I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time".
I am very pleased to introduce this Bill to the House, following its passage through Seanad Éireann. In fact, we had five days of debate in the Upper House during which the Bill was very carefully considered and debated. As a result of the debate, a number of amendments were agreed. I too agreed to them and I will bring them forward on Committee Stage. I will discus…
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.
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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
Before responding to the substance of the debate, I will refer to two distinct issues that were raised by Deputies during the course of the debate. First of all, I join Deputy Ó’Murchú in expressing my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the solicitor, James MacGuill, who died recently. James was one of the finest solicitors in the country. He was a formidable opponent and he was fearless in represen…
I move:
That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)(b) and 188(1).
I thank the Deputy for putting down this important Topical Issue. Of course, I am here to answer it. I am the Minister for justice, and it is a very important issue that he has raised.
I have great respect for not just solicitors and barristers, but for everyone who operates within the legal system. I worked as a barrister for 30 years. On every case I did, I worked with solicitors, so I am fully aware of the centra…
It is the civil.
The Law Society produced a very good report earlier this year. One of the issues identified in the report, Justice Indicators, is that criminal cases in Ireland take considerably longer than criminal cases in the rest of Europe. In terms of the process of trying to speed up the administration of justice, there are very few levers I have. However, I genuinely believe one of the levers I have is the mechanism of paymen…
Every Friday I see the list coming in. It is happening across the country that the criminal legal aid system is operating within the District Courts. I appreciate there is an issue in respect of Dublin.
The Deputy said that I might not receive political benefit in this. There is no political benefit in this for me by having a row with solicitors. I do not want to have a row with solicitors. I want to have an effecti…
I have changed before and I said in the letter yesterday that when it comes to the issues such as the Children's Court, once I get the data if it looks like I need to change it, then I will change it.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft:
Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 (Section 9(2)) (Amount of Financial Contribution) Order 2025 (Revocation) Order 2026,
a copy of which was laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 2nd July, 2026.
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Deputies for meeting to discuss this motion concerning the order I propose to make, in conjunction with…
I thank colleagues for their contributions. What is apparent from them is that there is a divergence of opinion not just between the Government and the Opposition but throughout the House when it comes to how we respond to this issue. In a way, I think this reflects the complexity of the issue. It is sometimes healthy that there are diverging views around this House and issues are not just presented in a binary way.
…
I too welcome the family of Jennifer Poole. The Ceann Comhairle has identified them individually. I specifically highlight Jason Poole, who has been steadfast in his support for this legislation. That has been hugely important to me in trying to advance this legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I also acknowledge the role played by all colleagues in this House. We are all aware of the background to Jenni…
I thank colleagues for their contribution. I believe the legislation I presented is the correct way to go. I know colleagues are well-intentioned in what they are seeking to do but let us recall what was the motivation for this legislation. The motivation was the case of the murder of Jennifer Poole. Had the previous convictions of the person who murdered her been publicly available that would have had an impact upon…
I thank Deputies Carthy and Gannon for their amendments. Deputy Gannon's amendment seeks to cover a situation where the victim is deceased, so it is either a case of murder or manslaughter. In that instance, the provision as it is at present, in subsection (4), states, "In relation to subsection (2)(d), where the victim is deceased, it shall be at the discretion of the court as to whether a judgment is to be included…
I thank Deputy Carthy for putting down this amendment. I will start by disagreeing with him, however. I disagree with him when he says that the bar is incredibly high for the triggering of this statutory scheme. That is not correct. If the Deputy looks at the legislation, he will see 17 offences will trigger the scheme. Seventeen pieces of legislation or 17 convictions that will trigger it. These are convictions that…
I thank colleagues for their contributions. As Deputies know, I have no difficulty accepting amendments from colleagues in this House if I believe they are correct and beneficial to the legislation. I have done it before and will do it again. I hear what Deputy Kelly says but collegiality does not come into it. We can be very collegial but when it comes to legislation, I cannot just decide that I want to be friendly …
I know, but collegiality is not a reason to accept an amendment.
Deputy McAuliffe mentioned something. There was a difficult passage between me getting into office and me introducing this legislation into the Houses of the Oireachtas-----
-----and it involved getting a lot of different views and advices. I remember a lot of coverage a year ago where lots of groups were opposed to this and it was all about the issues that could arise in respect of it. I have managed to get a balancing area - a landing area - that has the support of the House, which is the most significant thing, and has also enabled me to get advice from the Attorney General telling me…
I thank the Deputy for his amendment. The legislation we are discussing today is proposing to insert a new section into the Domestic Violence Act 2018. This will be the section referred to as the domestic violence register of judgments. That means this part of the legislation has to be consistent with the Domestic Violence Act 2018 in general. That Act already refers to relevant persons in the offence of coercive con…
There will be a post-enactment review after one year under Dáil Standing Orders and the Standing Orders of the Seanad. That will be done. I am conscious people will be raising the issue here with me. I will not accept the amendment but there will be a requirement for me to come back to produce a post-enactment report within 12 months.
Deputy Carthy makes a very important point. It is important that people do not assume that someone has no domestic violence convictions simply because their name does not appear on the register of judgments. That is a point that has to be emphasised.
While I cannot accept the amendment, this is because the level of operational detail proposed is not suitable for primary legislation. Embedding such granular requireme…
Again, it is an important point that Deputy Carthy makes but it is also important to note that the court will have discretion to decide whether a judgment should be included in the register. Those factors that are set out in Deputy Carthy's amendment will certainly be given consideration by a judge in exercising that discretion. Any judge exercising that discretion will access all of the circumstances of the case, in…
I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in the first instance for presiding over these Stages of the legislation. I am very pleased that this legislation has been enacted. I want to thank a few people very briefly. I thank Deputy McAuliffe for introducing me to Jason Poole. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for her work on this issue in the Seanad. I thank colleagues in this House for their support on this legislation. I thank of…
The first four amendments in this group are minor drafting corrections. They corrected the wording in four places so that the Bill reads consistently. It is changing the word "references" to "a reference". They make no change to the substance or effect of the Bill.
The fifth amendment was, again, a technical amendment ensuring that we apply the provisions of the 1991 Act relating to the appointment of a guardian ad …
The policy intention behind the new section 12G is that the proceedings to which it refers will be heard primarily in the District Court. When the relevant provisions of the Family Courts Act 2024 are commenced, these proceedings will be heard in the family district court. The intention is the same as in the Bill as initiated, but I am advised that this form of words will better accomplish the goal.