Colm Brophy

I will state part of my original answer again, in that the URDF support for the Cork city library project demonstrates this Government's understanding and the critical important part of it in the regeneration of the Grand Parade quarter. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will continue to engage with Cork City Council on delivery in that context. The Department looks forward …

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this matter. I join him in expressing my sympathies. This project is included in the Department of Education and Youth’s construction programme, which will be delivered under the national development plan as part of the Project Ireland 2040 framework. The Divine Mercy Junior National School and the Divine Mercy Senior National School are co-educational, Ca…

I thank the Deputy. I know this is something he has been very much involved in and is very passionate on. I appreciate his remarks. I reiterate that since 2020, the Department of Education and Youth has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, over 200 SEN repurp…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in respect of wandering and malnourished horses in urban areas of Limerick. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for all policy and legislation in relation to the Control of Horses Act 1996. Operation of the Act comes under the remit of the local authorities though. Any reports of welfare issues received by the Department, inc…

I will start by acknowledging and thanking the Deputy for the amount of work he has done and his dedication on this particular topic. I agree the issues merit the attention and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, is fully committed to building on the work already being undertaken to tackle the issue. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has lead responsibility within Government for animal …

Along with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I will start by addressing the terrible arson attack that took place in Drogheda over the weekend. Our thoughts are with the families impacted by this. It was an attack on an IPAS centre but it was actually an attack on their home. It is truly awful to see something like that happen to someone's home. My thoughts are also with the victim of the alleged …

The Deputy should listen to what the Tánaiste said afterwards, which is never quoted.

It was a very interesting debate and I acknowledge the range of views expressed across the House. When I was making notes for my closing remarks, I wrote that I would like to thank all of the Deputies who contributed to this important discussion. I said at the start that I hoped we would have a discussion that was balanced, fair and done in the right way. Most of the contributions were. We need to…

I express my full support for the Tánaiste, who is the leader of my party, Fine Gael. He entered politics to do nothing but good, to deliver and to help those he sees around him. He is motivated for all the right reasons to be involved in politics. Unfortunately, far too many politicians on the Opposition benches today entered politics to posture, shout out and exploit situations. They have been e…

-----is putting our country first, representing us proudly and delivering for the people of this country.

My Department is taking action across all aspects of international protection accommodation to ensure we improve value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers. This forms part of the overall reform of the international protection system that is already working to speed up the processing of applications and move away from commercial provision to mor…

To outline the position again, we have accepted the recommendations in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report. We absolutely recognise them. We have put in place contract reviews designed to deliver genuine savings. We recognise that due to the surge that took place from 2022 to 2024, we were not in a position to have the relevant structures in place, but we now are and we are actually deliv…

As I have said to the Deputy, all contracts we are now putting in place have checks and balances in respect of tax clearance certificates.

We are totally transparent in publishing details of all payments made, and we do that regularly. We believe the contracts we are now putting in place are absolutely clear and deliver on some of the things the Deputy is asking about. I understand that, in the case the Deputy mentioned, the water provision issue has been completely addressed and what he described is not happening at this point. How…

I thank the Deputy. The programme for Government contains a commitment to publish a national migration and integration strategy detailing how the Government will meet the demands and opportunities facing Ireland’s society. My Department is currently working on that with other Departments with the aim of having it published in 2026. Looking at the international student sector will obviously form pa…

I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement of the fact that international students do make a contribution. They contribute in so many ways to our country. The Government is looking at student visas in the context of our national migration and immigration strategy. For the purpose of clarity with regard to the issue of total registrations, there can be multiple registrations during a year, so the …

It is important to examine the regulation in this area. There is quite a bit of regulation in this area. There is an allowance of 20 hours that a student can work during term time and that increases to 40 hours. It is very important that is monitored and correctly enforced. We have changed the requirements for students in terms of the income they would have to have to sustain themselves when they…

I thank the Deputy. My Department is taking action across all aspects of international protection accommodation to provide value for money, strengthen governance and compliance, and renegotiate contracts with providers. This forms part of the overall reform of the international protection system that is already working to speed up processing of applications and move from commercial provision to St…

The Department has accepted the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and has put in place a set of updated processes and standards which will appraise offers and manage and oversee contracts. Extensive new checks and balances have been put in place to ensure high standards of oversight on invoicing. Queries and irregularities have been identified through a checklist proc…

The Department is always vigilant about taxpayers' money and it is important to note we have achieved €52 million in savings in terms of contracts this year. There is a new rate card in place delivering real savings. One of the most important things we are doing is moving to State-owned, which will bring a real saving in terms of taxpayers' money. When the migration pact comes in, we will be movin…

As the House has heard from my colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, the justice budget of €6.17 billion for 2026 will support a robust, rules-based immigration system. The additional funding for immigration and international protection will improve our systems, speeding up processing, strengthening the return and ensuring that Ireland is fully ready to implement the EU migration and asylum…

That is not true.

As the Minister of State with responsibility for migration, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak this afternoon on what I believe is one of the most important issues facing our country, which is migration. As a Government we need to address this. We need address it with the spirit of integrity and of compassion, and with a rules-based approach, as the Minister said. One of the things t…

I thank the Deputy for the question. It is a central priority for me, as Minister for State, that Ireland’s immigration system is firm, fair and effective. Returning people who do not have permission to remain in Ireland is undertaken through both voluntary returns and deportation. Both types of returns are essential for the system to work effectively and ensure confidence in the application of ou…

To clarify, if a person has left voluntarily, he or she must provide, on foot of a request, officials with documentary evidence within three days that they have left Ireland. If they do not do so, a deportation order can be issued. Of the 808 people who left by way of voluntary return this year up to 27 June, 615 had been refused international protection status. Since 2020, 2,300 people have left…