Jim O'Callaghan

The change ensures that Part 3 of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 precludes properties from the scheme that were registered with the Residential Tendencies Board at any time since March 2022. The concern that Sinn Féin has and had is now alleviated by the change in the statutory regime that was brought in by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Browne. I thank people fo…

Not agreed.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the Bill to the House. This Bill has a single purpose - to assist the Omagh Bombing Inquiry established by the Secretary State for Northern Ireland in February 2024 to investigate whether the bombing could have been prevented by the United Kingdom's state authorities. Its terms of reference are set out in the Schedule to…

The number of people we have in An Garda Síochána is extremely important from the point of view of enforcing the law. It is probably the most important part of the functions carried out by us, as Ministers, to ensure that the law we make in this House is enforced. At present, there is a workforce of approximately 18,000 in An Garda Síochána. This includes 14,397 attested members, 3,527 Garda staf…

We can agree on one thing, namely that it is heading in the right direction. It is certainly improving. The fact that we have seen the highest number of gardaí attesting in seven years is a very positive story from the point of view of the Irish public. The Deputy is correct in stating that we ran two recruitment campaigns, in which there was huge interest, last year. We got 11,000 people express…

Overtime is always an integral part of the service provided by An Garda Síochána. Every year, there are major events that have to be policed. I have spoken extensively to the Commissioner about the commitments arising from the EU Presidency and the Ireland-Israel soccer match. Whatever happens, the Commissioner has informed me that there will be resources available to police these events. We want…

I thank the Deputy for his very opportune question. Last Friday, at the UK-Ireland Summit 2026 in Cork, I had a discussion with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, in respect of the common travel area, the new legislation that we are going to enact here and the need to ensure that there will be no abuse of the common travel area. Regrettably, we do see the latter between this…

The basis upon which we think the greatest number of those claiming asylum in Ireland are coming from the UK is the number arriving at the International Protection Office. This year, 90% of people who have claimed asylum in Ireland did so at the IPO. That leads us to believe they are coming across the Border with Northern Ireland. It is a huge challenge whether we are in the migration pact or not.…

At present, the UK is designated by me as a safe third country. That designation was done on the basis of an assessment. By 12 June, I will designate it as a safe third country under the new legislation, provided I get the assessment. There is no reason to think the assessment will change. Circumstances in Britain have not changed since I previously designated it as a safe third country. On the im…

I thank Deputy Gannon very much for his question. I am concerned about overcrowding in the Dóchas Centre, the female prison in Mountjoy. To make the House aware of some statistics regarding the centre, as of yesterday, there were 223 women in custody in Mountjoy, 29 of whom were on mattresses. The centre's bed capacity is 146. I am concerned about this. I previously said that I do not have the sam…

To deal with the issue of the report, that report will be published this week. I only got to look at it in the past ten days or so. I have approved it and it will be published this week. On the other measures that can be put in place, I do not believe prisons are the solution to all of the ills of society. We obviously need a combined approach in respect of these issues. The Probation Service play…

I do not agree that it is tantamount to torture. Like the Deputy, I have visited the majority of prisons. I have visited seven, and I will be visiting another one very shortly that I have not visited already. There is a lot of excellent work going on in prisons. Many people who come out of prison do not go on to offend again. That is particularly the case in respect of serious offences. I am well …

We need to be balanced about this matter. Obviously, there are legacy issues arising from the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Deputy mentioned the Garda heavy gang. We also have to acknowledge that murders carried out by the Provisional IRA give rise to legacy issues that need to be resolved. One of the inadequacies of the Good Friday Agreement is that it does not really deal with legacy issues…

The Deputy has fallen into the trap that I identified earlier. It is difficult not to do that. He stated that the actions of the Garda heavy gang need to be addressed. The murders carried out by the Provisional IRA also need to be addressed. The Deputy referred to Eddie Fullerton, a Sinn Féin councillor who was brutally murdered. The murder of Billy Fox, a Member of these Houses, needs to be addre…

I am going to conclude on a point of harmony. The Deputy makes a valid point. We do not want people to be selecting individual atrocities for the purpose of investigation. That is what the legacy framework is about. It will predominantly deal with Troubles-related killings. Those are the ones that have to be prioritised in the context of families that have not got justice yet and where there have …

I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for his question. I have also visited Teach Tearmainn. It is a wonderful refuge in County Kildare but, like very many of the refuges that have been established, it is obviously under pressure in terms of meeting the demand for its services, unfortunately. Cuan is instrumentally part of funding to ensure that we can provide refuges and safe homes for predominantly women wh…

We need to take a broad look at the work Cuan is doing. It is working towards having a minimum of 50 new refuge units under construction across multiple sites this year. Last year the number of safe homes increased by eight which increased the total safe-home capacity to 60. It is working to increase that capacity to 94. That means that by the end of 2026, we aim to increase the number of safe acc…

I agree on Teach Tearmainn. It is in a very peaceful location at the end of a quiet road. It is something I am very pleased my Department has been funding. Last year my Department provided funding to Teach Tearmainn of €930,000. It will be funded again this year with probably an increase on that. While Kildare has not been identified as a priority for new refuge construction in this current phase…

As I indicated in my response to Deputy Ó Cearúil earlier, we have to be very careful when discussing the issue of women fleeing domestic violence that we do not present the solution as being removing the woman from the house and putting her, long term, into emergency accommodation in a refuge or a safe home. That cannot be the long-term solution. Refuges or safe homes are needed because sometimes…

Cuan is actively collaborating with statutory agencies and organisations to ensure effective responses to reduce the incidence and duration of homelessness arising from domestic violence and to support pathways for long-term accommodation for victims. The demand for safe accommodation remains high and Cuan continues to work with services and agencies to support victim survivor progression and, whe…

I agree that data in this area is extremely important. If I have data on outcomes in domestic abuse hearings, I will certainly put it into the public domain, if possible, because it would be important to do so. There have been very significant improvements on the part of An Garda Síochána in recent years in dealing with domestic abuse. I have engaged with protective units within An Garda Síochána …

I thank Deputy Gannon for this interesting question. I announced recently that the Government had approved my proposal to start the process of drafting a new communications interception and lawful access Bill that will update the legislation that is there at present. We can all appreciate that there are circumstances when it is necessary and appropriate for An Garda Síochána to be able to access m…

I agree with the Deputy that any proposal like this should be considered and progressed carefully and cautiously. What we are trying to do is balance rights. The rights about which the Deputy is particularly concerned are obviously the rights of privacy, which have to be protected. We do not want to see a situation where the State is able to stick its nose into legitimate communications that do n…

I thank Deputy O'Flynn for this question and the related Questions Nos. 20 and 22. I recognise the profound and lasting harm caused by offences involving child sexual abuse material, CSAM. What makes this offence particularly pernicious is the fact that when it is done online, there is a continuation of that abuse and damage to the child as a result of the repeated distribution of it online. That…

Sentencing is a very complex area of a judge's function. Generally, what we do in this House is set out what the maximum sentence can be. Sometimes we put in a mandatory sentence - such as in the case for murder where there is the common law mandatory sentence of life in prison - but, in general, we set maximum sentences and give leeway to the Judiciary to decide where to go. Obviously, no offenc…