I am the Minister for justice. I am not the Minister for Finance or the Minister for public expenditure.
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 do not announce the budget terms two weeks before the budget is announced. We will all have the opportunity to hear the budget two weeks from now when it is announced by the Ministers for Finance and public expenditure. On hard-pressed families, the Deputy has not responded to the issues I have raised about the measures we have taken in the past.
They cannot just be ignored.
The Deputy cannot ignore the past.
The Deputy cannot ignore what we have done in the past and now try to claim credit for what we did previously in circumstances-----
-----when Sinn Féin did not support those measures at the time we announced them on a previous budget day. Let us consider the VAT rate on energy costs. We have retained the 9% rate. That will be dealt with on budget day and we will wait to hear what will be announced. I am not going to pre-announce the budget. What I will do, and what I assure the Deputy that the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers will also do…
I thank Deputy Bacik for her question. Obviously, child poverty is an enormous issue in this country and an enormous one that the Government wishes to respond to. The Deputy will have heard the Taoiseach, and indeed the Tánaiste, say that child poverty will be at the centre of the budget that is forthcoming and will be announced two weeks from now. I can understand why the Deputy wishes me to give information in resp…
-----and alleviate the issue in respect of housing.
We have repeatedly stated that the most effective way of getting people off the homelessness and housing lists is to ensure a greater supply of housing in our society, and available housing. Although the Deputy can criticise the Government for the amount, we have stated that this is our commitment. When you look at the figures produced, you can see definite progres…
When we add the housing assistance payment and rental accommodation scheme data, we see that 2,712 housing supports were delivered in quarter 1 of 2025. The Deputy also mentioned the tenant in situ scheme. That scheme has worked. It has worked throughout the country. I note there will sometimes be issues in respect of Dublin, but the measure------
-----has been important in the prevention of homelessness since its introduction in 2023. The Government is providing €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand properties.
As I said to Deputy McDonald, when the Labour Party produces its budget proposals, we will take them into account and the Government will give them consideration. I have no doubt that will happen in respect of that matter.
On what the Deputy said about the tenant in situ scheme, she should be aware that on 4 March last, the Government decided on a total of €325 million for second-hand social housing acquisitions thi…
What is happening in Gaza is horrific slaughter. It is not just me, the Deputy and every other Member of this House saying that. We saw recently that a United Nations independent commission has ruled that what Israel is doing in Gaza is committing genocide. Many people in Ireland feel a sense of helplessness in the context of what can be done in response to it. My view is that this Government has done more than any o…
It is in priority legislation and will be enacted and certainly introduced into the Oireachtas this term. I wish to make one important point that is sometimes not emphasised enough. The entity responsible for the genocide in Gaza is the Israeli Government. We all need to point that out and state it repeatedly. Rather than criticising the Irish Government for narrow domestic political purposes, the Deputy should ackno…
We can influence it but we cannot dictate it. She can see what has happened over those horrific 700 days, that people and other countries are gradually coming around to recognising the Irish Government's position is the correct position.
I thank Deputy Ward very much. I will try to be as succinct in my answers as his questions were. His first was whether or not the Government would use the Public Service Management Act. The answer to the question is "No". The Government will not use it because the defective concrete block grant scheme operates under its own primary legislation and in November 2024, following the receipt of preliminary results from sc…
I will talk to the Minister for housing who has responsibility for this matter. I will raise with him the issues the Deputy has identified. The Deputy stated that there is unethical engineering ongoing in Donegal. If that is the case, there are mechanisms in place to report engineers who are acting unethically. I urge people who believe they are the victims of unethical engineering to use the appropriate mechanism to…
I thank the Deputy for her questions and, like her, I extend my condolences to those who knew and loved Daniel Aruebose. As the Deputy will be aware, there is an ongoing Garda investigation in respect of that matter. The Garda deserves to be commended on the work it has done to date. It was a very difficult search but, ultimately, the Garda tragically found the remains of the young boy. I urge anyone with information…
Like Deputy Bacik, I was very concerned when I heard about the stabbing of the two individuals over the weekend but it has to be put in context as well. I received a report from An Garda Síochána at the end of August this year in respect of knife crime. It showed that knife-crime seizures where up and knife-crime injuries were down. In general, knife crime as a criminal offence is down. That has to be taken into acco…
I thank Deputy Cummins for her question. To answer it straight, no, we will not suspend it and it needs to be put in context with what is being done in respect of special education at present. There are over 23,000 SNAs currently in place in the education system, which is an increase of 43% since 2020, and budget 2025 added 1,600 SNAs, the largest increase to date. Almost 21,000 special education teachers support chi…
I apologise that I cannot answer Deputy Stanley's question. I cannot tell him when the wind turbine guidelines will be available. However, I am aware from discussions with my colleagues that these are required. I cannot give him an answer. I do not have it. There is no point in me making it up.
We will come back to the Deputy and provide him with information. As regards the guidelines, we cannot ignore the fact that at times 40% of our energy is being provided by wind. Wind is a great success and it is really part of the transfer from fossil fuel to a more appropriate fuel that is at the forefront, wind energy.
The biggest problem I face as Minister for justice is that every elected representative and member of the public I meet wants to see more gardaí in their community. There is a positive story behind that when we reflect upon it. It was great that 20 gardaí went to Limerick city. I do not decide where new recruits coming out of Templemore go. I know everyone wants them. As I said earlier in response to Deputy Bacik, if…
I thank Deputy Burke for his question. He highlights an issue that many of us experience in our local communities where there is a delay in major infrastructural residential development because of not getting a connection with Uisce Éireann. There definitely should be a process in place whereby local authorities and Uisce Éireann can engage. I am surprised there is not. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy James Brow…
As the Deputy said, I was down in Cork before the summer and saw the great work that is done by members of An Garda Síochána in the Cork area. I am aware of the issue in respect of units. I hope the Deputy will forgive me if I do not throw myself into the middle of it. It is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner. The last thing I want to do, as Minister for justice, is to start issuing operational diktats …
Notwithstanding the fact that the culprits on Eden Quay were using e-scooters and were wearing black clothing, I can assure Deputy McCormack that the strong likelihood is that they will be apprehended. The Garda has great success in apprehending people involved in those types of violent criminal attacks in the city centre. We saw that a suspect was arrested in respect of the injuries sustained by an English tourist o…