I accept there is an issue in terms of solicitors being available to do this very important work. Part of the problem is that because the Irish economy is doing so well, it is attractive for solicitors to get work elsewhere, other than in the areas the Deputy is discussing here or other areas such as criminal legal aid under the criminal legal aid scheme. We need to ensure the fees that are payable are heightened to ensure we get solicitors who are prepared to do this valuable work. We need to recognise, and I welc…

Article 4.

I listened to the Senators very carefully and I thank them for their contributions. I will try to respond to the points they raised but if I miss a point, I apologise. Senator Gallagher asked a couple of succinct questions. He asked how many people have sought international protection in Ireland to date this year. The answer is 6,000 in the first six months of the year. It was considerably lower than last year. In 2024, 18,500 people sought international protection in Ireland, while in 2022 and 2023, the figure was…

I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this question. I acknowledge his long-standing interest in this issue and his persistent raising of the matter, which is of significant importance. I have confirmed with my officials that there have been two historic allegations of child sexual abuse made in relation to staff of the Probation Service. Both relate to alleged incidents in the 1970s by a former staff member who is now deceased. When the first allegation came to the attention of the Probation Service in 2000, An Gar…

I thank the Deputy. He put that very sensitively and appropriately. I am aware of the allegations made against Scouting Ireland. I recall the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and, indeed, I very much recall the very powerful work done by Joe Duffy on his programme in interviewing people who had been subject of abuse while they were in the scouts. On the Probation Service, there was a slight overlap, certainly in the case of one individual concerned, between the Probation Service and the scouts. Of course, the vast majo…

I will make inquiries in respect of the case that is ongoing at present. If it is the case that there is clearly liability on the part of the State, I would like to see that case resolved in a mediated fashion. I will speak to the Attorney General in respect of that case. Obviously, the Deputy is correct that it puts many burdens on people to sue the State, but a couple of years ago the Attorney General published a protocol for how the State should deal with persons who were suing it. If it is the case that there i…

I thank Deputy Currie. I am pleased to be able to answer the Deputy's question this time as opposed to the previous time.

If I am answering the wrong question, my very vigilant Ministers of State will tell me I am doing something wrong. The Deputy is correct in stating that last week, I signed the regulations giving effect to the local community safety partnerships, LCSPs. They came into force on Monday of this week. As the Deputy will be aware, much work has already been done in respect of local community safety partnerships, but now we have the regulations in place and people will be aware that we have to put in place these partners…

I will be taking an active role. It is an important time and occasion, now that these regulations have been signed and are being rolled out. The community partnerships will not be on their own trying to formulate their own guidance because, as I said, there will be a National Office for Community Safety, which is a statutory office that will be based within my Department. That office will be providing guidance for the partnerships with overlapping areas. Such collaboration can include exploring opportunities for jo…

I agree with the Deputy regarding the K district in Blanchardstown. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Blanchardstown Garda station and had the pleasure of meeting the gardaí there. They do excellent work. It is a very demanding and busy station. The Deputy mentioned that I needed to get involved in directing the Garda Commissioner as to where Garda numbers should go. I will not do that. If I start doing that, it will then become a very politicised system whereby the Garda Commissioner simply responds to whe…

I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, last week, I signed the regulations for the local community safety partnerships, which came into operation on Monday, 30 June. A total of 36 partnerships can now be established across the country, with partnerships in each local authority administrative area. That means there will be five in Dublin. Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and supported by a full-time co-ordinator and administrator. The chair will be elected from among and by the membership of …

I note what the Deputy has said about the JPCs, which did a lot of good work. Like me, the Deputy is a former member of a local authority. At stages, they could become very formulaic, with many gardaí, including senior gardaí, sitting there and just engaging directly with local elected councillors on very specific issues. Many of the issues raised at JPCs were issues the Garda could not answer because they related to issues such as housing, health or childcare in terms of the role played by Tusla. There will be a b…

When they are set up, we will look at them. We should not say in the first instance, "Let us start reviewing them." Let us get them up and running. Let us get them operating effectively and successfully. Everyone here wants them to succeed and I know that the partnerships themselves will want to succeed. If we manage to get this right, it will be a major step forward in terms of just raising issues of concern at local authority level. That is where the issues are really highlighted. This will provide a really usefu…

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: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the establishment of…

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this important issue. The reason I am here is because of the importance of it. Deputy Byrne is well aware that cybersecurity threats pose a major risk to essential services and critical sectors in Ireland and throughout the world. One of the consequences of being a modern, successful economy is that this is the type of threat to which the country is exposed, I regret to say. I therefore welcome that Deputy Byrne has raised this issue. It is important for me to outline, not just to D…

I have had frequent meetings with the Garda Commissioner and the head of the NCSC in respect of the threats to which this country is exposed as a result of malign actors seeking to attack our cyber technology. It is important that I am updated on a continuing basis. I regret to say that the Deputy is correct, in that the threat does exist. It is a threat not just to our national State-owned infrastructure, as he has indicated, but also to private enterprise within the country. The NCSC is to the forefront in this m…

I thank the Senator for requesting my attendance in the Seanad this morning. It is important I am here to answer the questions she has raised. Coincidentally, it is also of great benefit to me because the Ringsend active retirement group are here as guests of Senator Andrews and the Terenure men's shed are here as my guests. I am fortunate to have two important groups from my constituency here. It shows the benefit of senior Ministers turning up to answer questions in the Seanad. The Senator will be aware that in A…

The Senator is correct about councillors. Like her, I started my political career as a councillor, as did many Members of this and the Lower House. There is a huge benefit in being elected to a local authority by the local community. I do not think it is possible to get elected to a local authority unless one is well aware of the issues in the community. That is why it is so important the seven members of the partnerships are elected members of the local authority. Chairperson of a partnership will be an important …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 17, after “Justice” to insert “, Home Affairs and Migration”. I welcome the fact that we are doing Report Stage of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill now. This is a straightforward amendment because all it will do is reflect the change in the title of the Department and my ministerial office from the Minister for justice, to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. That came into operation on 5 June 2025. This amendment proposes to reflect that change.

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, lines 19 and 20, to delete “of section 34C into the Principal Act” and substitute “into the Principal Act of different provisions of Part 4A of that Act effected by section 17 ”. This is an amendment to section 1(2) of the Bill, which provides for the commencement of the Act. Amendment No. 2 simply clarifies that different provisions of Part 4A, which deals with transposition of the EU anti-SLAPP directive, can be commenced at different times.