I welcome the significant increase in Budget allocation of over €3.27 billion in current expenditure plus €274m for capital projects for the Justice sector in 2024, with a particular focus on building stronger, safer communities.
Budget 2024 continues to build investment in diverting young people away from involvement in crime, to make youth diversion projects available in every community in Ireland for the first time, with an increased focus on weekend activities and marginalised young people.
Tackling organised crime is a top priority for An Garda Síochána, and this Government. The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the management and administration of operational policing matters. However, the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities, and sustained investment has enabled the Garda Commissioner to allocate resources to specialist units such as CAB, GNDOCB and the Armed Support Unit.
Work on Policing Reform has been overseen by a dedicated Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach which works continuously rather than convening on particular occasions.
In addition, as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing (CoFPI), an Implementation Group on Policing Reform (IGPR) has been established which has collective responsibility for delivery of the Plan. This group has met on twelve occasions over 2022 and 2023.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023 was signed into law this year which increased the maximum penalty for conspiracy to murder to life in prison. Justice Plan 2023 commits to break the links between criminal gangs and children they seek to recruit into a life of crime.
An Garda Síochána has in place strong and strategic partnerships at international level targeting drug trafficking, including working closely with relevant law enforcement agencies.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I and my Department are leading an ambitious programme of family justice reform.
As the Deputy will be aware, I published the first Family Justice Strategy in November last year. This sets out a vision for a family justice system that will focus on the needs and rights of children, and assist parents in making decisions that affect all the family. We intend to achieve this through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals, with timescales up to the end of 2025, and will publish annual progress updates.
The Strategy is foundational in nature and outlines the steps needed to move towards a streamlined, user-friendly family justice system, which supports and protects children and their families. As the strategy was developed, we listened to and acknowledged the many issues and concerns about how the current system operates. The actions stress the importance of children’s welfare and the need to ensure their best interests are considered in conjunction with their constitutional rights.
The Family Courts Bill is a key part of the Strategy, and an important element of the family justice reforms. The Bill will provide for the establishment of a Family Court as divisions of the existing court structures, each dealing with family law cases appropriate to its jurisdiction. The Bill completed Second Stage in the Seanad earlier this year and work is ongoing in my Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to prepare for Committee Stage, in consultation with relevant Departments, State bodies and other stakeholders.
These initiatives mark the beginning of the reform of how the family justice system operates. My vision is to make that system work better for everyone engaging with it, but particularly for those most in need of additional support and protection, including victims of domestic and sexual violence, vulnerable parents and most of all, children.
The Deputy will appreciate that the management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service. However, the Government will support the Courts Service in its work to create an environment where justice can be administered efficiently and accessibly for all citizens.
The Government has invested substantial additional resources into the Courts Service in recent years to support the Modernisation Programme being implemented by them. This is reflected in Budget 2024, with €183 million allocated for the Courts Vote, including capital funding of €67 million. The 10-year Courts Service Modernisation Programme will deliver a new operating model, designed around the user, with simplified and standardised services and accessible data to inform decisions, all delivered through digital solutions.
I particularly welcome the commitment set out by the Courts Service in its Corporate Strategic Plan 2021-2023, to maximise the use of digital technologies to provide an improved and user-centred service. The recently launched 360 virtual tours of our Court buildings, along with the newly developed, Plain English family law information on the courts.ie website are positive and exciting examples of this.
Towards the end of 2020, the Courts Service committed an investment in excess of €2.2 million to expand the number of technology enabled courtrooms. This increased the number of technology enabled courtrooms from 55 in 2020 to 136 today.
These courtrooms support remote and hybrid hearings, are equipped with full digital evidence presentation suites which include full video link facilities, and allow all parties to dial in remotely to a physical courtroom. The expansion of technology enabled courts will continue into 2024.
The examples outlined are among a number of initiatives and investments that have been implemented as part of the courts modernisation programme.
I fully recognise the important role played by barristers and solicitors in the administration of criminal justice – both in the context of working to defend those accused and working with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of prosecutions.
I can assure the Deputy that the issue of criminal legal aid fees has been a priority for my Department and I am pleased to have secured funding of €9m to make progress in increasing the fees payable to legal professionals for criminal legal aid by 10% in early 2024. In conjunction with the increase in fees, the intention is to build on the strengths of the criminal legal aid scheme while addressing any issues relating to how it is structured.
Engagement will now begin with the legal professions for the purpose of working together to identify reforms to the fees, including automation of payments, which will support improved efficiency and governance in the administration of the scheme, and chart a path to greater transparency and fairness in the level of fees paid under criminal legal aid.
These are necessary reforms which will further support the reforms being introduced in the Criminal Legal Aid Bill.
