If it is the case that people in the House are going to say that we should stick with the reception conditions directive and should provide accommodation, it necessarily means that we are going to have to spend money on accommodation. I am trying to get State accommodation to provide it. I am actively cutting down costs. I have cut down the numbers of people who have come to Ireland claiming asylum. As I said, in 202…
TDs / Jim O'Callaghan
Jim O'Callaghan
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
13
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
306,120
words spoken in the chamber
304,929 as a minister, 1,191 as a TD
360
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
8
topics asked about
Across 6 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 13 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,001 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 13 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 17 |
| March 2025 | 0 | 45 |
| April 2025 | 0 | 34 |
| May 2025 | 0 | 33 |
| June 2025 | 0 | 44 |
| July 2025 | 0 | 88 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 95 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 65 |
| November 2025 | 0 | 11 |
| December 2025 | 0 | 41 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 71 |
| February 2026 | 0 | 68 |
| March 2026 | 0 | 83 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 45 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 73 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 49 |
| July 2026 | 0 | 81 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 | 11 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 47 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 598 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Not enough questions on record to compare.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Bay South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Justice 23 January 2025 to 4 June 2025
- office Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration 5 June 2025 to now
I welcome the fact that I follow on from Independent Ireland to speak because I want to mention a group of Irish people -Irish men and women- that they never once mentioned. That is the men and women of An Garda Síochána-----
-----who stood by this State. I want to thank the gardaí who, over the past week showed outstanding professionalism, commitment and courage in guaranteeing the safety and security of the State and its citizens throughout the period of blockades of critical infrastructure. We all know in this House, on the Government's side, that in any liberal democracy the right to peaceful assembly, the right to express disagreemen…
An Garda Síochána, which Member's opposite should appreciate, has a proud record and history of defending and securing the people or Ireland and their democratic institutions from harm against those who have tried to undermine them. They did so again on this occasion and that is to be commended by everyone in this House.
I am, however, concerned about the unacceptable levels of hatred and vitriol directed at members…
I have already spoken to the Commissioner about this and he has assured me that, where offences have been committed, prosecutions will follow.
The work of this Government in the area of justice has just begun. It is vital that work continues. As such, I commend the motion of confidence before the House.
You should recognise and respect our Army. You respected another army for long enough.
I move amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"recognises:
— the crucial role played by An Garda Síochána in ensuring the security of the State, protecting and serving communities across Ireland through the maintenance of law and order, and upholding the principles of justice;
— the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, in April 2025…
I thank colleagues for their contributions to this debate. I acknowledge and welcome the fact that the majority of the House will be supporting the order to extend the ARP until 2027. It is important to acknowledge that this was a very innovative and successful mechanism, introduced back in July 2022, to respond to the fact that Ireland held itself out as a very welcoming place for Ukrainian people who were fleeing t…
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 for the debate and I l…
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 Bill for ease o…
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 staff and 308 Garda rese…
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 expressing an interest in a…
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 to get as many peop…
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 jurisdiction and No…
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. The simplistic view…
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 impact of this measure…
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 same level of concern i…
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 plays a very important r…
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 aware that there are…
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 at all. Governments…
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 addressed. The murder of …
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 been no prosecutions…
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 who are fleeing domest…
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 accommodation spaces, r…