Pa Daly
Question:1. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the actions she has taken arising from the disturbances on 23 November 2023 in Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38234/24]
Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions
Departmental Priorities
The Tánaiste confirmed to Newstalk that he felt a number of prosecutions in relation to the Dublin riots were not proceeding fast enough. What are the Minister's views on this?
I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the unbelievable work of the members of An Garda Síochána and those from the many other emergency support services who responded to the appalling scenes last November after the tragic event earlier in the day. There are ongoing investigations into this matter. In the days, weeks and months since those events, 51 people have been arrested. There have been a number of convictions and there are a serious number of people before the courts at the moment.
I do not think it would be appropriate to get into the cases, but there are two important elements. The first is that gardaí have what they need to respond should something like this ever happen again - and we hope it will not - or if there is a recurrence of what happened in recent times in Newtownmountkennedy and Coolock. The second element is that the court system is working efficiently and effectively. There is an amount of work happening in that regard.
In the early days and weeks following the events in question, I met regularly with the Garda Commissioner, senior management in An Garda Síochána and gardaí on the ground, including those from the public order unit, and assured them of our full support in providing the equipment and resources they need. Since then, a number of steps have been taken, including: the expansion of public order unit capability through the provision of increased training; the provision of stronger incapacitant spray to all gardaí, and we saw the significance of that in the recent Coolock incident; the development of a business case for the procurement of two water cannons, which is continuing; and the provision of smaller round shields, restraints and additional body armour to public order units. In fact, over €3 million has been spent since then, while there has also been investment in the expansion of the public order fleet and the purchase of hand-held cameras.
The enactment of the digital recording legislation in the interim has an important role in the prosecutions. In other jurisdictions where such incidents have happened, police have had much quicker access to evidence through body cameras, drone footage and CCTV footage. Very soon after the Dublin riots, I had the digital recording legislation enacted and, working with the Garda Commissioner, rolled out body-worn cameras.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. If there are deficiencies, we all want them dealt with. We accept that major work is being done by gardaí and many others.
To come back to where I began with this, I was struck by the Tánaiste's claim that the justice system is not functioning well enough. That is a strange statement, given his own role in facilitating Fine Gael's 13-year tenure in the justice Ministry, including the Minister's term of office. We have overcrowded prisons, delays in court and a crisis in the context of numbers. We all know the morale issues affecting An Garda Síochána. The Tánaiste has voted and expressed confidence in Fine Gael justice Ministers. He is now attempting to distance himself from the consequence of his party's role in the operation of the justice system.
I wish to pose a number of questions about a matter I raised previously. Will the Minister address the issue RTÉ raised concerning the use of fraudulent peace commissioner signature stamps? When did she become aware of this issue? What did she do about it? These are simple questions.
The Tánaiste's comments relate to the difference between the British and Irish systems subsequent to days of riots in multiple cities across the UK. I am saying clearly that the difference between the United Kingdom and Ireland is that police over there had access to evidence and information which allowed them to obtain early guilty pleas when bringing people before the courts and to achieve earlier prosecutions. What I am doing to rectify the situation here is introducing body cameras. These are now in operation across three areas. They are already being used. The first prosecution took place in recent weeks. These cameras will ensure that gardaí have access to footage. The introduction of facial recognition technology means that, instead of months being spent trawling through CCTV, similar to the UK, we would be able to access that information and identify individuals within hours. Other legislation is being brought forward to ensure that individuals cannot wear masks in scenarios such as those we are discussing, which means that they would be more easily identifiable. All this work will allow gardaí to bring prosecutions more quickly and ensure that the necessary evidence is available.
Separate from that is the fact that my appointment of 24 plus six judges, including judges for the High Court, in the past two years has given rise to a reduction in waiting times in our courts. I intend to appoint 20 more judges. There is a huge amount of work under way to make sure that our system is efficient and effective and that, where gardaí do their job, prosecutions can take place as quickly as possible.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. At the next opportunity, will answer my questions? We are worried about the possibility of overturning a number of convictions after the major work done by gardaí and many others. We all support providing the Garda with the capacity it needs. We need to see more of that happening and it needs to happen faster.
We have said we need to ensure that even more non-core duties should be removed from the tasks gardaí are obliged to perform. We need to implement our housing plan and create a retention and recruitment task force to report back urgently. We also need to explore the possibility of a second Garda training centre to achieve the increase in numbers required as a result of population increases. I acknowledge the work done in respect of the courts and the prisons, but we need to explore extra sitting days for courts and invest in restorative justice measures and other practices.
The Tánaiste is fooling no one in the run-up to the election. The message is clear: it is time for change. He is saying he is not enamoured of how the justice system is operating at this point.
The Deputy asked a number of questions. In the past four years, the Garda budget has increased by 25%. It now stands at €2.35 billion. We have 14,100-plus Garda members and 3,200 Garda staff. The Garda Reserve has been established, and 1,800 applications were received as part of the first recruitment campaign. Every garda on the beat has a hand-held device. This means that they can remain on the beat and do not have to return to their stations. There has been significant investment in ICT, with €155 million being spent this year and a capital budget of €346 million being spent up to 2027. There has been huge investment in gardaí and in strengthening legislation. Measures relating to the latter include: introducing body-worn cameras; making it easier for people to roll-out CCTV in communities across the country; and giving gardaí tools like facial recognition to access information more quickly. We have also put in place measures to support and protect gardaí in difficult, challenging and changing times. These include an increase in penalty for any person who assaults a member of An Garda Síochána. The courts have seen significant investment, with the addition of 30 judges and 20 more to come, while rolling out a modernisation programme that will make sure it works in the most efficient and effective manner.
Guardian Status
Mick Barry
Question:2. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Justice if she supports the removal of guardianship rights for parents who intentionally kill the other parent of their children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38221/24]
Does the Minister support the removal of guardianship rights for parents convicted of intentionally killing the other parent of their children?
I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. All of us in recent times have seen far too many incidents like the one referred to by the Deputy. This is why my Department undertook a review of familicide. This report was published in May 2023. It was commissioned by my Department to effectively respond to a very challenging but also complex area and one that I feel we have seen far too much of in this country. As part of the review there was extensive engagement with non-governmental organisations, with State agencies, and most importantly there has been engagement and continues to be engagement with families of those who have been impacted by familicide. Most of us cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through. Given they are engaging and continue to support and work with us in this process I want to express my sincere gratitude to those. There are others who have not been involved in the system but who advocate on behalf of their loved ones and those they have lost.
There was a significant number of recommendations, with more than 212 recommendations from the report overall. I am absolutely adamant that we get this right and that we try to progress them in a timely manner. They are being progressed as part of this body of work and there are other strands as well. We have the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy and zero tolerance plan, which is bringing forward some of these actions. Other elements are very much part of the family justice strategy also. We have a dedicated team established in my Department to review and progress other recommendations including a recommendation on restricting parental rights in cases of domestic homicide. While there was not a clear path as to how this would be done there are three elements to it: there is a group meeting with the Department and State agencies; there is a second group made-up of the community and voluntary organisations that work with many of the families; and then there is a third group made-up of the parents, the brothers and sisters, and the children of the families. Engagement also needs to take place considering the role and the power of Tusla to take appropriate child protection action in emergency situations. The team has been considering this and are meeting again this month to see how best to bring this forward. They will have recommendations to me on this by the end of the year.
The straightforward answer to the Deputy's question definitely would be "Yes", but when we think about it there are various different scenarios that we must tease through. Maybe I could come back to that.
It might come as a bit of a shock to most people in this country to learn that men who are convicted of killing their partners fully retain guardianship over any shared children. The killer continues to have the legal right to make decisions that directly influence the lives of those children including, for example, access to therapeutic supports, going on holidays, changing schools and so on. Murder of a mother is child abuse and the law in this country currently rewards the abuser and punishes the children who have been abused. The Minister said there are 212 recommendations in the study on familicide and violence family death review currently being considered by the Department of Justice. I imagine it would take a considerable amount of time to fully consider those 212 recommendations in total. Why would the Minister not separate out this relatively simple and constitutionally uncomplicated change? I am sure the families would support that. It would make such a difference to people living in those tragic circumstances. Why not separate it out and make it law even before this Dáil comes to a close?
If it were that simple it would be done already but unfortunately it is not that simple. It is the case that for somebody else to become a guardian they will have had to shown that they were for the previous 12 months a part of that child's life and a part of the day-to-day of that child's life. If both parents had been in that scenario and one is since deceased and the other is potentially up for murder or has been convicted then obviously there is nobody who can fill that space. That is one area that has to be dealt with. Second, there have been cases, unfortunately too many, where a person has killed a partner in self defence. The person who has committed the crime has been a victim for many years of either domestic or sexual violence and they have responded in self defence. We have seen many such cases and it is often the woman in this scenario. We have to look at the different types of scenarios that could result in the death of a parent or the murder of a parent because of scenarios of self defence, and there are scenarios that are not necessarily in the best interest of the child depending on the situation itself. There are other strands at work. It is not the case that the 212 recommendations are being looked at together. We are moving forward certain elements. Quite a number of the strategies are already being progressed in the zero tolerance plan and other elements of it. I mentioned the in camera rule and there is also the transfer of information between civil and criminal courts, which is very important to this part of it. That work is under way and will feed into this. I absolutely want to address the concerns raised by the Deputy but it is much more complex than just changing one simple law here.
There is absolutely no question that a woman who kills in self defence and who has been subject to violence through the years is certainly an exception to what is being proposed here. If Ireland was to change the law we would not be the first country in the world to do so. Laws similar or bearing a strong resemblance to Valerie's law have already been passed in Argentina, Israel, Italy and Britain but there is still an opportunity for Ireland to be in the front rank of European Union countries to pass progressive legislation of this kind. I think the State should take it. On average, seven children in Ireland each year newly suffer from the fact that this law has not been changed. Is there not a danger here that reports are being piled upon reports while action is postponed? We have already had the childcare law reporting project, the study on familicide and violence family death review, and the commissioning of the paper on guardianship of convicted killers, which was due at the end of this month. I note from the Minister's earlier comments that this has now been pushed back to the end of the year. Can the Minister confirm that? I put it to the Minister that there have been enough reports now and it is time to move with urgency to legislate.
I wish to clarify that there is no delay in any report. Any report that I have been given I am acting on. With the familicide report actions are already being taken. This specific one-----
But the paper was due at the end of September was it not?
No. What I said was at the end of the year there were recommendations specifically on this. The familicide report does not set how one does this. The Deputy is suggesting that there would be an automatic removal of guardianship. To do that would impact on the cases that I am speaking about. We need to have an understanding of the individual cases. For that we need to change the structure itself and that is what I am looking at. The family justice strategy speaks of the need to have the voice of the child inserted it into any of the cases and that does not happen at the moment. That work is under way. Separately, the work looking at the in camera rule is already being done and how that can continue abuse into the courts. It also means that there is information that might be available through a criminal trial that is not being translated into a civil case where guardianship is going on. We need to make sure that the structures are talking to each other, that the individual cases are understood, that the history of the cases are understood and that informed decisions can be taken. Because of the structures as they exist now that is not possible and this is why I am changing them. This is why all of this work is being done. There are no reports being sat on. All of this is progressing. On this specific issue I am absolutely committed to making progress in this area. I am working with families in this regard who are supporting that change. We need to get it right because it is complex. I hope by the end of the year I will have a very clear direction as to how we can do that.
Can we clarify one point briefly?
Quickly.
On one brief point, because clarification is needed for families. A paper was promised for the end of September on the guardianship status of convicted killers. It is my understanding that this deadline has not been met. My understanding from the Minister's comments is that it has been pushed out now. Will the Minister clarify this please?
No, this is not a report that is being undertaken as part of this. It is not mine. This is separate. At the end of the year there will be proposals as to how we enact this specific recommendation from the familicide report. They are two different things. We are not talking about that.
Citizenship Applications
Pa Daly
Question:3. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the current waiting times for citizenship applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38235/24]
Recently we saw a ceremony for those people who have gained their citizenship. These are very happy occasions and I am sure they are one of the Minister's favourite engagements as Minister. The processing time, however, still seems to be touching upon two years for many and some applications even exceed that. We are talking here about people who are working and playing a huge role in our society. What can the Minister say to those who are waiting this long and who need and want to make life plans that centre on their status?
I thank the Deputy for the question on citizenship applications. I am pleased to provide an update to the House on the ongoing improvements being made to the processing of citizenship applications. Just last week, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, had the honour of attending a ceremony in Dublin Convention Centre, and on behalf of myself and the Minister I congratulate all of our newest citizens and their proud families.
Processing times are now decreasing year on year. This is a result of re-engineering and streamlining the process, the introduction of a very successful online digital application, as well as online payments and the introduction of e-vetting. My Department has increased its decision-making capacity, which has had the effect of increasing the number of grants of citizenship applications from 13,598 in 2022 to 18,279 applications in 2023.
I am happy to note that, in the first six months of this year, a total of 16,000 decisions were made. The median processing time for a decision on an application in 2023 was 15 months. This was down from 19 months in 2022. While a figure for this year is not yet available, based on current output and application levels, my Department expects that the median processing time will decrease again. In fact, my objective into next year is that the majority of people who submit their naturalisation applications on the basis of residency by means of the new online digital form will receive a decision within 12 months. I look forward to delivering on this objective and acknowledge the commitment and excellent work being done by the citizenship division of my Department to improve the service provided to applicants.
I wish to refer to correspondence that came in to Deputy Pa Daly's office. It came from an Irishman who is married to a man who does not have Irish citizenship. His husband had exceeded the wait time considerably and he was in contact with a number of others who were in the same situation. Many people received emails from the Department of Justice stating that there was a delay but that the cases of people who applied in 2022 would be prioritised in chronological order during 2024. However, two days ago, thousands of approval letters were sent to people who applied in late 2023 and others who applied this year. In fairness, this is in keeping with what the Minister of State said, namely that he is confident there will be no major delays and that what we are looking at is a streamlining of the situation.
I acknowledge that in the past there were significant delays in processing citizenship applications. What the Minister, the officials in the Department and I have done to streamline matters and introduce a new processing system with the online application form and e-vetting has led to a significant change in the processing time relating to citizenship applications. I am confident that by the end of the year we will be in a situation where processing times will be even shorter. By next year, the aim is to have the processing time down to under 12 months. We will continue to work on that.
There will always be individual cases in respect of which particular challenges will arise. I am not referring to the particular case the Deputy mentioned but there are individual cases. We will certainly continue to get processing times down to a reasonable level.
That is very positive, and it should be the aim. It is a matter of making sure it happens.
Regarding workflows in the Department, there have been backlogs in respect of a number of immigration permissions. The Minister of State referred to citizenship applications and the processing of asylum applications. The numbers have risen in all these areas. I suppose only so much can be done at times, but we need to make sure that decisions are made much faster.
There has been a great deal of commentary about the speeding up the processing of asylum applications. Even in cases where countries are included on the list of safe countries or the lists for the fast processing of applications, are we guaranteeing that applications are being processed within three months? I am informed that when this happens, it leads to a reduction of almost 50%, even more in some instances, in the number of people applying.
Significant work is being done in the Department to ensure that all applications, be they in respect of citizenship, asylum or whatever, are dealt with in a speedy and timely fashion. It is acknowledged that significant work needed to be done in this area. This work is being carried out.
Policing Authority
Denis Naughten
Question:4. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice her plans to support policing in rural communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34856/24]
According to an Irish Examiner-IPSOS poll that was published last week, 70% of people who live in rural Ireland do not believe that there is a visible Garda presence in their areas. Members of the public believe that improved visibility can deter crime. How does the Government propose to increase visible rural policing?
I thank Deputy Naughten for this very important question, which relates to supporting policing in our rural communities. Community safety is a top priority for my Department. Everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their community, and rural Ireland is no exception in that regard. Our approach to community safety is a whole-of-government one. Enhancing rural safety includes everything from having more visible gardaí in the community to providing safe public spaces and amenities. That is why we are bringing the relevant social service providers, including An Garda Síochána together with the community in a collaborative manner, by focusing on the concerns identified by the local community itself.
Three pilot local community safety partnerships, LCSP, have been running since 2021, including one in Longford, and each has published a local community safety plan, available on the respective local authority websites. Funding was provided to the Longford LCSP pilot in 2022 through the community safety innovation fund for the Cornerstone project, which sought to implement a number of safety initiatives in the area that were based on extensive community consultation.
Nobody understands the safety concerns of a community better than the people who live in that community. The purpose of the community safety plan is to allow each community to identity the safety concerns that are relevant to their locality and to agree on collective actions to solve those issues. I am hopeful that many communities will start to see LCSPs established in their areas over the coming weeks. Assessment panels for the role of chairperson in a number of local authority areas are taking place currently. Nominations for the first chairpersons are under consideration.
The move regarding the LCSPs is positive. I welcome it. When the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, came before the justice committee last year, he pointed out that rural policing is done with the active support of local communities. We can only have the active support of those communities if we have gardaí engaging with them. The difficulty is that if people in rural areas throughout the country are asked who their local garda is or who would they contact in the local Garda station, which may be located may be 20 or 30 miles away, no name will come to mind for many of them. I have raised this issue with the Minister of State previously. In 2019, the Joint Committee on Justice examined the issue of rural policing and made a recommendation that there should be a designated officer assigned as the initial point of contact in each rural community. Has any progress been made in this regard?
I acknowledge that we do not have as many gardaí as we need, but significant efforts are being made to address this. We have had a very large increase in the number of recruits coming through Templemore.
Regarding safety in rural Ireland, the national rural safety forum was established in 2019. In 2022, we published the national rural safety plan. Yesterday, I met the deputy president of the IFA, Alice Doyle, and the assistant Garda commissioner, Paula Hilman, to discuss how we can reinvigorate the national rural safety forum and implement its proposals. This forum is jointly chaired by the IFA and An Garda Síochána and has a very broad membership.
Regarding designating gardaí as points of contact, it is a matter for the Garda Commissioner as to how he deploys gardaí and what roles he wants to give them. However, I will convey the Deputy's concerns to the Commissioner.
There are more gardaí going through Templemore and more are being recruited. That is very positive. However, the reality is that they are not coming to Roscommon, Longford or Mayo. We can designate gardaí all we like, but they are not there. In addition, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is aware of cases where gardaí are stationed in far-flung parts of the country. They cannot get back to anywhere near County Roscommon or counties in the midlands. As a result, gardaí are being forced out of the force because there is no clear mechanism for transfers. All of the new recruits are being deployed to the major urban centres. This is leaving the rural force under-resourced, with no access to the new gardaí who are being recruited.
There is no question that there is a challenge regarding the number of gardaí, but that arose out of the situation during Covid when recruitment was paused. We are now addressing the situation by significantly increasing recruitment through Templemore. Up to the end of June of this year, 581 gardaí were assigned to the Mayo, Roscommon, Longford division and 599 were assigned to the Galway division.
The Deputy will see an increase in the number of members of An Garda Síochána over the coming years as that recruitment continues and those gardaí are deployed.
They are not coming to Roscommon or Galway.