I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 32, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that relate to matters under those areas. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. Its first meeting was on 10 April 2025 and it met most recently on 9 February 2026. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in due course.

The Cabinet committee covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV; policing and justice reform; migration; and initiatives tackling local area disadvantage. The Government has taken unprecedented action to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence through significant investment, legislative reform and the implementation of the zero-tolerance strategy. Overall, our approach seeks to create a society where DSGBV is prevented, victims are supported and perpetrators are held to account. Under budget 2026, almost €80 million was allocated to support Cuan and organisations working to address DSGBV and implement the zero-tolerance strategy. This was an increase of €12 million compared with the previous year. This funding will accelerate the delivery of additional refuge spaces and safe accommodation, while strengthening supports for those affected by violence.

Among other items, the Cabinet committee also oversees the development and delivery of the whole-of-government response to migration and integration, including through a national migration and integration strategy. The new International Protection Bill 2026 will give effect to the measures of the European Union migration and asylum pact. Enactment of the Bill and commencement of the Act is required by 12 June 2026. To prepare for its introduction, a phased transition that mirrors elements of the pact is currently under way. As part of this, applicants from designated safe countries of origin, including Nigeria, and in the context of the Dublin III regulation and inadmissible cases, are being processed under these new processes, with some minor exceptions. As of 24 March 2026, 1,280 applications were received under the accelerated process. Of these, 80% have received a first instance decision. Decisions were negative in 88% of cases, with an 11% grant rate and a number of withdrawals. Of those with a negative decision, 48% appealed and 86% of appeals were refused. A total of 482 deportation orders has been issued, with seven enforced removals and 42 voluntary returns having taken place. The median timeline from application to enforced removal was 24 weeks, and 15 weeks for voluntary return. This indicates the pact programme can meet the future timelines for the border procedure.

The number of international protection applications has been rising over the past number of years, reaching 18,500 in 2024. In 2025, application numbers reduced by approximately one third. In 2025, the International Protection Office delivered over 20,200 first decisions compared with approximately 14,000 in 2024, which is a 44% increase. The International Protection Appeals Tribunal more than doubled the number of appeals closed, from 3,100 in 2024 to nearly 6,320 in 2025.

In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.

A lot of Members are seeking to contribute. They have one minute each. I call Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú.

Louth County Council is trying to update its tenant engagement and antisocial behaviour strategy, and I sat in yesterday for a short period on a consultative event. We can imagine the conversation. It is all about having a multiagency approach, strengthening community safety, embedding tenant engagement for the first time, improving well-being and neighbourhood cohesion and ensuring fairness, transparency and accountability. That is all sound. This is a continuation, however, of an issue I have brought up before. I think we have to be really serious in relation to the complex issues involved. I am sure many of us will have dealt with local authorities, the Garda and others in this context. The fact is we have to get very serious. I do not believe the community safety partnership is going to quite bridge the gap, however much I would like to think it would. I am thinking of Barrack Street in Dundalk.

Is there a question?

Yes. This is about how we can get to having a proper, multiagency approach to deal with the complexity and early intervention and policing aspects. The big worry when we are talking about drugs and all that causes that problem is the national drugs strategy and the fear of moving away from the drugs and alcohol task forces and such community involvement.

I welcome the recent introduction of Grace’s Law, the intention of which is to make scramblers illegal in public places. However, these vehicles are still causing havoc in my community and in communities across the northside of Dublin. I am inundated with correspondence from constituents who are sick to their back teeth of these vehicles speeding up and down roads and footpaths in a reckless and dangerous manner, putting the lives of the riders and other people at risk.

To combat this, I am asking that a statutory indemnity be introduced for gardaí pursuing scramblers and acting within reason so they can carry out their duty without fear or favour to ensure our communities can be protected. Will the Government now commit to introducing a statutory indemnity or some other statutory mechanism so members of An Garda Síochána who are going about their work in a reasonable way will be protected from prosecution?

One of the most controversial elements of the omnishambles of last week was the threat of the Garda and the Army. The Government was actually calling in the Army when TDs like me were trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the situation. There is also chaos within the Government.

The Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, spoke to the Tánaiste and Taoiseach about utilising the Army for Whitegate refinery on Wednesday, 8 April. The next day, the Minister made public that a request was being made to the Defence Forces. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, was not informed until just before the request went in. Deputy McEntee is the Minister for Defence. She is the line manager when it comes to the Army. Why is it the case that we have this level of chaos within the Cabinet that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is not being consulted? Did the public know about the Army being called in before the Minister for Defence knew?

I attended a large public meeting in Kells last night, called for by the community in the wake of a spate of burglaries, attempted break-ins and break-ins. There is a lot of concern in the community. It was a very well-attended meeting, hosted by Oliver Figgy Curran and Councillor Michael Gallagher. Representatives of An Garda Síochána were present and took questions. A key concern that I said I would take to the Dáil today is the number of gardaí in Kells and County Meath. The figure is the lowest in all of Ireland by population. What measures are the Taoiseach and the Government taking to address the low number of gardaí in County Meath and Kells in particular?

I welcome the Northside Home Care Services workers in the Gallery. Deputy Murphy will be raising issues on their behalf, and I absolutely hope the Taoiseach will listen to them.

I want to raise another issue. The Taoiseach probably will not know about it but I ask him to raise it with the Minister for justice. Four years ago, Ned Connors died in prison. He died of alcohol poisoning. How the alcohol got into the prison and so on is a question. There was a report done by the prison inspector into the circumstances of his death, but it still has not been published. As of today, there was supposed to be an inquest happening. His family solicitors said the inquest should not go ahead until the prison inspector’s report was published. Apparently, the Minister has for some reason prevented the report from being published. This is fuelling deep concern among the family. If the Taoiseach could ask about Ned Connors and the report into his death on behalf of his family, it would be appreciated.

Deputy O’Rourke has the opportunity to ask another question if he wishes to exercise it.

Related to the public meeting last night to which I referred, another area is the roll-out of community CCTV, that is, the roll-out of CCTV in communities. There were restrictions in the past in terms of data protection and data management. What is the current position in relation to the roll-out of community CCTV across the State, the role of central government and the funding potentially available for that? Also, what is the role of local government in this regard?

I apologise, Deputy Murphy was next. Deputy O’Rourke is ahead of him now anyway.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I have raised with the Taoiseach before the Northside Home Care Services workers who have been taking industrial action since January. Some of them are in the Gallery. He knows what the issue is here; it is about pay equality. Some of these workers have worked for 25 years and are getting just over €15 an hour. Others are on minimum wage and getting 30% less than others for doing the same job of providing vital care to approximately 500 people on a daily basis. What I raise today is the outrageous victimisation of their shop steward, Sonya Borwick, simply for standing up for the workers she represents. She was suspended yesterday on utterly spurious grounds. Supposedly she breached GDPR by asking people to sign a petition. She did not use any information she had about their data as a result of working there; she was simply talking to clients who support them, given the support they provide for them, asking them to sign a petition and for their address on a petition. Supposedly that is a breach of GDPR. That is blatant anti-union victimisation. I ask the Taoiseach to condemn this victimisation. Ms Borwick is in the Gallery. That she should be suspended is an action that should be utterly condemned by the Government. The Minister for Health needs to meet with these workers and instruct the HSE to treat them properly.

The Deputy is absolutely taking liberties. I call Deputy Conway-Walsh.

The recent case and indeed the resilience and courage of former Garda Margaret Loftus exposed the systematic and institutionalised failures in addressing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence in Ireland, particularly when the alleged perpetrators are members of An Garda Síochána. Reliance on self-disclosure leaves systematic blind spots, allowing potential perpetrators to maintain investigative authority over other victims. Without statutory oversight, independent monitoring and systemic reform, Garda structures can shield perpetrators and undermine public confidence. I welcome the recent setting up of the dedicated domestic violence unit, but does the Taoiseach agree that the mandatory reporting of barring and protection orders is now necessary? Does he believe it is right that a garda who is convicted of breaking the law should still serve in An Garda Síochána?

It would be impossible to talk about the next meeting of the Cabinet committee on justice, home affairs and migration without discussing the absolute disaster that was last week. I am going to preface my comments by answering a question I know the Taoiseach will probably ask, because he asked it of my party leader earlier. Yes, I absolutely condemn the blocking of critical infrastructure and the threats to gardaí. However, does the Taoiseach endorse the tactics employed by his own Minister for justice last week, in particular the press statement that went out on Thursday morning, in advance of "Morning Ireland", stating that the Army would be on the streets and that vehicles would be damaged and nobody should complain? The Minister went on to further antagonise and accelerate an already difficult situation by saying the protesters were being manipulated by some idiot in the UK called Tommy Robinson.

The C70 form sent by An Garda Síochána to the Defence Forces is an essential part of our security system. To politicise that, as the Minister for justice did on Thursday morning, is absolutely out of bounds. Does the Taoiseach endorse that? Should we see further protests on the streets, what lessons will be learned and how can we ensure it is not Government Ministers who inflame intentions?

There are calls today for an all-island response to the epidemic of gender-based violence. In Northern Ireland, 30 women have been killed since 2020. It is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. A woman is more likely to be killed by her own son than by a stranger. The family and the home are very dangerous places. ROSA in the North has called a protest in Belfast for Saturday, 25 April to respond to the fact that 30 women have been killed and to say not one more should be killed. Two women were murdered in three weeks recently. This was at the same time as the Natalie McNally trial which showed a very premeditated killing by her former partner. In relation to gender-based violence in the South, the Taoiseach mentioned legislative reform but there has been very little such reform that I can think of. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has added its voice to the call for access to counselling notes to be banned in gender violence trials. We need to see that legislation moved and we need to see what survivors want.

I could not believe my eyes when the Minister for justice outlined recently that it was his intention and the intention of the Government to introduce legislation to remove several proposed IPAS centres from the planning process entirely. I have raised this planning circumvention with the Taoiseach on a number of occasions. Both he and the Tánaiste have led the House to believe this was a temporary, emergency measure and would be removed imminently. Now we read it is the Government’s intention to make this planning exemption permanent. The IPAS system is the only accommodation system that currently avails of a planning exemption. I want the Taoiseach to be clear. What is the intention of this Government in relation to the IPAS planning exemption? Is it going to ensure that all citizens and communities are treated equally or is it going to try to continue this policy of running roughshod over communities? Is the Government going to make this planning exemption permanent? I refer to Government Deputies and backbenchers. Every time this has broken in local communities across the country, the Taoiseach has outlined that the Government wants to see community engagement and consultation with communities. This is the Taoiseach’s opportunity.

What is the Taoiseach going to do? Is he going to make this permanent or will he allow communities to have a say in relation to what happens to them?

I thank the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Ó Murchú was first in terms of antisocial behaviour and a multi-agency approach in County Louth. I agree with the Deputy that the most effective response is a multi-agency response. I support the drug partnerships approach that we had in earlier periods. The local community safety partnership has been effective. It is working in certain locations but we need to look at further initiatives in terms of community-based partnerships on the ground that are well resourced by the State. That is a view I have. I am advocating that from my position as Taoiseach and from talking to the Ministers concerned.

I thank Deputy Brabazon for raising the issue of Grace's law. It is extremely distressing and unacceptable that the Deputy and the people he represents are witnessing appalling activity by individuals using scramblers who are recklessly endangering life, causing the loss of life and so forth. I accept the rationale behind the Deputy's call for statutory indemnity to be introduced to protect members of An Garda Síochána who reasonably try to stop this activity. I do not think it is acceptable that a garda should be prosecuted if he or she is endeavouring to stop people endangering the lives of others through the illegal and reckless use of scramblers. The Minister for justice is bringing forward some form of review of the legislation in this area. This is a very important issue because if something is not done, the potential is that we will paralyse the Garda in terms of protecting people. I will talk to the Minister for justice. I know he is minded to do something in this area in light of recent court cases. I will liaise back with Deputy Brabazon on this.

I heard what Deputy Tóibín had to say. In the first instance, C70 requests made very regularly. About 140 were issued last year. Last week, a request was made with a view to calling in the Army to tow big lorries and trucks away from vital critical infrastructure. I do not know whether the Deputy condemns or agrees with the blockading of an oil refinery. I saw his posts all week. He supported the blockade of the oil refinery-----

It was not-----

The Deputy did so. He went on the platform-----

You are not telling the truth.

You went on the platform and you supported the blockade of the motorway. The Deputy supported the blockades of ports. All I would say to him is-----

There is a weakness in your argument. If you cannot tell the truth, then it is a weakness.

Deputy, do not use that type of inference. You can write to the Taoiseach. This is not a forum for back and forth; this is Taoiseach's questions. You ask a question. If you do not like the answer, you write to the Taoiseach. End of story.

It is not that I do not like the answer; it is untrue.

That is i t. End of story. We conform to the rules.

It is not the truth.

I did watch the Deputy's social media posts. He described it as mediating, but who gives him authority to decide who gets oil in this country? Who gives him authority-----

The Taoiseach is asking me a question.

No, he is not.

I am asking a rhetorical question. I do not need a response right now. I am making an absolutely fundamental point with regard to parliamentary democracy. The Deputy does not have a right to decide who gets access to work. He does not have a right to decide who gets access to a hospital. He does not have a right to-----

There are nearly 1 million people on the hospital waiting lists.

Every other Member needs a fair amount of time.

It was wrong of the Deputy to do what he did last week. I say that respectfully to him. No self-appointed group gets that right and no TD gets that right. A number of TDs were at that. Deputy Tóibín, more than most, stated that he had negotiated this or negotiated that. That is not right. For God's sake-----

We negotiated-----

-----we need freedom of movement for people. The Minister for justice and the Minister for-----

Did the public know?

Deputy, that is enough.

-----Defence engage with each other in respect of this issue.

Deputy O'Rourke raised two issues on the concerns in Navan-----

In Kells.

In Kells. My apologies. The Deputy raised concerns about break-ins and burglaries. I will relay that to the Minister for justice. I am sure the Garda will tackle that in a concerted way. That is very disturbing for the people concerned. Garda numbers are improving every time a new intake goes through Templemore. As a result, I expect that we will be able to get there. We have done good work in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and other locations. As more gardaí come through, we are trying to get to as many areas as we possibly can in sufficient numbers, not just giving dribs and drabs, in order that we get good solid allocations.

The Deputy also raised the issue of community CCTV. I will have to get an update on that. It continues to be very effective and impactful in combating crime.

Deputy Paul Murphy referred to the Northside Home Care Service workers, as did Deputy Boyd Barrett. I am not familiar with the background to the suspension of the shop steward. I will ask for that to be investigated and checked by the Minister for Health. I am not saying that this justifies suspension, but I would be wary of using clients to sign petitions. I understand how it happens, because people need the service and people want the service to be supported. I will talk to the Minister about the general issue. Those involved were here a number of weeks ago as well, and this issue needs to be resolved. The process should be deal with through labour relations in order to get it resolved. Meanwhile, the atmosphere around this should be one that allows engagement and so forth.

Deputy Boyd Barrett also raised the issue of Ned Connors, who died in prison through alcohol poisoning. That is very disturbing. The Deputy said "Apparently, the Minister has for some reason prevented the report from being published." The Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, is a fair-minded person and is scrupulous-----

No, Deputy.

The Minister is scrupulous in terms of the application of the law. I do not know what the background is to this. Maybe they do not want to prejudice the process. I do not know. I will check with the Minister for justice in respect of the report. I think the inquest is due, is it not?

Yes.

Deputy Conway Walsh raised the issue of a former garda, Margaret Loftus, and members of An Garda Síochána. Again, there has to be clear rules in terms of our uniformed services, particularly our Garda and our military. There are rules in respect of people who are convicted of crimes. They should not serve. When people are charged, they are sometimes suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and so forth. I salute the courage of Margaret Loftus.

On the mandatory reporting of barring orders, I would like a report back on that. I think the Minister is working on something in that regard.

To be fair to him, Deputy Gannon condemned blockading. With regard to the decision that was made, we had to remove those vehicles from Whitegate. We simply had to. I got a phone call to say that the refinery was closing. That would have been ruinous for the country because one cannot restart a refinery straight away. How bad would that have been. The Minister for justice made the correct decision in asking the Army in because it has the equipment to remove big lorries, tractors and other machines. It would have been crazy if we ended up stopping the export oil from Whitegate.

There are two more Deputies, Taoiseach.

It just would not have made any sense, and that is why it was done.

On Deputy Coppinger's question, through the shared island initiative, we support an all-island response to domestic and sexual violence. It is shocking, and Northern Ireland is a particular problem. I have discussed this with the First Minister and deputy First Minister at meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council. It was a theme and a topic at our most recent meeting. There is active co-operation to the effect that there should be a joint approach between our Government and the Executive in respect of domestic and sexual violence. It is a big worry. Deputy Coppinger reminded us of the 30 women who have been killed. That is shocking and wrong. With regard to the counselling notes, the Minister for justice is bringing forward legislation in which he will go as he possibly can to place real conditions on the use of counselling notes.

On Deputy Lawless' question, the Government has huge pressures. I gave the figures earlier. We are making a lot of progress in terms of a more rigorous, timely and efficient response to those seeking asylum. Nonetheless, people come into the country to seek asylum. They are legally entitled to seek asylum and our job is to process applications as quickly as we can. If people are entitled to asylum, they get it. If they are not, they should be deported or asked to leave.

The question is-----

No.

The question is this. I am asking the Deputy his view. As they come into the country on a daily basis, where should people stay?

Should they be on the streets? What is the solution?

No, we are out of time. The Deputy can request the information in writing.

We are under international legal obligations. This is a challenge-----

The Deputy can write to the Taoiseach..

The question relates to planning.

Thank you, Taoiseach. We are out of time.

We do not have time now to discuss it, but I would gladly discuss it with the Deputy again.

That concludes Taoiseach's Questions.

The Deputy is fully entitled. We are finished.