Jim O'Callaghan

I will go to the European Court of Human Rights. In its judgments it has consistently said that when it comes to family reunification, a member state is entitled to engage in a balancing act to ensure there is a fair balance between, on the one hand, the applicant's interest in being reunited with his family and, on the other, the interest of the community as a whole to control immigration with a …

It is a broad collection of family members that come within the parameters of the definition. As the Deputy said, the legislation is going to be introduced. The family reunification issues will be considered on Committee Stage. I will keep an open mind in respect of it but I do think there will be changes, definitely. I will say that to the Deputy-----

-----and if he puts forward amendments, I will give consideration to them.

I am very conscious, and the Deputy will be very conscious, that we are approaching the 45th anniversary of the Stardust tragedy. It was an extraordinarily traumatic event for the people in the Deputy’s constituency. He was not alive at the time but it was an extraordinarily traumatic event. The previous Government did a very good job in seeking to resolve and to address the ongoing pain that had …

I give the Deputy a commitment that I am going to bring proposals to the Government in the near future. I am finalising them within the Department. I want to get them right. Obviously I want to discuss them with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in advance of bringing them to the Government. That is something I will do in the next short period of time. I do not want to give the Deputy a date and then…

I agree with the Deputy. I think the inquest was beneficial and therapeutic for the survivors. I think they were satisfied with the process that the State belatedly put in place by way of the inquest, which was important. There is no attempt on the part of the Government to move away from the decision that was previously made. Phase 2 will occur; I just want to get the proposals right. I want to d…

The Deputy has raised the issues of e-scooters and scramblers before. Deputy McAuliffe, who has consistently raised the issue of scramblers, is seated beside Deputy Ó Muirí. I take this opportunity to express my condolences to Grace Lynch's parents, Siobhán and Martin, on her horrific death last weekend. Obviously, I am not going to talk in too much detail about it because I am conscious that a ma…

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I commend Deputy McAuliffe on the role he played in enacting the amendment to the Road Traffic Act back in 2023. A significant legislative change was achieved as a result of that. Today when we all reflect on the awful death of Grace, we may think that not enough was done in respect of that legislation; a lot was done in that legislation. Most importan…

My own view is the death of Grace Lynch is a watershed moment. Sometimes those events happen and, I regret to say, her death could be a watershed in the change of attitude of policymakers, legislators and the public to scramblers. I hear what Deputy Ó Muiri said about e-scooters. They are a separate issue but the presence of scramblers on public roads, in parks and on public pathways is unaccepta…

The most recent information I have on the dedicated road traffic enforcement operation carried out by the Garda is for the period from Monday, 1 December 2025, to Monday, 5 January 2026. That is a period of 35 days. During this period, regrettably, there were 26 fatalities on our roads and over 70 serious collisions, which resulted in a number of people incurring serious and life-altering injuries…

I have some statistics for the period 1 January to 14 January 2026. I am advised gardaí performed a total of 3,599 checkpoints between those dates. There were 37 arrests made under sections 4 and 5 of the Road Traffic Act or for failure or refusal to provide a roadside breath or fluid test. Many gardaí are assigned to road policing units and they take it extremely seriously. The statistics I have…

I agree the Garda should use advanced technology in every sphere of its work. In other aspects of criminality, technology is used to a great extent. Similarly, the Garda should be using technology. There is a very large contract in place between An Garda Síochána and GoSafe, which provides the services for the safety cameras on our roads. The more cameras that are there and the more effective the…

I thank the Deputy for his question in respect of the Whitechurch addiction support programme. As the Deputy will be aware, there is funding available under the community safety fund. I think I spoke to him about it before in the justice committee. It is funding that is available to go back into local communities, particularly those that have affected by criminality, and is the proceeds of crime. …

We had a discussion about this today at the justice committee and the Deputy will be aware how I mentioned that it was only last May that the DRIVE project had been launched. I know we had a discussion as to whether €280,000 was sufficient. It is the start. I want to see more money going into it and there is an ask for more money in respect of it. I am very conscious of the impact that drug-relate…

I thank the Deputy. I was humbled and in awe as well at the strength of Siobhán Lynch in what she said, having gone through such a traumatic event in her life. The Taoiseach said today that there is nothing we can really say that will alleviate the pain she and her husband, Martin, are going through. I received an email this afternoon from Grace's aunt, Rachel, who raised a number of issues with m…

I thank the Deputy. The Government and everyone in this House is committed to banning them on public roads, in public parks and in public places. That has to be done. The Deputy asked me for a timeline. I am not supposed to reveal what is discussed at Cabinet.

However, I can tell the Deputy having been at Cabinet this morning and having listened to the Taoiseach, there is a real commitment to ensuring this is done urgently. These are regulations that are being prepared in the Department of Transport. They will be signed by the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, who has delegated responsibility for road safety. There is a real urgency coming from the top …

Tairgim: "Go léifear an Bille an Dara hUair anois." I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Tá áthas orm an Bille a chur i láthair sa Teach. I am pleased to introduce Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. The Bill introduces important reforms to our criminal law and civil law across a broad range of areas and delivers on several programme for Government comm…

These measures will allow the courts to bring a more flexible and efficient approach to such proceedings and save further time for gardaí, prison officers and other court users. The Bill also provides for reforms in respect of prisons and penal policy. It supports the programme for Government commitment to extend the use of community sanctions by obliging the courts to consider a community servic…

Sometimes I just speak off the cuff. I am giving a speech. Can the Deputy not just listen to me?

I am just giving a -----

Okay.

I am giving the speech.

The Bill, therefore, deletes the waiver provision. Do we have a copy of the speech, by the way?

If Deputies want, I will wait until it comes. If the Ceann Comhairle will stop my clock, I will wait until it arrives.