Gary Gannon

The Taoiseach is running down the clock.

What we are being asked to vote on here is the Government asking us to trust it. That is what the entire motion comes down to. We are making statements today on the idea of trust. The Minister is asking us to sign off on a behind-closed-doors negotiation without access to the annexes, without public scrutiny and without a clear understanding of the implications. We are effectively being asked by t…

We all do.

Children cannot take that decision themselves.

We did not say that.

Answer the question.

The press release.

There is very little left to say about Gaza that has not already been said and there is almost nothing left in Gaza that has not already been destroyed. We are past the point of shock and statements; what remains is rubble, mass graves and the silence of children whose names we will never know. We welcome this motion and support every line in it but we have to be honest. Ireland, though it has gon…

To Lucia, Jim and the O'Farrell family sitting with us in the Gallery today, I offer my condolences and express my admiration of their dignity in grief, which has been extraordinary. Their courage is incalculable. They should never have had to fight this hard or for this long just to be heard. They should never have had to carry that burden of proof. Their campaign has been an act of love and cour…

He made more sense than the Minister of State after six months.

Only now, after 19 months of siege and slaughter, after the images of starving Palestinian children with swollen bellies and hollow eyes, after the mass graves and the bombed-out hospitals, after the annihilation of entire families, only now do we hear the Government saying that next week, it will bring a memo in respect of the occupied territories Bill. Only now, when the scale of destruction has…

This proposed reduction in the accommodation recognition payment from €800 to €600 a month is not just a bureaucratic tweak, it is a deeply short-sighted move that will hurt the very people we have asked to step up, that is, the thousands of families who have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. When the war began and we stepped up, we talked about the huge solidarity the Irish pe…

I thank An Ceann Comhairle and Members for the latitude. Similar to Deputy Carthy, I thank the staff in office of the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and the staff of IPAS for helping in recent weeks and months to dispel, where they arise, myths that are being spread purposely by far-right agitators. There was a particularly difficult situation in my locality in recent days. I am grateful to the…

I welcome the opportunity for statements on assessments of need. We often talk about demand and need and solutions. The Government today has made reaffirmations. The Tánaiste reiterated his commitment to address this issue after 14 years of Fine Gael in government. We must also give voice to many people who are now teenagers or adults who have been left behind because of the failures of successive…

119. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice in light of the worsening crisis of prison overcrowding, where over 350 people are reportedly sleeping on floors and prison numbers are at a record high, the steps he is taking to implement meaningful decarceration policies, including non-custodial sentencing and investment in community supports. [24597/25]

I want to align myself with the condolences expressed across the Chamber to Garda Kevin Flatley's family, colleagues and the communities he served so diligently. In light of the worsening crisis of prison overcrowding whereby more than 350 people are reported to be sleeping on floors in prison and prison numbers are at a record high, what steps has the Minister taken to implement meaningful decar…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I welcome the increase to two years for consideration of community service. However, we can waste any time when it comes to addressing the appalling and dangerous conditions in our prison system. Hundreds of people are sleeping on floors. The number of prisoners who have died in custody in Ireland has increased by 55% in the past year, up from 2…

That is an incredible job of answering a question I did not ask. No part of my question, either in written form or in my contribution, referred to the release of people in prison for serious offences. I discount even the notion of that. However, while we are talking about increased populations, why do we not conduct an audit of who exactly is in our prisons? In the majority of cases, they are ther…

127. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice to provide an update on the number of gardaí who have resigned from the force in each of the past three years, broken down by rank; if his Department has conducted any analysis into the reasons behind the increase in resignations; if it is intended to introduce specific retention initiatives, to stem attrition and retain experienced members of…

On 26 February 2024, the Minister wrote about the potential for 6,400 gardaí to leave the force over the next three years. What are the plans to address the retention of gardaí? What is the number of gardaí leaving the force? What will the Minister to do address that?

I appreciate that 1% or 2% does not seem particularly high, but Garda numbers are particularly low. The Commissioner has talked about getting the numbers up to 18,000, but the 1% or 2% leaving is not being matched by people coming in. There is also the potential for 6,400 gardaí to retire in the next three years, which is incredible. Gardaí are leaving the force for a multitude of reasons but we o…

It is an exciting job but the demands are incredible and the pay, in many instances, does not provide the capacity to afford to live in the cities that gardaí are asked to police. People are leaving. While the figure in this regard is only 1% or 2%, the force is still understaffed. An intensive campaign to recruit gardaí needs to do more than tell people it is an exciting job when they are dreadin…

I wish to raise an issue of fundamental rights, namely the right to education. This right is being denied to children not only in the north inner city but also nationally. Peer research conducted by a group of parents who came together under the title of FACT reveals that 100% of parents of children with additional needs surveyed said their children need additional support but that only 70% of tho…

There is a lot in this Chamber that can and should divide us, but the fact that next week an extraordinary 14-year-old girl will once again come to Dáil Éireann and stay outside for 50 hours studying for her exams, which are taking the following week, to make a simple call for a legal requirement for assessments of needs should unify us around a collective motion so that Cara can know that when sh…

I welcome the extension of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and I will support it. However, we need to be honest here. This legislation has been extended multiple times and we must move beyond temporary measures. It is time to make it permanent. I sat on the Dublin City Council at the same time as the Minister, and to think then that we would be in the Dáil discussing benches. This sho…