We will be supporting this opt-in. We understand where it is coming from and the necessity around all of that. It is one of the more unforeseen impacts of Brexit. Last week, we had the Bill on mutual recognition of sentences, which is further Brexit-related legislation. Many of these legislative reforms on which we now have to embark are due to what happened with Brexit and it shines a light on the huge body of work across Europe and the huge co-operation across so many jurisdictions across the Continent on crimina…

Sinn Féin will not oppose this legislation. We will support it. It is worthy and has certainly been long delayed. However, it has its flaws and there are difficulties with it. The primary one which all of us are conscious of is the fact that the nearest jurisdiction to us is outside the remit of this legislation because it is now outside the European Union. That will be a difficulty for many people who might find themselves falling under this legislation, either as British citizens living in this State who may end …

I am glad the Minister of State is here this evening to take this question regarding Sligo University Hospital and the overcrowding in the emergency department there. We share the same constituents so I am sure he is as aware of these issues as I am. Over the summer I have had various contacts from both patients and staff who have expressed their concerns in regard to the overcrowding situation, which they see as dangerous. I have an email here that I received on 28 July: I am a nurse in the Emergency Department in…

I appreciate that the Minister of State understands the plight of the staff and patients in SUH. The management have made promises and are working with unions and the nursing staff to try to resolve this issue, but so far it has delivered very little. The email referred to was written at the end of July. I received another one yesterday. It stated: Last weekend was a weekend that none of us wants to see again. There were too many horrific traumas with negative outcomes. There were 6 staff nurses on night duty for s…

We support this Bill. This issue has been very difficult for very many people across the length and breadth of the country for a number of years now. We have seen all the documentaries and all the reports. We have seen the uncovering of the terrible, cruel, tough place Ireland was in the past. It does us no harm to have a good hard look at it and to recognise that is part of where we came from and the society we lived in. Despite this, today I received an email from a constituent, and they sent a photograph with it…

I will raise the issue of school transport and the school transport scheme for rural schools in particular. Last year, there was a terrible situation where some children did not get a seat on the school bus until Christmas or after it. There has been a review and the interim report arising from it was published in the last three or four weeks. It has recommended that post-primary or secondary schools can look to the second nearest school. That needs to be extended to primary schools as well. We need clarity around …

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan, the proposer of the Bill. It is an important debate to have in the House. Much of this came from several incidents in the early part of the year. A woman from Mongolia who worked as a cleaner was stabbed not far from where the House is sitting. Such tragedies that are suffered by families really bring into sharp focus the need to do something on these issues. Deputy O'Callaghan referred to Cameron Blair and the situation in that regard. I noticed that the person recently sentenced in con…

We all want to see hospitality reopen safely and sustainably, but the Government is making a proposal that will allow some people in and keep others out. I have a daughter who works in a café. She tells me that people are asking now why they cannot sit down inside instead of going out in the rain. There is already that hassle with people, so a system that allows half of the family to come in but keeps the other half outside will be unworkable. Everyone, and certainly those in the industry, recognises that this legi…

This issue regarding the 999 calls is only beginning. A consensus seems to be emerging between the Minister’s Department and senior Garda officers that somehow or other the Garda should investigate itself in respect of this matter. That is wholly inappropriate. A full independent investigation must be carried out as quickly as possible into this entire debacle. It is only beginning. Thousands of calls have yet to be examined that involved serious issues, including burglaries, assaults, etc., where people did not ge…

I thank the Minister for her reply. It was similar to responses to parliamentary questions tabled earlier this week. Returning to the beginning, the issue is that the Garda only reported this matter to the Policing Authority when it was clear that a journalist was going to publish a story about what had happened. When it was clear that a story about this issue was going to be published and put into the public domain, then the Garda contacted the Policing Authority. Listening to the recent meeting between representa…

The issue is that it is not appropriate for the Garda to carry out this investigation. That is clearly the situation. Until the Minister stands up to the culture of cover-up that exists in An Garda Síochána, we are going to continue with this problem and continue to have these levels of malpractice. My understanding is that in one instance thousands of calls were cancelled by one individual. How was that person able to continue doing that? It was only when this issue was going to come into the public domain through…

I raise the matter of the Garda station in Sligo town. A new Garda station has been promised for the past few decades. The station is located on a narrow street opposite the courthouse and in an old building that has been there for the past 100 or 150 years. It is one of those places that has had extensions and bits added on to it, and to go from one end of it to the other people have to go upstairs and downstairs. It is probably the most higgledy-piggledy, inappropriate Garda station in the country. Sligo needs a …

We are well aware of the changes that have happened, that a new Garda division has been set up and that there is a new headquarters in Letterkenny. That does not change the fact the building in Sligo is not fit for purpose. That has long been the case. The Minister spoke of refurbishments being carried out. It is simply a squandering of taxpayers' money to do work continually on a building that is not fit for purpose. This kind of thing goes on in many Departments, not just the Department of Justice. The cleanest a…

Sometimes I think the Minister must be a civil servant's dream. She comes in here and reads out the answer and then when I ask her the next question, she reads out the same thing again. That is not answering the question. Is the Government prepared to put the funding in place to provide an adequate Garda station in Sligo town for the people of that region? It has long been said that the Garda station that is there is not fit for purpose. The Minister mentioned that a site was purchased. There was a site purchased a…

It is not an answer.

I thank the Acting Chairman. This issue is around the high number of people who were involuntarily detained by An Garda Síochána, people who would have had mental health issues and who have ended up in a mental health institution. This issue has had an impact in many parts of the State. Of course, we understand that many of these people may have had psychotic episodes due to drug addiction also. Gardaí are often in a very difficult position, and are often asked to do intervene by families who have found no other op…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I fully understand the situation in which many gardaí find themselves. It is a very difficult situation when they are dealing with a person who is having a psychotic episode and there is no option other than to take them somewhere safe, for themselves and for the rest of the community. Of course there are safeguards there. It is not the gardaí who will decide if the person will be put in. The doctor is called and an assessment is made. That is not a decision for a garda …

I understand that a multiagency approach is required. We need to bring all of the services together in order to deal with this. However, when I speak to gardaí on the beat they tell me that if they took mental health issues and drug addiction issues out of the equation, almost one third of their work would be gone. That reflects the level of time and resources tied up in this area. As I said, most of this happens because people do not get the early intervention they require. Many people go into psychiatric services…

I am deputising for Deputy Doherty. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It had a long gestation and its being brought to Second Stage has been facilitated by the finance committee's waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny. That is in recognition of its importance and the fact its provisions are long overdue. The general scheme of the legislation was considered by the finance committee in 2019, when it received 14 submissions, as part of its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. As explained by the Free Lega…

I commend my colleagues, Deputies Ward and Ó Murchú, on bringing forward the Bill and thank the Minister of State and Government for not opposing it. It is important that all work together in the House to try to relieve the communities that are under severe strain the length and breadth of the country. Everywhere we go we come across families and communities that are under pressure because of the ravages of drug addiction and criminality that circles around all of that. It is particularly intense in many urban area…