senator. I will be succinct in response. To date, all that information is being published on an annual basis in the Department of Defence and Defence Forces report. I suspect that most people in the Houses of the Oireachtas, this House and the Lower House, were not aware of that report or the level of detail within it. That level of detail will continue and that is recognising the importance of giving this information to the public. It is in the public domain already in the regulations that are there at…

The Senator raised four points. First, the language that is used in respect of aid of the civil power is also used in section 90 of the 1954 Act. That is language that has been in place for over 60 years. Second, the reason new wording is being put in by way of legislation is to modernise it. The Defence Act 1954 is out of date. Everyone in the House will appreciate that there is a benefit in modernising a provision such as this. Third, the Senator is trying to suggest, although she did not state it, that the reaso…

I thank all Senators for the amendments. I acknowledge the extraordinarily powerful contributions I have just listened to. Sometimes Senators do not realise the impact of their speeches and the passion with which they speak. I want them to know I have been enormously impressed by it. I have listened carefully to what everyone has to say. I also acknowledge in the Gallery Paula Doyle and other survivors. I want to say to Paula and other survivors that you probably are not aware of the extent of the impact you have o…

I will, 100%.

I thank the Deputy for his question. I also thank him for organising the meeting of his committee yesterday and for inviting me to it. I thought it was a very useful and effective meeting. It gave me an opportunity to put out the reasons I am introducing this new scheme in respect of the District Court. Obviously, it also gave other persons whom the committee invited, members of the legal profession, an opportunity to appear before it as well. In terms of what has happened since yesterday, the first thing I should …

As I mentioned yesterday, I am not here to prioritise the interests of the legal profession and neither is the Deputy. My task is to focus on the administration of justice, people who are brought before the courts, people who are accused of criminal offences and the effective operation of the administration of justice in the criminal section of the District Court. That is my focus. If we look at the fees available, if we want to just leave this as a discussion exclusively about fees, last year, in 2025, the cost of…

The basis upon which I referred to unethical practices is in the report that is now up on the website, gov.ie . In fairness to the Deputy, I do not believe he has seen it. It is in the criminal legal aid section of the website. I refer to the review of the criminal legal aid system in the District Court. The Deputy mentioned a whole series of cases, including custody cases. I have changed what was originally proposed as a result of my interaction with the Law Society. Any case that now moves forward to a higher cou…

I thank the Deputy for his question and, indeed, for his work chairing the drugs committee and the work on its report. I have had an opportunity to read the report. A very significant amount of work went into it. There are 161 recommendations in it. I agree with very many of them. There are parts in the report that are excellent, especially the section that refers to sports, well-being, combating addiction and trying to divert children through the use of sport. As we all know, sport is the most effective diversion …