I am delighted to be in the Seanad.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Harmon a scríobh an Bille agus leis na Seanadóirí eile as labhairt sa díospóireacht inniu. I thank Senator Harmon for going to the effort of putting together this legislation. I commend her and the other Members in her group on using Private Members' time for the purpose of progressing the Bill. As somebody who was a member of the Opposition for many years, I am aware of how precious and useful Private Members' time is. Sometimes, it can be more popularly deployed by putting forwa…

That is incorrect.

Hear, hear.

There is a responsibility on every Member of this House to make sure that it does not become a toxic place to work. I have been here for nine years. I have never found it a toxic place. I have found it a place where there is vigorous and abrasive debate within this Chamber, but it has always been respectful. However, what we saw on 22 January and last week was different. The reason it was different was because people were shouted down. I have no difficulty with or objection, and neither does anyone else in this Hou…

I move the following Revised Estimates: Vote 24 — Justice (Revised Estimate) That a sum not exceeding €546,339,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2025, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Justice, Probation Service staff and of certain other services including payments under cash - limited schemes administered by that Office, and payment of certain grants. Vote 41 — An tÚdarás Póilíneachta agus Sábh…

Yes.

I thank the Deputy.

I thank Members for their contributions on this matter. I listened to their contributions carefully. On balance, when it comes to the reallocation of funding for the Votes that is required for the commencement of the legislation tomorrow, I do not think there is vigorous objection to the proposal that has been proposed. I have heard what Members have had to say in respect of many other issues. Deputies Farrell, Connolly, Stanley and Gannon all mentioned issues that arose outside these Houses yesterday. I am conscio…

I thank Deputy Carthy for tabling this question. I know how much pain the O’Farrell family have gone through since August 2011. Neither I, Deputy Carthy nor anyone else in the House can alleviate that pain, but what we can try to do is ensure that answers are provided to the O'Farrell family in respect of the issues of concern from that terrible evening. It is important to emphasise that primary responsibility for Shane’s death rests with Zigimantas Gridziuska, the man who drove the car that struck Shane from behin…

The Deputy has highlighted the issues of concern and he has correctly pointed out that not just the O'Farrell family, but the public is entitled to answers on these. The Deputy mentioned that the driver was on bail on charges of theft and possession of stolen property at the time of the collision. The Deputy also mentioned that Gridziuska's convictions for those theft offences in May 2011 should have triggered his reappearance before the courts. I cannot ignore the fact that, in the scoping exercise report, those i…

I do not want to interfere with what the justice committee wants to do, but if a request comes from it to my Department, I will ensure that careful consideration is given to it. I have to make a broader point on scoping inquiries and reports. Generally, when there is a proposal in the House to establish a commission of investigation or a tribunal of inquiry, a scoping report is done in advance. We did it with the allegations of sexual abuse in schools, where Mary O'Toole SC prepared the scoping inquiry report. It t…

I thank the Deputy for his question and for his interest in this important area. The question of Garda vetting of individuals who go on to become members of An Garda Síochána is an important issue. It is not like ordinary vetting where somebody wants to become a football coach or is involved with children because it is much more thorough. I am informed by the Commissioner that vetting of candidates is conducted by the Garda National Vetting Bureau in a centralised unit and that it is the most stringent vetting in r…

The objective is to ensure that, once people become attested members of An Garda Síochána, they will have been fully vetted. That will continue the way it did previously. We need to look at the three stages of it. The first stage, which is done before anyone enters Templemore, requires all candidates on their applications to become trainees to complete what is known as a form B. This document is very extensive and involves requesting detailed personal information from candidates, such as details on any time they li…

They will be fully vetted by the time they are gardaí.

What we are talking about, so people are aware-----

-----is that part of the vetting process happens during the training process. The reason that is done is we are trying to increase the numbers going into An Garda Síochána.

We have a recruitment crisis.

They do not drop.

What the public is concerned about is the quality-----