Matt Carthy

Hear, hear.

We brought forward the legislation a few years ago.

There should be accountability.

Wise up. What sort of child are you?

1. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the preparations that have been made for the ending of the temporary protection directive in March 2027; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35912/26]

The Government has been verging on the negligent in failing to plan in an orderly way for the winding down of the temporary protection directive. Since it announced that all measures relating to the directive will come to an end next year, there has been confusion heaped upon confusion. Will the Minister outline the preparations that have been made for the ending of the temporary protection direct…

I recall that the House was virtually unanimous in support of the emergency measures that were brought in at the outset of Russia's war against Ukraine. The temporary protection directive was an emergency measure, as the Minister quite rightly said. I do not think anybody envisaged that it would be in place for five years. As the Minister knows, I have been arguing very strongly that we need a ro…

I find some of those responses incredibly interesting. When Sinn Féin suggested that ending the temporary protection directive should include provision for a voluntary return scheme, members of the Government absolutely pilloried both my party and me personally for even suggesting that. It now appears that this is going to be part of the Minister's plan. Likewise, when it comes to the ARP and the …

You have not announced them; you have leaked them.

3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will review the operation of section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, which relates to information connected to investigations and criminal proceedings, to ensure that the rights of victims under this section are applied in a consistent manner and that the provisions it contains meet the ne…

Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act includes provisions for information to be shared with victims of crime. It is ten years since the legislation was enacted. Does the Minister have plans to review the operation of this section to ensure that the provisions it contains are being applied on a consistent basis?

To be clear, there is no requirement whatsoever to wait for an EU legislative process to conclude before we change measures in domestic law, particularly in terms of enhancing support for the victims of crime. The justice committee met in recent days to discuss the victims of crime civil protection orders Bill that I am trying to progress through the House. We heard moving testimony from Sonya Sto…

I might not have been clear. I specifically asked about victims being informed that their attackers have deceased subsequent to release. In relation to section 8, the difficulty is that many of the testimonies we hear are inconsistent. Many victims have told me that they are incredibly happy with their engagement with the Garda or the Prison Service. Others are unhappy because they do not believe …

5. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he intends to extend the provisions of section 14 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024, requiring that character references be given on oat to other criminal offences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35914/26]

Does the Minister intend to extend the provisions of section 14 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act that requires character references to be given under oath, to criminal offences other than those included in the original legislation?

In many respects the Minister has made the first half of the argument. My point is whether you move to the second logical part of the argument and expand the provisions of this section to include other serious crimes. I am thinking particularly of homicide. It has been seen in the courts that the distinction between somebody just writing a letter saying a particular man or woman is a sound person …

Clearly when I talk about homicide I am not talking about murder but I have spoken to some victims who were in court for the sentencing of perpetrators who were convicted of actions resulting in the killing of their loved one and the introduction to the sentencing stage of unverified testimony not given under oath or by way of an affidavit really traumatised the family even further. This is often …

34. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if, following the Law Reform Commission’s 2026 report on compensating victims of crime, he intends to establish a new statutory body to administer victim compensation; the timeline in which such a body will be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35608/26]

The Law Reform Commission published its report on compensating victims of crime. Does the Minister intend to apply the recommendations in that report, particularly the one relating to establishing a new statutory victims compensation scheme?

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “ ‘crime against humanity’ means any of the acts specified in Article 7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court; ‘genocide’ means any of the acts specified in Article 6 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court; ‘war crime’ means any of the acts specified in Article 8.2 of the Statute of the …

The difficulty is that we know An Garda Síochána has purchased this type of equipment from companies that have close relationships with the Israeli regime. The current legal position is that this can continue. The Minister mentioned that we did not need to put this in primary legislation, but since Committee Stage up to now, I do not understand why the Minister did not cut this off at the pass by …

We are dealing with a Bill that would, for the first time, allow what we all hope would be the appropriate use of biometric recognition technology in order to assist our police force in tackling serious crime, security matters and missing persons cases. Most people in the House recognise that, for those serious issues, there is a need for the use of that type of technology. However, there is also …

I move amendment No. 2: In page 6, after line 40, to insert the following: “(3A) A member of An Garda Síochána shall not deploy biometric analysis unless authorised in advance by a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of Chief Superintendent, who shall record in writing the grounds of necessity and proportionality for such deployment.”. This amendment was discussed on Committee Stage.…

I am not entirely reassured by the Minister's assurances. He talks about a code of practice which this House will have no hand, act or part in developing. His own Department and his office, in particular, since he has taken office have been incredibly reluctant to provide information to the Members of this House on how decisions are made or how matters relating to the outworkings of legislation ac…

I will make a couple of comments in conclusion. The Minister knows full well that nobody is suggesting that there would be individual authorisation for every single image, for every still and video. The amendment does not suggest that at all. It states that it would be authorised in advance by a chief superintendent or higher and that there would be a written record of the grounds for necessity an…