Jim O'Callaghan

Today is an important day for Ireland. It is the first day of the EU Presidency. It is an important function for Ireland. We want to do it well. As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, it is a big security challenge for An Garda Síochána. Today, the President of Ukraine was here. A huge amount of security was required for his arrival. The Deputy will permit me to take the time to commend the Comm…

The Garda community bus will not be used for any Presidency activity so there will not be any impact on it. On what the Deputy said about the evening where there was only one car, that may have happened but the resources there now are significant. As I said, 125 vehicles are assigned to that division. The Deputy mentioned it is a large division. There are Deputies here representing Kerry and Done…

They look at the different sections of Dublin and wonder why they are not getting more of the fleet as well.

The most important thing is that we have resources. I got a lot of good resources for An Garda Síochána under the national development plan. A huge amount of money is available. I want to see it spent. I want to see the fleet increase and we are seeing it increase. That will be of benefit to the people in the Deputy's area and throughout the country ensuring they can see gardaí in their communitie…

I am sorry that I was not aware of that. I will certainly follow it up. I do not know why a community bus is needed for the Presidency. I do not see the Commissioners going around in a community bus. It is something I will look into. On the funding, the Deputy might agree it would be preferable if the community had its own bus as opposed to having to use the Garda bus. As he will know, applicatio…

I agree with everything the Deputy said about scramblers. We need greater enforcement, and I believe that is happening. The tragic death of Grace and the enactment of Grace's Law was a seminal moment that really changed the attitude of this House and the body politic to how we deal with scramblers. Already in 2026, over 1,000 scramblers and e-bikes have been seized by the Garda. That is considera…

I agree with the Deputy. This requires a multifaceted response. It requires a policing, criminal justice and youth diversion response to ensure we get kids and teenagers away from scramblers and involvement in criminal activity and divert them towards sport or something that is positive for them. Last Friday, I was in East Wall in Deputy Gannon's constituency to see a place where there is a proper…

I agree with the Deputy. There needs to be enforcement and there is more enforcement. That is why we are seeing more scramblers and e-bikes seized. There needs to be more of that. People need to be aware that if they are using a scrambler on a public road or in a public park, it will be seized. That is the great advantage of Grace's Law. If gardaí see someone in a public place on a scrambler, they…

Very good.

I thank the Deputy. I had a very good time in his constituency and I also got a present of a Troy Parrott jersey-----

-----which is going to be hung in the Department of justice, I am pleased to tell the House.

We have not hired people known as addiction nurses since the mid-2010s. I do not want the Deputy to think - I know he does not think this - that because of that, there are no services. There was a change in how we deal with addressing the addiction needs of people in custody. To use a word that is sometimes overused, the Prison Service adopts a multidisciplinary approach to it. This includes nurse…

I have been to 12 of our 13 prisons. I am aware, having spoken to prisoners, prison officers and prison management, of the issues of addiction in prison. However, I also want the Deputy to be aware that there are some success stories as well. There is a lot of good work being done in the prisons in training and getting people off addictive substances. There is success there. The real difficulty is…

There are a lot of services there providing assessments and care planning, evidence-based interventions, including support for opioid substitution treatment, detoxification and overdose prevention and helping people to access community services on release to reduce relapse and reoffending. There is a good amount of work being done within the Prison Service. There is obviously more that needs to be…

I thank the Deputy for his question. He is referring to developments in Clonmel. The Deputy has spoken to me before about that. I know it is an issue of concern to him. The rapid build modular units, including those in Clonmel, were built to accommodate beneficiaries of temporary protection fleeing the war in Ukraine. In total, we have 654 units across 11 locations across the country, accommodati…

I think that has to happen. These have got the support of the Deputy, other local representatives and the community. There needs to be engagement, and that engagement needs to continue. There are also units that can be used. As I said, they could be used for social housing or other purposes. Obviously, we will also take into consideration any suggestions the Deputy or other local representatives h…

They did cost the State a lot of money. They are a valuable resource that we own and we want to see them used effectively. The Deputy talks about Clonmel. There are 82 units in Clonmel accommodating potentially up to 328 people, but there are ten other sites around the country as well, some of which are even bigger than that in Clonmel. We need to have a plan for what we will use this valuable re…

As the Deputy will be aware, Deputy Brophy has ministerial responsibility for this, but he and I have a close and shared view in respect of this issue. Obviously, we both fully recognise that so-called join family visa applications are very important for the people involved. I understand that people are eager to have their families join them in Ireland and I can appreciate why Deputy Moynihan, as …

Last year, I and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, introduced a new non-EEA family reunification policy. It sets out the rules that apply in respect of it. Every country in the world has a regulated system in respect of family reunification. It has to involve a system where there are rules in place. If you fit within the rules and you have the resources to bring family members over, it is perm…

A critical skills employment permit holder who applies for a join family visa at the same time as their employment visa typically receives a first instance decision within the ten- to 12-week business target. For stand-alone join family applications and those linked to general employment permits, the current business target for a first instance decision is 12 months. I know they can be frustrating…

As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, is centrally involved in this. Government approved plans in May 2024 to introduce a single permit for people coming to Ireland to live and work. Currently, employment permits, visas and residency permits are processed separately. This is a significant technical project involving the integration of two IT systems. In the short term,…

That is a concerning period, but people sometimes leave applications until the very last moment and that is not good practice. It will create difficulties for them, so we need to encourage people who are applying for renewals to apply early. As I said, an implementation team has been established jointly between my Department and the Department of enterprise to commence implementation of the singl…

It is a challenging task from the point of view of the Department. I have been to the section of the Department dealing with visa applications, and there are huge numbers of people there; you realise the extent to which each application has to be considered and appraised individually. There is a significant number of applications coming in and they need to be considered individually. I hear what …

I recall when I started as Minister, Deputies Carthy and Bennett, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, from Fianna Fáil, and their fifth colleague-----

David Maxwell as well. The issue is that there were no plans for Cavan and Monaghan. As Deputy Carthy now knows, the Cavan-Monaghan region is listed as a priority area for refuge development under zero tolerance. The capital assistance scheme, CAS, stage 1 application for a refuge site in Monaghan was approved by the Department of housing last October. Work is ongoing towards submitting a stage 2 …