Matt Carthy

While I welcome the statement by the Minister that he will at least consider the legislation, I can tell him, from speaking to victims and survivors with real-life experience, that there is a legislative gap in place. What this means in reality is that for many survivors of sexual violence their fear intensifies the longer the sentence of the person convicted of the offence goes on. They fear that…

The Minister is on the record as acknowledging the trauma often involved for victims and survivors going through the judicial process in the first place. The system essentially makes it necessary for them to go through it again to seek a protection order on the release of the perpetrator. This is why this legislation allows the victim and the State to put in place the protections at a much earlier…

3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if, following the issues identified in the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding the management of international protection accommodation contracts, he will initiate a full and thorough look back review into the way in which public money has been spent on IPAS accommodation; and if he will mak…

The Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report contains a chapter on asylum accommodation that details a litany of issues in respect of the management of contracts for IPAS accommodation. As the Minister of State will know, the State is due to spent approximately €1.2 billion on such accommodation this year. The report is what I would call a damning indictment in terms of due diligence and c…

That was a long way of saying the Government does not plan to carry out a full review of every single contract. A full review is required. As the Minister of State rightly said, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report deals only with a sample of contracts. From this, it has found that pre-contract due diligence records were significantly incomplete. In more than a third of the cases examined,…

None of that is good enough. Every single week, we hear about another scandal in respect of an IPAS contract. Huge sums of money were paid to people with no track record and there is no explanation as to why this was the case. We do not get these revelations from the Minister of State’s Department, by the way; it is usually journalists who give us information that is in the public interest and tha…

How is the Ryevale House issue arising now?

9. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will introduce measures to reduce the number of stamp 2 visa permissions granted annually in view of the pressures on student accommodation and housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54041/25]

A number of weeks ago I raised with the Minister the Government's approach to stamp 2 residency permits in respect of student visas as they are known and whether or not there are any plans for the Government to examine these types of residency permits as part of the overall management of migration. In particular, given the pressures on housing and on student accommodation, is it the Government's i…

Of course international students are an important part of the dynamic within out third level sector. However, as with all areas there needs to be management of it and it seems to me there is none at the moment. The number of these stamp 2 residency permissions more than doubled between 2021 and 2024, with more than 60,000 of them granted. Then there are anomalies in the system. According to the E…

Absolutely, that point is not in dispute. That is why these visa allocations should be based on educational and societal benefits. I fear that in many cases the international students are being used to make up for the funding shortfall in third level institutions. They are seen as a mechanism by which money can be made - money which the universities are starved of. Second, there is this new priva…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Every year.

Hear, hear.

The choice was to tax developers.

Answer the question.

The Tánaiste recently launched a joint framework on the legacy of the Troubles with the British Secretary of State. We hope that will provide a route to bring about truth and justice for the many people affected by conflict-related tragedies. Would the Tánaiste be willing to work with Members of this House to establish an independent, time-bound, historical inquiries unit in this State to deal wit…

Did you go through the carbon tax?

Last year, the Minister of State was quick to talk about the carbon tax in his own contribution.

The Minister of State sold out the people of Kerry. He is supporting an increase in the carbon tax.

The Minister of State was not here.

Chair, the Minister of State, when he was on these benches, was very critical of the carbon tax-----

The Minister of State increased the carbon tax and he is supporting the budget.