Willie O'Dea
Question:8. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Justice the progress made to double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the zero tolerance strategy, from 141 to 282. [38171/24]
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Questions Nos. 5 and 6 taken with Written Answers.
Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence
I am inquiring as to the progress on the strategy that was announced in June 2022, when the Government established a zero-tolerance attitude to gender-based, sexual and domestic violence. One of the commitments was that we would double the number of refuge spaces available. Will the Minister give us an update on how that is progressing?
I thank the Deputy for his interest in this very important issue. As he has mentioned, one of the overarching goals of the Zero Tolerance strategy is to ensure that everyone across the country who needs a refuge space will have access to one. Our commitment to double what we currently have represents the fastest ever expansion of refuge accommodation in this country.
Earlier this month, I was delighted to be joined by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, to launch a new 12-unit refuge in Wexford. This is the first of 18 priority locations to complete construction. Just last week, €7.3 million in funding was provided to progress the building of new refuge units in Kerry under the capital assistance scheme. The opening of the new units in Wexford means there are 162 domestic violence units across the country, with four more expected to come on line in Louth before the end of the year and construction of a further 12 units in Kilcross in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown also beginning before the end of this year.
Having visited many refuges around the country and having seen some of the older refuges, smaller ones and larger ones and the services that are being provided, I am very mindful that the provision of a refuge is not just the provision of a roof over somebody's head or a bed to sleep in. That is extremely important. It is a safe space, a haven and somewhere for people to rest, to seek assistance and to get the support and help they need, including help to plan their lives. They are also for their children where they have also been victims in the overall scenario. That means we need to design not just bricks and mortar, but also services and ancillary supports. To that end, we have accelerated the delivery of additional refuge accommodation and have also considered the design of the type of accommodation that is needed, working very closely with those who are already providing services, with victims and with our colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Housing Agency.
Cuan, which has now been established, has a number of roles but one of its main roles is to accelerate the delivery of additional refuge accommodation year on year and it is doing just that. At present, 82 units are undergoing funding approval through the capital assistance scheme with a further ten proposals under review by colleagues in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Another 19 units have been identified as potential development opportunities. Every few weeks or months, new sites are coming on stream that can be repurposed without requiring a new build. Given the number of projects in the pipeline, we are on course to deliver the very ambitious but very necessary target of doubling the number of refuge spaces.
I welcome the fact that two years ago, in June 2022, the Government published its strategy, Zero Tolerance. The House will be aware that the central aim of that strategy was the adoption, as a society and a State, of a zero-tolerance attitude to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. What was beneficial about the strategy that was launched was that it was accompanied by an implementation plan. As the Minister has indicated, one of the central requirements of the implementation plan was that we would increase the number of refuge spaces available. I welcome the openings the Minister has identified. It is important that we continue to ensure there are sufficient refuge spaces throughout the country for victims of this type of violence, who are predominantly female. What we stated in 2022 was that we wanted to double the number from 141 spaces to 282 spaces. Have we achieved or exceeded that? Will the Minister give me an update on that?
The ambition is to double the number in the lifetime of the strategy, which is only two years into its progress. We have not achieved that yet but I am confident that we will achieve it over the lifetime of the strategy. We are also developing safe houses. This is not just about providing wraparound support within the refuge itself. It is also about making sure that there are step-down facilities for women and children to go to, which will account for the vast majority of cases, and facilities for women who feel they do not need that full wraparound support but still need a safe space to go to. We have accelerated and gone beyond our targets as regards safe houses for this year, as we will also do next year. Protection is one of the key pillars of the Zero Tolerance strategy. It is about making sure that women or men who leave environments of domestic violence have a safe space to go to. The safe houses are supporting men in particular at the moment. Ultimately, we want a scenario in which victims stay in their homes. That is a very clear action as part of the Zero Tolerance strategy and a body of work is happening on that. However, we have to be realistic that these spaces are needed. We need to achieve that target. We are working hard on it and I am absolutely confident that we can achieve it.
I was pleased to read the implementation report in respect of 2023, which said that the number of safe homes, as it referred to them, had doubled in 2023 with 17 additional safe homes coming on stream, bringing the total number to 49 by the end of the year. I am also pleased to hear that the Minister expects we will be able to achieve the objective of the strategy, which is to double the number of spaces within the period of the implementation plan. I will mention something important, of which the Minister will be well aware. I was a bit disturbed to read the Women's Aid annual impact report, which said that there were 28,500 contacts with front-line domestic violence services in 2023 and 40,000 disclosures of abuse against women and children, representing an increase of 6,000 since 2022. Obviously, not everyone reports incidents of domestic violence. I know the Minister appreciates that it is a very serious problem in our society. However, the plan and the strategy are working. What we really need to do is to continue with the implementation. I ask the Minister to keep ensuring we can double the number of refuge spaces, as we committed to.
I thank the Minister. As she knows, it has been announced that we now have our site and our build in Carlow. We have an old house that is being done up. We are working with Cuan. The lead agency is Amber Women's Refuge. The Minister was on KCLR and I have been on to her about this women's refuge every few weeks for the last few years. It is a really good story for Carlow. The Minister said the refuge would open in 2025. I will keep her to that. We are working very hard. I am on the committee for this. It is important that we get this up and running as soon as possible. At the moment, there are families leaving Carlow to go to other counties. Children have to be taken out of school and lose their friends because they will be gone for a few months. It is important to get this women's refuge up and running in Carlow. It is a good news story for Carlow.
I support the sentiments expressed by my colleagues and acknowledge what the Minister has undertaken. I will point out that, in my time in public life, I have never seen the level of violence towards women and mothers of children that I have seen in the past couple of years and in the past two years in particular. There is also this friction whereby the victim has to pursue the other partner for maintenance. This is a recurring factor and brings the two into contact. The continuous barrage of abuse is really frightening. The cases I have to deal with are worse than any I have ever come across in my life.
I thank the Deputies. I have said this many times and I will say it again; I believe we are dealing with an epidemic. It is in every town, village and corner of our society. More women are coming forward. It is mainly women although men are, of course, also victims. It is a very positive thing. We need to be able to respond with resources and supports. It is not just about providing refuge and accommodation. It is also about outreach services and supports. In the last four years alone, funding has gone from €20 million to €60 million. While a small fraction was used to set up our new agency, Cuan, last year, the vast majority of that money is going to deliver services, to expand services and to identify the need for new services in new areas. I have every intention of making sure we can expand further under next week's budget.
Work on the Carlow refuge will start next year. Obviously, I want to see it completed and concluded. The Deputy will see the same challenge we have faced in many areas where we do not have a refuge, which is that we are starting from the ground up. The strategy has been to put in place a very clear structure that means, whether there is a service on the ground or not and whether there is somebody who is committed to doing it or not, the structure can be brought together to work with the local authority to identify who will deliver the service, where the site will be, how it can be rolled out and how we can get the funding in place and make the application. Now that this structure is in place, it will allow for the acceleration of many of the projects that are already under way. I again thank Deputies for their comments.
Visa Applications
David Stanton
Question:9. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Justice the measures being taken by her Department to ensure the quicker processing of visa preclearance applications and associated appeals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38096/24]
I ask the Minister about the measures being taken by her Department to ensure the quicker processing of visa preclearance applications and associated appeals. The office is doing great work in most areas, but there are one or two areas where I think there is a bit of slippage. Has the Minister looked at this and can further improvements be made?
As the Deputy rightly said, a great deal of work is being done but we can always improve the service overall and the timelines for people. We are responding and trying to make these changes while at the same time seeing an increase in the number of applications overall. In 2023, we had over 166,000 visa applications submitted and approximately 140,000 of those were granted. These figures are likely to be surpassed in 2024. For the first seven months of this year alone, there were 123,000 visa applications, which is an increase of 20%. At the same time as the figures are increasing, we are trying to continue to reduce the times. Obviously, there are challenges with this but I think we are making progress.
Visa and preclearance applications provide legal avenues for people coming to Ireland for employment, study, visits, to join those here already, for work and business or for other reasons. The vast majority of visa applications are determined in a matter of weeks. However, some applications, in particular visas to allow people to join family members here, which are the ones people probably come to me most about, can take considerably longer. If it is a join family visa for an Irish citizen, it takes six months, but it can be up to a year for a non-EEA citizen. I appreciate that is far too long for many people. The challenge here is that we are, essentially, undertaking a screening process designed to establish if that person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel. It is also necessary to undertake verification, undergo processes and vetting in other areas too.
In saying that, I have put in place a team tasked specifically in this area with identifying how we can improve and speed up the process and reduce these overall times. Obviously, applications and their times are influenced by several different factors. The length of time taken can vary depending on the type and complexity of applications, the individual circumstances and if it is during a peak application period such as summertime or, especially, the return to school time. Crucially, the quality and completeness of the application lodged can also have an impact. While the waiting times initially may be four or five weeks, if there must then be an appeal, that sets the waiting time back in some instances by three or four months. One thing I know we would all say to anybody putting in an application is to ensure all the application details and information and anything being asked for is provided. I will always, though, endeavour to ensure we will do everything we can to speed up the processes regardless of the type of application.
I thank the Minister for her response. Can the Minister tell me now or perhaps later how many visa applications of various types are currently in the queue? The Minister may not have this information now but perhaps she might have it later.
I am also aware that the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland has some concerns about how its procedure is working and has sought a meeting with officials in the Minister's Department. Will she facilitate a meeting with the organisation as soon as possible, please?
Additionally, can the Minister tell me what the situation is concerning the single application procedure regarding work permits and visas? A commitment was given that there would be a single application procedure in this regard. How is this progressing? Those are my three queries.
To the latter question, as the Deputy rightly said, last May I jointly announced with my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke, that a project to adopt the single permit to work and live in Ireland would be developed. There is a two-stream process now. The outcome of this initiative will streamline this process for applicants coming to Ireland to work by combining three separate applications into one single procedure. This is a complex project that will take several years but it is continuing. We are working on it and we have established a group within the two Departments to do this. In the interim, we are putting in place as many measures as possible to try to speed up the process.
I am always happy to engage with any groups or to speak with groups where they feel there is a specific backlog or challenge. If we look at short-stay visas, however, the average processing time for first instance decisions is three and a half weeks. If there is an appeal, then the process does move to a waiting time of, on average, five months. I again ask people to ensure they have their information right. For long-stay visas, the first instance decision took six weeks. For all types of preclearance applications, the average processing time is three months and two weeks. They do vary, but for the most part we stick to those timelines that are set.
I thank the Minister for committing to meet the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland because it is concerned about some of the issues it is encountering. I am sure they can be resolved with the very efficient officials speedily and efficiently.
Are there different processing times in the different embassies across the world regarding visa applications and has the Minister any information on any of these?
Depending on the country, there are differences in the numbers of applications and ways in which embassies in the original countries are operating. While I do not have the exact times, I can tell the Deputy that the top ten nationalities in terms of the short-stay visa grants are India, China, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the Philippines, Egypt, Colombia and Saudi Arabia. This ranges from 25,000 applications to 850 applications. Depending on where people are coming from, but also the structures in their countries, there are variations in the overall timelines. When we take into consideration the fact that this year alone we have had a 20% increase in the numbers of all types of visas, coupled with the significant increase in the number of international protection applicants coming through the system, as well as the work we are doing to support those coming from Ukraine, the number of staff has been increased significantly right across the immigration service. We have managed to keep the times within the timeframes we are setting and are still trying to reduce them further through engagement with the individual embassies and those individuals impacted by certain cases. My focus is to ensure we can have this system as efficient and effective as possible.
I thank the Minister.
One of the important ways we will do this is through investment in technology.
We are way over time.
We have already seen the investment in the normal visa structures but also in the international protection system and how this has allowed us to process many more applications.
An Garda Síochána
James O'Connor
Question:7. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí in each district in the Cork East constituency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38186/24]
I raise the important issue of Garda resources and numbers in my constituency. I ask the Minister of State to set out the number of gardaí in each district in the Cork East constituency and if to make statement on the matter. I raise this issue because we have seen a substantial decline in the number of gardaí in my constituency. According to our latest available figures, we are down now to under 100, coming from having 109 in 2020. I wish to raise this issue with the Minister of State and see what can be done to address it.
I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising the very important matter of the number of gardaí in each district in the Cork East constituency. Everyone deserves to be safe and feel safe in their own communities, and of course having a visible Garda presence in the community is an important part of that. Everyone deserves to have that sense of safety.
The unprecedented allocation of over €2 billion for 2023 and €2.35 billion for 2024 to An Garda Síochána demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring An Garda Síochána has provision to recruit the personnel it needs to carry out its vital policing work. This funding allows for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff. The Government is taking several steps to accelerate recruitment into An Garda Síochána, including almost doubling the garda training allowance, increasing the age of entry from 35 to 50, increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 and launching a new Garda Reserve competition. There are currently over 14,000 Garda members across the country, compared with 12,816 in 2015. This is an increase of around 9%.
The introduction of a new Garda operating model, which has already been rolled out in Cork, will provide more front-line gardaí, increased Garda visibility and a wider range of policing services for people in their local areas. It will divide service delivery within the division into four functional areas, one of the most important areas being community engagement. This will allow for a greater and more consistent focus on community policing in all divisions.
While the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the deployment of Garda members throughout the State, I am assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of policing priorities and crime trends. I can inform the Deputy that as of the end of June 2024, there were 667 gardaí in Cork city, 322 in Cork north, and 280 in Cork west. The Deputy will also be interested to note that the 322 gardaí allocated to Cork north, which covers most of the Cork East constituency area, shows an increase of over 8% since 2015.
I thank the Minister of State for that information. Above all else, I am here to represent the people of Cork East and it is an honour to do so. It is a constituency that is growing incredibly quickly. A sign of this was the latest census and constituency boundary review. More than 20,000 electors have been moved to different constituencies and this just gives an idea of the scale of the growth in the area.
I am raising this issue because when I speak to constituents, especially around the issue of rural crime, including crime in agriculture and robberies involving expensive construction equipment and individual homes, they tell me it is something they want to see addressed.
People want to see visibility when it comes to policing. We are very lucky in our constituency and I thank our local gardaí for the enormously positive work they do in our community, day in, day out, night and day. We also have to acknowledge the issue of resourcing given the number of people in the area. This is something I am concerned about. It needs to be addressed and called out. There are other issues I will refer to at a different stage. The drop in numbers since 2020 is a concern because the population has come up by so much. This is something the Minister for Justice needs to focus on.
Again I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter of the number of gardaí. There is a significant increase in the number of Garda trainees going through Templemore to address the challenge around Garda numbers. On rural community safety, we have the rural safety forum, which has established the rural safety plan, published in 2022, which we are now working to update. It is an extensive forum with members from right across rural communities. Only yesterday I met Alice Doyle, deputy president of the IFA, and Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, to see how we can take the rural safety forum to the next level to ensure the issues around safety in rural Ireland are being addressed. I do agree that visibility is crucial. That is why we are increasing the number of gardaí being recruited.
While I am on my feet discussing this issue, it is important also to discuss morale within An Garda Síochána. I speak to many people around my own age - I am 27 years of age - who have come through the Garda training college and are going into the force. Another issue that is important in rural Ireland is garda transfers. Many members of An Garda Síochána come to me confidentially to try to get some advice and help. They feel that is the wrong thing to do, that it is a mistake and an error. There is a culture of fear among more junior members of An Garda Síochána when it comes to trying to get these issues addressed.
I accept that it is a 26-county force, but it is taking too long for An Garda Síochána to process transfers, particularly when gardaí want to return, not to their own home, but to regions that are adjacent to their own administrative areas within the force. This could really help boost retention in An Garda Síochána. It is no secret that this is potentially at crisis point, given the situation going on with investigations into the work that gardaí do. It needs to be addressed by the Minister.
Before the Minister of State comes back in, there are numerous other Deputies wishing to contribute. I ask them to be brief because there are Members here waiting for their questions to be taken.
I commend Deputy O'Connor for his very important question. He mentioned that the situation could be at crisis point. I would say that in many corners of Ireland, it already is. I can tell the Minister of State, following contact I have had from the Garda representative organisation, that there is a functional policing area, I will not say where, that straddles two counties and covers a population of 50,000 people. It had two gardaí on duty on Wednesday night of last week, just two gardaí in the entire area going around in one patrol car. That is crisis point. When I come to Dáil Éireann I often chat with gardaí on the street. They are from Deputy O'Connor's and my constituency. When Taylor Swift or some big event is on in Dublin, they are all drafted up to backfill rosters here in Dublin. That is crisis point. We have to speak up unapologetically for rural counties which could also become the soft belly of crime in Ireland, if some of them are not already. I would love to hear more detail on what we do to backfill those rosters in rural Ireland. They are being hollowed out to fill the policing roster in Dublin.
The senior Minister will be well familiar with the fact that my county has the lowest number of gardaí per head of population. It is not just the lowest number but the lowest by far. The difference between the lowest and the highest is double, so there are twice as many gardaí per head of population in Waterford at the top of the list as there is in Meath at the bottom of the list. That is not fair, reasonable or equitable by any measure. What is the Minister of State doing to address it? Does he recognise it as an iniquity or inequality? Is he going to talk to the Garda Commissioner about the resource allocation model, how many recruits are coming out of Templemore and where they are going? It is a real unfairness within the system that needs to be addressed.
Would the Minister of State agree with me that a lot of Garda time is spent on bureaucracy, behind computers, filling out forms, writing reports and so on when they should be on the beat? There is serious frustration there because of that. Have any studies been carried out in respect of this and can anything be done to alleviate the issue?
As the Deputies will be fully aware, the Garda Commissioner is independent in terms of deployment of members of An Garda Síochána right across the country, and deploys them where he feels they are best deployed. Garda transfers, again, are an internal matter for the Garda Commissioner and An Garda Síochána. On what Deputy Stanton has raised, I fully agree with him. That is why we are working very hard to get Garda time freed up to focus on front-line work. There has been significant recruitment of civilian staff to free up gardaí. Some of that work will have been done under the Deputy's time as a Minister of State in the Department of Justice. The force is also using more modern technology to reduce garda time spent on administrative work and allow them to focus on dealing with front-line issues. An awful lot of that technology is being rolled out in An Garda Síochána across the country.
Questions Nos. 10 and 11 taken with Written Answers.
Drug Dealing
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:12. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Justice if she will outline Government plans to deal with the scourge of drugs and drug dealing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38177/24]
I am going to ask about the plans to deal with the scourge of drugs and drug dealing, and if the Minister could make a statement on the matter. On the television and on the beat, in any town or village across Ireland, everyone can see with their own eyes the issues that impact greatly. I am talking about everything from organised crime right down to the vulnerable people who are used, and their disorganised, chaotic lifestyle which impacts on the wider community. We need tools across the board for dealing with this.
I agree that the impact organised crime and those involved in organised crime can have on our communities is devastating. They intimidate and inflict violence and misery on all parts of our community. It is a top priority for me, my Government and this Department to take swift action supported by and supporting the Garda Commissioner and his team. This includes increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life. This takes into account those who direct gangland crime but do not tend to get their hands dirty. Their active role needs to be dealt with in a different way and that is why I have increased the maximum sentence. We are enacting new laws to criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime. We spoke of this the other day. It is absolutely imperative that we acknowledge the harm that is caused to younger and younger children as they are dragged and coerced into this life of crime. That is what that legislation is focused on. We are drafting new laws which will provide for the use of facial recognition technology, including in the investigation of certain drug offences.
We are also rolling out support programmes to break the link between gangs and the children they recruit. That is the Greentown project, which is showing great success in the areas in which it is operating. The intention is that we would roll this out on a more nationwide basis. With the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, leading the youth justice strategy and as part of budget 2024, a further €2.9 million was secured for youth diversion measures. This is a 10% increase on the year before, bringing the total budget to over €33 million, meaning that every part of the country now has a youth diversion programme. It is now expanding and looking at more targeted areas, acknowledging in particular that younger children aged seven to nine are now being impacted by this type of activity.
I have also introduced plans to strengthen the State’s ability to seize criminal assets and to target the proceeds of crime. This new Bill will also speed up the process to dispose of the assets for the benefit of the State. The best way we can hit these organised crime groups is in their pockets, taking away their assets and the benefits of their criminal activity and reinvesting that money into communities. In the last three years alone, over €8.5 million has been taken directly from those criminal gangs and invested directly back into our communities and organisations. There is a huge amount of other work being done by An Garda Síochána, which I will touch upon later.
Go raibh maith agat. I am not going to disagree with anything the Minister has said, other than that the problem is so big and we need a hell of a lot more. I welcome the work that is done by the Garda, the huge operations they have put in play. At times they have put considerable players out of action, even on a town level. Unfortunately, sometimes that takes three or four years to work its way through. Sometimes by the time you get rid of that major drug dealer, the dealers on the street barely remember who they were as other players have entered the field. We have an element of absolute normalisation of drug dealing in working class areas.
Unfortunately, in every bar in every town and village on a Saturday night, there are many people who probably do not break many other laws but think it is absolutely sound to take cocaine. They are putting massive money in to these people. I have seen guys who have had houses taken off them but they are back the next day selling drugs and whatever else. There is great work being done but none of it is enough. We also have a very specific piece of work to do about the vulnerable people who are used but who impact on the communities around them, sometimes more than the dealers themselves.
This is not an issue that we can deal with alone and that is why An Garda Síochána has significant engagement and very strong links with Interpol and Europol. We have worked very closely with the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre - Narcotics, based in Lisbon. We have deployed Garda liaison officers to specific countries which we know are problematic where drugs are coming from or which are used as shipping bases for drugs that are then distributed to other areas. Within An Garda Síochána, every division has an inspector tasked specifically with responding to the issue of drug-related intimidation, trying to support those communities that are now impacted.
We also need to look at it from a different approach. While huge investment is going into An Garda Síochána to make sure that it can put in place these operations, such as Operation Tara, supporting the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, which has seized €330 million worth of drugs since 2019 alone, we also need to look at the human side of it, the addiction side of it, and how we can approach it from a health-led perspective. That work is under way at the moment, supported by the Garda. We need to work very closely with the Garda if we are to have an alternative pathway, rather than just the criminal justice process, for those with severe and significant addiction problems.
I submitted another question which I thought might have been up for oral reply today. It must be in for written reply at this stage. It related to the number of gardaí across Louth and in Dundalk, with details of the numbers in drug squads. I will be looking for that.
I agree with what the Minister has said. Obviously, considerable effort needs to be put in on major operations, both internationally and at a street level. I accept that nobody has policed this problem anywhere in the world. I imagine it would take something that nobody in here would countenance. I welcome the work done by the youth diversion projects in Dundalk, including the High Voltage and Team projects. Some of them have early intervention but we need even earlier interventions than are considered there, along with family supports. We are talking about trying to break poverty. I accept we need to put a huge amount of effort into addiction.
I have a specific question about dealing with multiple issues relating to guys dealing drugs in council houses.
We are way over time.
The Garda is spending a huge amount of time. Councils do not have the power and Tusla does not have the tools. The Garda does not have the tools at this point in time to deal with these sorts of issues.
Deputy-----
It is a huge draw on resources.
There are a number of contributors - four extra speakers now. These questions are not grouped. I ask everyone to be as quick as possible because there are Members waiting for their tabled questions and we will finish at 10.30 a.m. I call Deputy Alan Farrell first.
I welcome the question and the answer. I particularly welcome the reference to the recreational use of cocaine, which is an absolute scourge on our society. It is right across this country. It is not confined to any particular community; it is everywhere. One of the big issues I have is bringing awareness to those recreational users that they are directly funding organised drug groups, those who target our children in particular and who prey on the vulnerable, addicts and people like that. I would very much welcome the Minister's comments on a targeted campaign to really bring it home to these individuals that it is not okay and that what they are doing is directly funding these individuals.
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for accommodating me. I agree that the only way to deal with this is to hit them where it hurts, that is, in the pocket. CAB has done a lot of good work on it. It seems to me often that the focus of CAB is on the people whose names feature on the front page of the Sunday World every weekend. However, there is a need to get involved at a community level as well. Across the broader community where I live, I can think of several people who openly and unashamedly deal drugs and do so in broad daylight. They do not get up and go out to work like the rest of us during the day. They stay at home. They have every sort of lavish luxury imaginable parked up on their driveway and inside their house. Their neighbours live in absolute fear. Windows have been put in by iron bars and houses have been burned down. We have had everything going on. We need to hit those people financially and go after them because a lot of the time they seem to act with impunity.
I acknowledge the successes of An Garda Síochána, particularly in recent times, by way of interruption and seizing large amounts of illicit drugs. I support the Minister in her efforts to bring about a reduction in drug usage in this country. We need to have a debate but I do not propose to have it here today. Some in the community will say that this needs to be dealt with medically and there is no other way. That is not true. No drugs are safe unless prescribed by a medical person. The medical profession will always tell us that no drugs are safe. We need to get wise, deal with this and cut off the supply while applying the medical remedies as well.
I agree with the previous speakers. I see the scourge of drugs everywhere. It is about communities. Families come into my clinics heartbroken. Families need to borrow money to pay back the bills for their children who are taking drugs, which is unacceptable. We need to do campaigns and get some sort of help for these families and for the children or people who are taking the drugs. It is a scourge. If we do not get it from the community up, help these families and help those people who are taking the drugs, we are at nothing. I believe we are now in a crisis. I deal with this daily. It is really important that we get to the bottom of this.
We need to come at this from a number of different angles. There is not one single solution to resolve what is a problem not just in Ireland but right across the world. We need to continue to invest in and support An Garda Síochána to work with its partners across the globe to try to tackle at source the organised crime groups and those who are responsible for producing this. We need to work in communities.
To Deputy Ó Murchú's point, what we have done in Drogheda has been hugely successful, supporting the Garda while also, with the Drogheda implementation report, working with the communities and the addiction and support services, linking in with the education providers, talking to the communities impacted by organised crime in the most severe way, and making sure that every arm of the State is talking to one other and supporting one other. That includes education, telling young people about the negative consequences of their actions and trying to prevent this type of behaviour from starting in the first instance. At the same time, we need to invest in resources to provide supports where there are addiction problems and there are challenges down the line. It is a multifaceted approach.
I commend the Garda on the work it is doing because in recent times there have been significant successes in seizing drugs and taking down so many of those who are involved in organised crime groups and causing this misery in the first instance.
There are four Members present who have questions. With everyone's co-operation, we will get to those four questions.
An Garda Síochána
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Question:13. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí, as well as Garda staff, assigned to Borris, Carlow, Hacketstown, Muine Bheag, Myshall, Rathvilly and Tullow stations. [38008/24]
I wish to know the number of gardaí, as well as Garda staff, assigned to Borris, Carlow, Hacketstown, Bagenalstown, Myshall, Rathvilly and Tullow stations.
I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter on the number of gardaí, as well as Garda staff, assigned to Borris, Carlow, Hacketstown, Muine Bheag, Myshall, Rathvilly and Tullow stations.
The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I were pleased to secure unprecedented funding of over €2.35 billion for this year, a 25% increase since 2020, which is supporting the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.
At the end of June, the latest date for which published figures are available, there were more than 14,000 Garda members assigned across the country, an increase since 2015 when there were 12,816 gardaí. While the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the allocation of Garda resources, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I engage regularly with him to ensure our gardaí have the resources they need. I am informed that when consideration is given to the allocation and transfer of Garda members to and from any division, account is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the annual policing plan and priorities as determined in delivering A Policing Service for The Future.
I understand that the requirements of all Garda divisions nationwide are also taken into account, which include: local and national crime trends and workloads; policing arrangements and operational strategies; minimum establishment statistics; local population and trends, geographical area and size; and transfer applications, including welfare, personnel issues and concerns.
At the end of June this year, there were 310 Garda members assigned to the Kilkenny-Carlow division, with 98 Garda members assigned to the Carlow community engagement area, including 79 gardaí, 14 sergeants, four inspectors and one superintendent. This represents an increase of more than 9% since the end of 2015. At the end of June, there were 74 Garda members assigned to Carlow Garda station, with 57 gardaí, 12 sergeants, four inspectors and one superintendent. A total of ten Garda members were assigned to Tullow Garda station, with nine gardaí and one sergeant, and ten Garda members were assigned to Mhuine Bheag Garda station, with nine gardaí and one sergeant. Borris, Hacketstown, Myshall and Rathvilly Garda stations are smaller stations and have lower numbers of gardaí assigned to each. Under the operating model, they are also supported by their wider community engagement functional area.
We have seen a decline in the number of gardaí in County Carlow. A few weeks ago Tullow daycare centre, which is a daycare centre for elderly people where 50 people go each day, had a break-in and yesterday there was a second break-in when the bus was stolen from this daycare centre. Crime has increased and there is no point in saying differently. We are short of gardaí. I met superintendent Anthony Farrell and I can only sing the praises of him, his team of gardaí and his staff. We need more gardaí in Carlow. We have to have them. Our population has grown. What I find is happening now is that if gardaí are transferred or retire they are not being replaced.
The number of gardaí in the area has increased by 9% since the end of 2015. We are carrying out a recruitment process in Templemore for An Garda Síochána and this has sped up significantly, with a significant number of gardaí graduating from there. There is a challenge with Garda numbers but as the numbers increase I have no doubt additional gardaí will be assigned to the Kilkenny-Carlow division.
I need to repeat that I have spoken with superintendent Anthony Farrell. We need more gardaí. The population of County Carlow has grown, which is very welcome. We had one of the highest growth rates in the most recent census. We do not have enough gardaí. We do not have enough community gardaí on the ground. We have seen an increase in burglaries. I spoke about one in Tullow which is an example. We do not have enough gardaí in Carlow and we need to get more. We were to look at opening the Leighlinbridge Garda station which was closed. That commitment was given three years ago and it is still not open. We need to have more gardaí in County Carlow.
I condemn the incidents of crime outlined by Deputy Murnane O'Connor. They are absolutely outrageous and I have no doubt An Garda Síochána will leave no stone unturned in investigating these criminal activities. There is an excellent chief superintendent in Anthony Pettit, who is originally of the Wicklow-Wexford division. No doubt the chief superintendent would very much appreciate additional gardaí, as would every chief superintendent throughout the country. We acknowledge there is not a sufficient number of gardaí in the country but we are increasing the number as quickly as possible through Templemore.
International Protection
Willie O'Dea
Question:14. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Justice if her Department will undertake a review of the suitability of the International Protection Office in Mount Street to process applications for international protection, given the significant increase in the number of people making applications at the office; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38170/24]
I am extremely concerned about the International Protection Office in Mount Street. As the Minister is aware, over the past 18 months the number of people applying for international protection has put considerable pressure on the office on Mount Street, such that I am concerned about the capacity and suitability of it. Does the Minister have any plan to conduct a review of it? Does she have any plan to identify other locations where people can apply for international protection?
In recent years, I have increased investment at every level of the international protection system, including in the International Protection Office, to deal effectively with the increase in applications. As a consequence, there are now more than 500 staff based at the Mount Street premises, involved in all stages of the international protection process, from initial registration, through to interview and issuing of determinations.
The location of the office, which has been in use for this purpose for more than 20 years, is highly accessible for applicants, staff and the multiple other agencies involved in the overall process and support of those seeking international protection. Moreover, it has been configured and equipped to deal with the complex requirements for reception and interviewing of applicants. In fact, further investment is being made this winter to improve the layout and facilities of the reception area, where applicants go through the initial steps of the application process.
I can, however, advise the Deputy that, as a result of the increase in applications, my Department has opened a second processing centre to register families accompanied by children at the Citywest complex. Since this processing site was opened last April, approximately 43% of all new international protection applicants have been making their submissions there. This has significantly reduced the number of applications that may otherwise have been made at the Mount Street location. The IPO is also exploring innovative means of expanding interview and registration capacity, including piloting of remote interviews and, in the context of the migration pact implementation, co-location with IPAS accommodation centres.
These steps will likely further vary how and where my Department locates our processing but given the continued high volume of applications, and the considerable investment in the well-established capacity provided at Mount Street, there are no plans to cease to rely on that location. I acknowledge the unbelievable work undertaken by all members of the staff. We have significantly ramped up the number of people working in the office. As I have said, many of them are now working in Citywest also. Because of this hard work we have gone from processing on average 3,000 to 4,000 applications a year to this year when we will most likely process 14,000 applications. I will continue to keep under review where and how we can invest and improve the overall processing.
I thank the Minister. As the Minister has said, the International Protection Office has been present on Mount Street for more than 20 years. I have been a Deputy since 2016 and there has never really been any issue with the office operating there, except over the past 18 months. What has happened is that, as we are all aware, the number of people applying for international protection has increased significantly. Until the office in Citywest was opened, everyone was applying for international protection at Mount Street. It put extraordinary pressure on the office. It is objectively fair to say that demonstrably the office was not able to cope with the number of people applying there. As a consequence, we have had a situation developing over the past 18 months when tents were being pitched in the vicinity of the office. I have enormous sympathy for the people who are seeking international protection but as a TD for the area I must also speak out for the residents and the businesses. I ask the Minister to give consideration to opening other offices so the pressure is taken off Mount Street a bit.
I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. It is for the reason he has outlined and I have outlined, which is a significant increase in the number of international protection applicants, that a second centre has been opened. Almost 50% of applicants who would have been going to Mount Street are now going to Citywest. I believe it is a more appropriate location, particularly when women and children are being processed. The increase in staff means there are now 541 staff members, an increase of 155% in the past two years alone. This has resulted in 14,000 decisions being made this year. I am not just investing in people. We are investing in the systems and the way in which we are processing. More and more people are now going into accelerated processing. This means applications are being seen quicker which means it is more efficient, and this puts less pressure and stress on the environment, the building and the people working in it. We now have 15 countries of safe origin that are being accelerated. We now have applicants who have received protection elsewhere in this accelerated process. Citizens of Nigeria and Jordan, the countries which provide the highest number of applicants at present, have gone into this accelerated processing. Because of this we have seen in some instances a reduction in the number of people coming from these countries by approximately 70%. All of this will assist in the overall structures that are there. This is always kept under consideration.
I thank the Minister. It is still the case that 57% of all applicants apply physically by arriving at Mount Street. We need to look at what happens in other countries, where they have a series of different locations where people can apply for international protection. It does not appear to make sense to me that we have only one or two physical locations where people apply. We should also be considering applying new technologies so people can apply online for international protection without the necessity of having to arrive here with all the trauma it can give rise to.
We need to look at this because it will not be sustainable for the people of Mount Street, the businesses on Mount Street and the people coming into the city centre. We need to take into account our capital city also. As I have said previously, we have great sympathy for the people seeking international protection but I must also represent the interests of the very decent people who live in the area, who are hesitant about speaking out about it because they are subject to criticism but whose lives are being significantly undermined, as is their quality of life, by this ongoing problem on Mount Street. I ask the Minister to consider it for review.
I welcome the discussion and I very much welcome the investment in people and places. It is very important that we diversify the option for the purposes of ensuring in the first instance that we can keep people out of tents in the city centre. That is an objective I think we all share in this House. I make the point to Deputy O'Callaghan that one does not necessarily need to be the local TD to make that observation. I certainly agree that in the protection of those individuals and the processing of those applications, and in ensuring those individuals are treated humanely, we should have an objective to provide more facilities to ensure we can process individuals in a more timely manner. As I said, however, I really welcome the investment in people and places, particularly with regard to the number of processing staff and the reduction in time it will take now that we have signed up to the pan-European arrangements. I know the huge work that is being done by individuals within the Minister's Department to get that up and off the ground.
As the previous Deputy just mentioned, we have joined the EU migration pact and, obviously, there is a significant amount of planning under way to make sure we are ready to fully join the pact within the two-year timeframe when it becomes operational. As part of that, we are exploring, as we have been doing and investing in recent years, new and innovative ways in which we can expand our interview and our registration capacity. We are piloting remote interviews as well, which has already started. We are also looking at co-location with IPAS accommodation centres to look beyond the Mount Street centre and City West centre to see what other areas we can use. Obviously, the pact has certain stipulations as to where certain people will have to be processed. All that work is under way. Again, with the upcoming budget, I intend to make sure that increase in staff continues, but also the investment in technologies and in new ways of making sure people are dealt with in the most efficient and effective way possible. This is not about putting blockages in place. This is about making sure the people who need our help and assistance get it as quickly as possible, but also that those who do not and who are not entitled to it are removed from the country as quickly as possible.
An Garda Síochána
Alan Farrell
Question:15. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice for an update on the progress of body-worn cameras for gardaí, and related pilot schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37608/24]
I wish to ask a question regarding the pilot scheme for body-worn cameras for members of An Garda Síochána who are policing our streets. As has been said many times, they are the only group of individuals at events, protests, etc., in the city centre and other places who are not filming. I ask the Minister to update the House, please.
It has always been my view that members of An Garda Síochána should have access to and be wearing body-worn cameras for two very clear reasons. First, I believe it helps in keeping them safe. As the Deputy rightly said, it is important they have that ability to capture an incident as it occurs and have a real picture as to what happened as opposed to an edited or potentially changed version of it. It is also important for gathering evidence and making sure gardaí have the ability to capture evidence and then have access to that evidence in real time and in quick fashion in order that they can then provide it to the courts and provide for quicker prosecutions.
It has been my objective to enact the digital recording legislation, which was passed, thankfully, last Christmas and then roll out the pilot programmes as quickly as possible. The pilot programmes are necessary because three different types of technology are being used across three different areas in Dublin city centre, Limerick and most recently Waterford. What that has done in the short space of time they have been rolled out is give gardaí the ability to understand how the different technologies work and ask what is most effective and then, at the end of the day, choose which one of the body cameras they will use.
The feedback from gardaí already has been really positive. I have spoken to individual members who said they have been in situations where they felt ordinarily things would have escalated and there perhaps would have been violence. Those situations have been de-escalated and they have felt safer. There have been situations where there have been large crowds. In fact, at football matches, the gardaí felt the crowd and overall demeanour changed so much, to the point there was a chant about the body cameras. People are very conscious that they are there and, obviously, that has an impact. On gathering evidence, I saw first-hand footage where people were approached during road traffic incidents and immediately upon seeing the body camera being turned on admitted to what they had done. That obviously took away a huge amount of time that would have been taken up by the gardaí. I am pleased to say that we had the first conviction in the past few weeks where a member had been verbally assaulted for quite a period of time and when that evidence was shown in the courts, the person received a custodial sentence.
I thank the Minister. She can pick it up in her next response.
It is so important that the pilot is finished and these are rolled out right across the country for all the reasons I have acknowledged.
That is very positive to hear. I am sure my colleagues and I, particularly those of us on the justice committee, will be very pleased to hear that this investment has been so effective, even during the relatively short period in which these trials have been taking place. There is no doubt about the arsenal of options that members of An Garda Síochána should and do have as a result of the unprecedented levels of investment, which the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, outlined in a prior reply to my colleague from County Carlow. It is so important that we give gardaí more resources and capacity to do their jobs in the most effective ways possible, and one of those attributes and resources is, of course, cameras.
How quickly does the Minister think the assessment will be completed on the three different pieces of technology that are being used across the three areas? When will the preferred device be used and rolled out nationwide? Can the Minister outline if she has a budget in mind for such a nationwide roll-out?
The Garda hopes to have that analysis done by the end of the year and then, obviously, it will look to what will be needed beyond that. The new digital evidence management system has to be developed to be able to back up all of this information. It is a huge amount. We have a budget of €155 million for ICT alone this year. That is assisting in the development and roll-out of the body cameras we have, but also other technology. Every Garda member on the beat has a hand-held device that is very like a phone. It is, in essence, like a mobile computer that allows them to access PULSE to provide or input information. It also links up with the body cameras. There will be a budget for next year to make sure these can be rolled out.
Very much linked with that is the facial recognition technology Bill, which I will be publishing in the coming weeks. It is really important that when gardaí have these body cameras, they have the ability to use AI, obviously in the specific circumstances we have outlined but also including public order, drug-related offences and other serious types of crimes. They will then have the technology synched with the facial recognition technology Bill. That work will continue next year and whatever investment and resources are required for that will be provided.
I am keeping the Minister to the time to get people in. I call Deputy Farrell.
I do not really have anything to add other than that I very much welcome the opportunity to assist the Minister and An Garda Síochána in ensuring this matter receives the right attention and that this trial scheme that has been established is a success. The Minister might clarify in her final reply as to whether there have been any instances of failures across the three divisions with the technology that is presently being used or whether that kind of granular detail is available at this point. Could she outline how many cameras are actually in circulation? That might be informative to the House.
I believe these will be a game-changer. In the short space of time in which we have seen them rolled out, the positive feedback has been exceptional. I have had no negative feedback. There have been no incidences that I have been told about or made aware of where cameras have not worked or have been defective. They are very different, however. Some of them can actually show the picture and the person can see themselves in it while others do not have that visibility and they use different technology. Obviously, the proof of concept has been hugely successful in helping to identify what will work and what will not.
On the overall figures, in the last station I visited in Waterford, 700 people had been trained up in that instance and it is similar across the other three areas. Obviously, we want perhaps not all 14,000 members but certainly those who are out on the beat wearing them. Deputies will probably have seen members even here in the Oireachtas with body cameras in the last week alone. People talk about wanting visibility. It is comforting for members of the public, retailers and people who are going about their daily lives to see these body cameras because they know the gardaí now have an accurate reflection of what is happening if an incident were to arise.
Question No. 16 taken with Written Answers.
We are almost out of time. Deputy Donnelly might put his question; he will not get in a second time.
Road Traffic Offences
Paul Donnelly
Question:17. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Justice the number of scramblers seized since 2021; and if she will give a breakdown of seizures by Garda district. [38032/24]
I wish to ask the Minister of State about the number of scramblers seized since 2021 and if he will give a breakdown of the seizures.
I thank the Deputy for his very important question about the number of scramblers that have been seized. As the Deputy will know, the law changed in this regard to allow scramblers to be seized. A sum of €190,000 was allocated to assist approved projects in 2022 and 2023 and almost €149,000 has been allocated for 2024 to help seize scramblers.
The total number of scramblers seized to date across all Garda divisions is 119. The law came into effect in November 2023.