I thank the Deputy for the amendment. I assure him he can continue to commemorate whatever patriot dead he wishes, now or in years to come, and if this provision is enacted, it will have no impact on what he seeks to do. It is important to point out the type of terrorist activity that is going to be covered by this legislation. Earlier I gave the example of what happened in the Bataclan in 2015. I am sure the Deputy …
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.
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Month by month
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Questions asked 13 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 1,001 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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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
It will not be a function of a future Minister to interpret this section if it becomes part of the law. It will be a matter for An Garda Síochána in the first instance to consider whether or not there has been a breach of this section. It will then be a matter for the DPP to decide whether or not a person deserves to be prosecuted for public provocation to commit a terrorist offence. It will finally be a matter for t…
I move amendment No. 10:
In page 7, to delete line 7 and substitute the following:
“(II) an offence under subparagraph (i) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 6,”.
This is a technical amendment that refers to the offence of travel for the purpose of terrorism. The precise requirement this amendment is dealing with is the provision for the offence of travelling from the State to another state for the purp…
I move amendment No. 15:
In page 7, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:
“Amendment of section 5 of Principal Act
6.Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended by—
(a) the insertion of the following subsection:
“(2A) A body corporate that directs the activities of a terrorist group (at any level of its organisational structure) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictm…
I move amendment No. 16:
In page 7, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:
“Amendment of section 6 of Principal Act
7.Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in subsection (1), by—
(i) the substitution of the following subparagraphs for subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a):
“(ii) attempts to engage in a terrorist activity, other than a terrorist activity consisting of—
(I) a threat referred to …
I move amendment No. 17:
In page 7, to delete lines 35 and 36, and in page 8, to delete lines 1 to 6 and substitute the following:
“(a) in subsection (1), by—
(i) the substitution of “Subject to subsections (2C), (2D), (2E), (2F) and (2G), a person guilty” for “A person guilty”,
(ii) the substitution, in paragraph (d), of “subject to paragraph (f), to imprisonment” for “to imprisonment”,
(iii) the substitution, …
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 8, line 21, to delete “offence.”.” and substitute the following:
“offence.”,
(c) by the insertion of the following subsections:
“(2C) A body corporate guilty of an offence under section 6 shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine of such amount as, having regard to the gravity of the offence, the court considers appropriate.
(2D) A person guilty of an offence under su…
I move amendment No. 19:
In page 8, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:
“Amendment of section 13 of Principal Act
7.Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by—
(a) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5):
“(5) (a) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), it shall not be necessary to prove that—
(i) the funds concerned were wholly or partly used for the purpose…
I thank Deputy Ward for his question. He accurately sets out the purpose of amendment No. 19 in respect of the offence of financing terrorism. One of the requirements would be that the prosecution would have to show that the funds were used to commit specific terrorist offences. That was something that was too specific. If somebody gives money for the purpose of terrorist activity, it should not be a requirement on t…
I move amendment No. 20:
In page 8, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:
“Amendment of section 43 of Principal Act
8.Section 43 of the Principal Act is amended—
(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) of section 13” for “13(1) or (2)”, and
(b) in subsection (3), by—
(i) the substitution of “subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) of section 13” for “13(1) or (2)” wher…
Deputy Carthy has raised the issue of temporary protection. At the outset of all these debates, it is important that we understand and emphasise the reason temporary protection was initiated in 2022. The reason, of course, was the unlawful and illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It was because of this that is was agreed across the board in the European Union that temporary protection would be initiated. It was the…
As the Deputy knows, temporary protection will continue until March 2027. A decision will have to be made by the European Council in respect of what will happen after that. My view is that it will likely be extended, but on a restricted basis. In terms of what the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I are doing, the proposals which we have outlined and which will hopefully be confirmed by Cabinet on Tuesday week wi…
The Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne, was very much part of the deliberations of the Cabinet subcommittee on migration when the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I presented the proposals. That is an issue that has been carefully considered. I think Sinn Féin is supportive of the measures I have announced.
I am giving you an answer here and now. I am very pleased to note that he described my reply as "incredibly interesting". That is the first time anyone has described a response of mine as incredibly interesting. It is important to note that there will be measures put in place and there will be engagement with the beneficiaries of temporary protection to ensure there is no cliff-edge. When we look at the level of supp…
The local community safety partnerships are extremely important in terms of what the Government and I are trying to do within local communities. I commenced the operation of these partnerships in April of last year. Throughout the country there have been a number of meetings of the local community safety partnerships. I think they will be a major improvement on what was there before, namely the joint policing committ…
In terms of the narrative the Deputy outlined in respect of his constituent, I repeatedly attend meetings of residents' associations at which, very appropriately, members of An Garda Síochána turn up. The message I consistently hear is that if you want to get the assistance of An Garda Síochána, the most appropriate thing to do is to phone 999. I know that we sometimes think we should only phone 999 if it is an emerg…
Residential areas are not being left behind. What is happening is that increased Garda resources are being placed in areas that require high-visibility policing. We are starting in the inner city. As stated, this will be rolled out to more residential areas and throughout the country. The recorded crime statistics released on 26 March 2026 are quite revealing. They report a reduction in recorded crime in nine categor…
I thank Deputy Carthy for raising this matter. This provision was very novel when the legislation was enacted nearly ten years ago in terms of that fact that it set out statutorily the information that victims of crime are entitled to. Deputy Carthy's question refers to section 8. In effect, the 2017 Act transposed Article 6 of the EU victims directive into domestic law. It established minimum standards on the rights…
I thank Deputy Carthy for referring to the committee's hearing. I was aware of that the civil protection orders Bill was being considered. I am also aware of the case of Sonya Stokes. This is an area I will look at. Providing information to victims about a person convicted of an attack upon them is something that is understandably useful to victims of crime. There is also the issue of exclusion orders. One thing peop…
I am looking through section 8. There is a lot of information that must be provided to the victim in terms of an appeal, a parole application and the release of the individual. This is information that should be provided. Deputy Carthy's specific question is whether a victim should be told when their abuser or attacker who has been convicted dies. I need to consider that. Obviously, we could have a situation where so…
I thank the Deputy for his question. It certainly is the Government's objective in the programme for Government to recruit 5,000 more gardaí during its term. We certainly want to achieve the objectives set out in David McRedmond's report that there would be 1,000 more gardaí for Dublin. This is very much dependent on resources and the numbers that come into An Garda Síochána. I also have to be conscious that although…
We are committed to following what is set out in the task force report. I cannot give a date as to when there will be 1,000 extra gardaí in the city. What I can give is assurance from being around the city centre that we now have high-visibility policing in Dublin city centre. That has had a transformative effect. We are getting gardaí out on the streets patrolling who were previously in stations. It is providing a g…
I remain committed to recommendation number four. I want to see an extra 1,000 gardaí in Dublin. However, the Deputy was in government as well. He knows that things do not just happen with a click of the fingers or overnight. In order to get 1,000 new gardaí into the force in Dublin, I need to recruit them nationally. That cannot happen overnight. I am sure the Deputy can appreciate the challenges associated with tha…
It is important, and I commend the Deputy for mentioning section 14 of that legislation because sometimes it is forgotten about. It was commenced in August 2024, so it is only beginning to operate in the past year or so. In effect, it means that if somebody wants to give character evidence in respect of a person being convicted of a serious sexual offence, or of rape, which is the most serious, in order to give that …
The Deputy mentioned homicide. Obviously it does not really arise in, say, a murder conviction because somebody is going to automatically face a mandatory life sentence. In terms of manslaughter, it does not apply at present. In general what happens in a case like that is the counsel representing the convicted person at the sentencing hearing will set out what he or she believes are mitigating factors the court shoul…