Niall Collins

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)(b) and 188(1).

The Government is committed to the principle that everyone, wherever they live in Ireland, should be able to feel safe. Building safe and secure communities by investing in An Garda Síochána is a top priority for the Government. However, the introduction of local community safety partnerships around the country represents a new and more collaborative approach to community safety. They are an impor…

Budget 2026 provided €8 million for the National Office for Community Safety. That funding will support the functions of the office, which is developing a national strategy for improving community safety. Each safety partnership is supported by a dedicated community safety co-ordinator and an administrator. Both of these permanent positions are funded by the Department of justice and hosted within…

As I said, a safety co-ordinator and an administrator have been funded. Equally, many of the main participants on the new safety partnerships are State agencies that are also very adequately funded, such as An Garda Síochána, Tusla, the HSE and local authorities. The whole idea of these partnerships is to bring people together, along with community representatives, to make sure the priorities, nee…

I thank the Deputy for outlining the litany of issues he has endured. I hope this reply will be of benefit to him. The primary purpose of vetting carried out by the Garda National Vetting Bureau is to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. Clearly, this requires a robust vetting process that reassures the public and, in particular, parents that appropriate checks are conducted on pe…

The current system used by An Garda Síochána is delivered in a standard format to all organisations seeking vetting. This approach aligns with good international practice. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda National Vetting Bureau's target turnaround time for vetting applications submitted by organisations utilising the e-vetting system is five to ten working days for over 85% o…

I thank Deputies Neville and Farrelly for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I welcome the opportunity to provide details of the interaction the Department of Education and Youth has had with St. Patrick's Primary School Celbridge in relation to the emergency works scheme and to provide an update on its capital project. As the Deputies will b…

I reiterate that the Minister for education and the officials in her Department are fully aware of the issues raised and will continue to proactively work with the school, pending the delivery of its permanent accommodation solution. The new building project is currently at stage 2A of the architectural design process and the Department of Education and Youth currently awaits the submission of the…

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this important issue. Addressing educational disadvantage is a key priority for the Government, for me and, obviously, for the Minister for Education and Youth. The DEIS programme is a key policy initiative for addressing concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. DEIS supplements universal supports by targeting additional resources to schools where …

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and giving us the opportunity to discuss it. The Department of Education and Youth is committed to supporting a high quality and inclusive school system that provides an equal opportunity for success for all children. DEIS remains central to that commitment and the forthcoming DEIS strategy will ensure that supports are targeted fairly and reflect the evolv…

It was a split decision as well.

The Deputy is making this up.

Targeting the work of organised crime groups who inflict intimidation and violence on families and communities across Limerick and Ireland is a top priority for our Department and the Government. Since my appointment, I have met with the gardaí in Limerick and I know they, along with their colleagues in Garda national units, are committed to targeting organised criminal groups and individuals inv…

It is important to put on the record and inform the Deputy's constituents and my own in Limerick that, as of 30 November 2025, the most recent information available is there are 607 gardaí assigned to the Limerick division, which is a net increase of 25 since the beginning of last year and an increase of 53, which is about 10%, since 2015. As the Deputy knows, the Garda Commissioner assigned 30 pr…

As the Minister has just said, he has been to and is no stranger to Limerick. I outline to the Deputy the huge increase in numbers of personnel to Limerick. There will be further allocations around the country next week. There will be a significant allocation of new probationer gardaí which I think the Deputy will welcome, when we have that officially next week. I want to detail to the Deputy and…

The primary purpose of vetting carried out by the National Vetting Bureau is to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. This requires a robust Garda vetting process that reassures the public, and in particular parents, that appropriate checks are conducted on people who are seeking or taking positions of trust. The Government is aware that concerns have been raised regarding certain a…

There are changes that will be made to resolve the Deputy’s concerns and ours. We have listened to the views that have been carefully expressed, we have met directly with the Sports Federation of Ireland on the matter, and our Department has also received correspondence from a range of voluntary organisations informing us of their views. We are aware that concerns have been raised as to the reliab…

In general terms and taking on board what Deputy Daly said about the multiplicity of factors, I want to speak about turnaround times. I am advised by the Garda National Vetting Bureau that the target turnaround time for organisations using the eVetting system is five to ten working days for over 85% of vetting applications received. I am informed that 85% of vetting applications are processed with…

We do not have any knowledge of that, but if the Deputy wants to writes to us about it, we can look into it.

Well done. That is one in a row and the first time he has said it.

I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána is fully committed to tackling all forms of crime and theft everywhere in the country. The Government's first priority is to increase Garda numbers and Garda visibility so all of our communities, rural and urban, can feel safe and be safe. This is reflected in the record allocation of €2.59 billion in the Garda Vote for 2026, which will support invest…

It was encouraging to see that the CSO crime statistics, released last week, show that detection rates for crime incidents reported in 2024 were equal to or above those in 2023 for nine of the 14 crime offence groups. The Department is currently progressing work to develop a retail crime strategy to tackle the complex and evolving nature of retail crime, which the Deputy mentioned. We are all too…

The Department has been informed by the Garda authorities that works are planned for Sligo Garda station in the immediate term. These works will support a scene of crime task force relocation. The project is at the tender evaluation stage. In accordance with the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines, a preliminary business case for a new Garda divisional headquarters in Sligo is also being…

I move: That Dáil Éireann resolves that the period of operation of sections 1 to 7 and 9 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021 (No. 14 of 2021) be extended for a further period of 6 months, beginning on the 1st day of December, 2025, and ending on the 31st day of May, 2026. I am here to introduce a resolution to extend the sunset clause in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) …

I thank the Deputies for their time and contributions. With the extension of the Act until 31 May 2026, I hope that it sends out a message of our determination to continue to support and provide clarity to businesses, An Garda Síochána and local communities. This is an important extension which clarifies the position of licence holders who wish to sell and serve alcohol adjacent to a licensed prem…