Seo hé mo chéad díospóireacht mar Aire agus ar dtús ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Taoiseach agus a rá gur onóir an-mhór í a bheith mar Aire dlí agus cirt. Is post an-tábhachtach é a bhfuil freagrachtaí tromchúiseacha air. Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall a chinntiú go bhfuil an pobal sábháilte agus go dtugtar tacaíocht don Gharda Síochána.
This is the first time I have had an opportunity to contribute to a debate as Minister for justice, home affairs and migration. I say at the outset that it is a great honour for me to hold that office, and I will work tirelessly at it.
I assure Members that one of the fundamental obligations I have is to be answerable to this House and to respond to the legitimate questions of its Members, irrespective of whether they are Opposition or Government TDs.
We are discussing the programme for Government. The programme's content in respect of justice, home affairs and migration is very ambitious. Overall, it reflects the fundamental need of all of the people to feel safe and secure in their homes and communities. I assure the Ceann Comhairle and other Members that I and my colleagues the Ministers of State, Deputies Niall Collins and Brophy, will seek to ensure that we have a system of justice that is modern, efficient and works for the citizen. We need to ensure that we focus exclusively on ensuring that the justice system is there to serve the needs of those who seek access to justice.
Obviously, one of the big parts of my job is trying to ensure that our communities are safe and that people feel safe in them, whether they are in our cities or rural areas. In order to achieve that, we have to have a vibrant and strong Garda force. I will be unhesitatingly supportive of gardaí in the pursuit of law and order. It is also important to note that we all recognise there are challenges when it comes to getting more numbers into An Garda Síochána. I would appreciate the support of all Members of the House in trying to encourage people to consider applying for membership of the force. There is a recruitment campaign on at present. Some Deputies have been very helpful in promoting that. I ask other Deputies to do the same.
It is important to point out that security is my first responsibility. The title of my office is not just about justice and migration; it also includes home affairs. Home affairs relates to the fact that we have to ensure that our national security is well protected. As set out in the programme for Government, I intend to bring the National Cyber Security Centre and the new national security authority under the remit of my Department. We will also establish a new national security committee, as set out in the programme for Government, which will ensure we have more democratic involvement in terms of ensuring that our national security is well protected.
As indicated previously, I want to see An Garda Síochána grow in numbers. At present, there are approximately 14,100 members of the force. We should not forget that we also have 3,500 civilian members were doing very important work in the force. We need to try to grow numbers in An Garda Síochána, as without growing numbers we will not be able to see what everyone in this House wants to see, namely more members of the force out on our streets and visible in our communities.
I also intend to invest in equipment and essential technology for An Garda Síochána. I will support the introduction of body-worn cameras nationwide, along with automatic number plate recognition systems and the facial recognition technology that is needed for serious crimes and missing persons cases. I do not think we can be hesitant in trying to make sure that gardaí have top of the range technology when it comes to fighting crime and protecting the public. Criminals now have access to forms of technology, and gardaí must have that as well. These tools will enhance Garda accountability, improve safety for gardaí and the public and mean that officers can be out on the beat rather than wasting valuable time stuck doing office jobs.
It is important that we realise all of the powers the gardaí exercised many years ago could be exercised based on the common law. That is no longer acceptable in a modern society. If gardaí have powers, we need to make sure that those powers are specified in legislation. It is my hope to bring forward during this term a new Garda powers Bill, which will set out accurately the powers that An Garda Síochána has.
I will address my next comment to many of the Deputies who are not from Dublin. Even though I am a Dublin TD, I fully recognise that my responsibility in respect of policing and ensuring there are strong Garda resources extends beyond Dublin. Rural crime has been a significant issue. I have attended many meetings with constituency colleagues from rural constituencies and I intend to ensure that rural crime and the new rural safety strategy will be published this year to address that issue.
One aspect of the justice system that for too many years has not received sufficient attention is supporting victims. An effective justice system that can provide a timely response for victims requires that our courts system is modern, efficient and well resourced. Of course, if we want an efficient and well resourced system, we need to ensure that when people go to court there are judges there to hear cases. Over the next 12 months, the Government will nominate 20 additional judges. The reason we are nominating these judges and getting the President to appoint them is because want to ensure that the public has access to a system of justice quickly. If we do not have enough of them, there will be delays in the system. As everyone in this House knows, a delay in justice is a denial of justice. Victims of crime must also be at the heart of our justice system. Comprehensive support services for victims and a statutory victims compensation tribunal will be significant priorities for me.
I also want to commend my predecessor, Deputy McEntee. She did outstanding work on tackling the epidemic of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence in our society. I want to continue this work, and we will build more new refuge spaces and implement a range of measures which will ensure our criminal justice system is more victim centred. We also want to do something that was in the Fianna Fáil manifesto and included in the programme for Government. I want to put in place a system whereby there is a register of people who have engaged in domestic violence so that if somebody has been convicted of a serious offence in respect of domestic violence, anyone they enter into a new relationship with will be made aware of that conviction. That is the least we can do, given the fact that the justice system is a public system.
If somebody is convicted of a serious offence of assault, that is something that is in the public domain. The only reason we may not hear about it is because there is not a journalist in court. I want to ensure that women - regrettably, it is predominantly women - who are in relationships with people who have previously been abusive or convicted of assault of previous partners will become aware of that.
I have met the new chief executive of Cuan, an outstanding new agency that is doing an excellent job. I am completely committed to the zero-tolerance approach to the attitudes and conditions that allow domestic, sexual and gender-based violence to be such a scourge on our society. The zero tolerance plan for the period 2022 to 2026 will be fully implemented, with a new national strategy developed for the period 2027 to 2030.
I am conscious that our prisons are overcrowded at present. Our population is growing. We need further spaces. That is why the programme for Government has committed to an extra 1,500 spaces and included in that number will be the fact that we need a new prison. As the population grows, it is simply unsustainable that we would not seek to have another prison to deal with that.
Another part of my function, and something the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, will work on with me, is the area of migration. Ireland is a small open economy that relies on trade and investment to deliver economic growth and raise living standards. Thousands of people come to Ireland each year to work, study and fill essential skills gaps, and they make a significant contribution to our society. Many people who have come here have gone on to gain citizenship. It will be a great honour for me tomorrow to participate in my first citizenship ceremony, at which we will celebrate the granting of new citizenship to citizens. I also encourage people in the House to involve themselves in those events.
We need to recognise that while immigration has been a great success story in this country, we have to take into account that the number of people coming here to seek international protection has significantly increased and is putting considerable stresses on our system. I intend to bring forward legislation to put in place the migration pact that has been agreed. We need a system that is fair, but it also has to be firm. If people come here to seek international protection and are not granted international protection, there must be a consequence for them. The consequence must be that they depart. I am committed to doing that.
I also intend to prioritise a more efficient return system for people whose applications have been unsuccessful. There are clearly challenges with the Dublin III regulation. When I was in Warsaw recently at a meeting of the home affairs ministers, my German counterpart mentioned that the regulation is not working. We need to focus on that and ensure there is a more efficient system.
