Alan Kelly

74. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the full details of the remuneration packages and any other financial costs to the State related to the appointments and terms served of the current Garda Commissioner and the previous Garda Commissioner. [68764/25]

As the Minister is aware, I asked a number of parliamentary questions regarding the remuneration of the former Garda Commissioner but the information provided to me was not accurate. It was misleading. There was a deal with the former Commissioner in relation to his accommodation and that rent was not indexed, so there was a loss to the taxpayer. Essentially, his rent was subsidised and paid for. …

I thank the Minister for correcting the record. Only for my party colleague Deputy Eoghan Kenny, asking questions in the Committee of Public Accounts, we would not have found this out. I asked numerous questions about this. I spoke to the Garda Representative Association today and was told about so many gardaí who are resigning because they cannot afford to pay rent. The Minister is probably aware…

Why was this hidden for seven years? That is a real question. Second, other candidates were not aware of this accommodation scenario. Was it, therefore, a fair competition? This is not the first time that I have submitted questions to the Minister’s Department that have not been answered. When the Minister commenced in his role, I asked questions regarding holsters. The Minister wrote to me in tha…

When did the Minister tell them that?

I told the Minister it was inaccurate.

It was not public.

The candidates were not aware of it.

The Labour Party has a very strong tradition in this area. I am the only remaining Member who was a Cabinet Minister in the Government that brought in the Gender Recognition Act 2015, although my party colleague Deputy Nash was a Minister of State attending Cabinet. The Minister has spoken. Words are one thing but it has now been ten years and actions are now far more important than words to many …

The Labour Party will support the Bill and we hope we can expedite it through the Houses. The Bill is based on the recommendations of the judicial planning working group. This is phase 2 of the recommendations, dealing with the addition of 21 judges. I have to acknowledge the improvements to the various different courts. The Minister read them into the record of the Dáil and I will not repeat them…

We need a comprehensive new plan on drug use in this country. The dial has not moved in a number of years. Many of us have come on a journey over the past 20 years with regard to how we deal with this issue, myself included. I acknowledge my colleague, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who has certainly influenced me and I would say many others on this issue. His interventions as a former Minister are the interv…

When we talk about international protection, we need to wrap it up in the subject matter of migration. That is getting lost, not just in these Houses but in the country, and it is deeply concerning. Everybody in here has family members who have gone all over the world, mine included. I have double the number of first cousins outside this country than in this country. My only sibling lives in Ameri…

Without the people who come into this country and make their contribution-----

-----this country simply could not function.

I was ten seconds over time.

I will watch that from now on.

I will watch it from now on, Ceann Comhairle, thanks very much, and I will point it out every time you go over ten seconds.

2. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reforms of An Garda Síochána he will be encouraging the newly appointed Garda Commissioner to introduce. [54472/25]

What reforms is the Minister going to encourage the new Garda Commissioner to introduce? I will concentrate on financial controls and reform in An Garda Síochána. The Comptroller and Auditor General has issued a report about hundreds of thousands of euro being lost in connection with policing the Europa League final. Later today, my colleague Deputy Eoghan Kenny will meet with the Garda Síochána a…

On Deputy Kenny's meeting with the anti-corruption unit of An Garda Síochána later, I hope that internal promotions of those who are the subject of the ongoing investigation will not occur until that investigation is concluded. I am sure the Minister will agree. It is not just that, however. There is a culture. There was a contract worth €500,000 for holsters but these were defective and ended up …

It is quite ironic that the Minister mentions improvements in IT. He will know that our automated fingerprinting system, AFIS, was said to be out of date in 2016. Some 17,000 sets of prints have been lost forever. God knows what impact that has had on policing and crime. That system has been out of date since 2016. At the time, replacing it was quoted at €20 million. It has been renewed every year…

They are still live.

Some 17,000 sets of fingerprints were lost.

Hear, hear.

I will briefly break a tradition. I am holding a sign I have up in my office, which says "Vote No to the Hanly Report". It is there as a reminder to me that 25 years ago, I marched through the streets of Nenagh holding that sign, to protest against the downgrading of my local hospital, the one in Ennis and St. John's Hospital. People can blame that report for me coming into Dáil Éireann. I jest, b…