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]
TDs / Gary Gannon
Gary Gannon
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
645
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
147,808
words spoken in the chamber
Across 475 contributions
389
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
109
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 645 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 475 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 6 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 32 | 27 |
| March 2025 | 90 | 23 |
| April 2025 | 117 | 32 |
| May 2025 | 32 | 24 |
| June 2025 | 49 | 39 |
| July 2025 | 11 | 19 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 15 | 9 |
| October 2025 | 38 | 17 |
| November 2025 | 28 | 22 |
| December 2025 | 10 | 7 |
| January 2026 | 40 | 35 |
| February 2026 | 23 | 45 |
| March 2026 | 15 | 31 |
| April 2026 | 5 | 27 |
| May 2026 | 9 | 16 |
| June 2026 | 35 | 26 |
| July 2026 | 23 | 39 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 41 | 14 |
| October 2026 | 26 | 22 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 249 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dublin Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Social Democrats 29 November 2024 to now
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 decarceration policies, i…
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 20 in 2023 to 31 last…
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 there because of addicti…
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 An Garda Síochána; …
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 only have anecdotal e…
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 dreading the bills coming i…
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 those children are rece…
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 she shows up, so do th…
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 should be an issue for …
I unreservedly support the motion and thank Deputy Cummins for bringing it forward. I want to say clearly that the current system is failing to reflect the Ireland of today. In 2021, I stood in this Chamber and said the Government was paying lip service to the idea of a truly inclusive education system, flagging that there was no clear roadmap to providing 400 multidenominational primary schools by 2030. Four years o…
There have been 19 months of devastation and evil on a scale not witnessed in many centuries. We have watched annihilation being afflicted upon Gaza. We now have the calls from Netanyahu and those who follow him for ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. We have heard the words of the Taoiseach and the talk of the Tánaiste last week. We need to know when there is going to be action and consequence. Can we have state…
I do not feel like celebrating Europe Day today for reasons that have been outlined very clearly for more than 19 months now. That is not to say that I do not appreciate Europe or the role it has played in the development of Ireland. I am often reminded of a quote by John McGahern, who said that Ireland was an agrarian society right up to the mid-20th century and then almost went straight to the 21st century.
I unde…
Every Deputy who stands up will have a story to tell about his or her own constituency and the absence of effective childcare or aftercare provision, precisely because this insidious issue affects the means by which parents organise their days, get into work and ensure that their children are looked after in a manner that taken for granted in most other jurisdictions. It is difficult to know where to begin when detai…
I want to raise an issue I have raised on previous occasions, namely, the community I am very proud to represent, one that has its challenges but is always flourishing and has a deep history. It is a place full of strong families and deep roots, but it is a community that can often be overlooked and is struggling right now. The residents of Cabra have asked, in recognition not just of the problems but the opportuniti…
I thank the Minister of State for her substantial contribution and recognition of Cabra, and her personal awareness of how change-positive the family resource centres can be for a community, particularly communities that, of their own volition, recognise the need for them. Cabra is an area with such an incredible history. The GAA team there is a real focal point for the community. There is generational poverty that c…
I thank Labour for bringing forward this important motion. I bid a huge welcome to the parents and guardians who are in the Gallery, many of whom I recognise from my community. There also people who have had to travel to the Dáil previously and who have slept outside the offices of the Department merely to vindicate their child's rights. Each time I see those very same faces, hear their stories and feel their pain, t…
I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the motion on Ireland's opt-in to the EU's amending regulation on insolvency proceedings. This might appear to be a technical matter and just another adjustment to European legal frameworks, but to those of us who believe the law should first and foremost serve people, it is anything but abstract. Insolvency law, at its core, governs what happens when things fall apart, a busi…
There is much to welcome in the legislation as proposed. While we support many of the anti-SLAPP measures that are included, like others, we in the Social Democrats recoil at the absence of juries within the courts system. Juries provide the judgment of a person's peers. Juries have a sense of public confidence and democratic principles built into them by their very nature. Juries reflect public values and real-world…
I thank the Minister for being forthright in his explanation of how his views have not so much evolved but probably remained the exact same. I took from his contribution that this is not something he believes in good conscience. He said he was bound by the principles of compromise. If I am to understand this, Fine Gael got 20.8% of the first preference vote in the last general election. I do not see the Lowry group h…
Similarly, the Social Democrats will oppose this section. Again, this is about the principle of having trials by jury and the word "defending". I have listened for the past hour and a half. We have read the research in the Oireachtas reports and by the various experts. Nobody has yet laid out any evidence to show why this would make the system better. I heard how it would make it cheaper, but that certainly does not …
I move amendment No. 2:
In page 12, to delete all words from and including “but” in lines 13 down to and including “participation” in 14 and substitute the following:
“have the effect of preventing, restricting or penalising public participation”.
I thank Deputy Carthy and others. The Bill says lawsuits must have the main purpose of stopping public participation to be considered abusive. My proposed change is that…
I move amendment No. 3:
In page 14, to delete lines 6 to 14 and substitute the following:
“34E. (1)Where a defendant in defamation proceedings relating to his or her engagement in public participation makes an application to the court, in accordance with law, to strike out the claim as being an abusive lawsuit against public participation.”.
I move amendment No. 4:
In page 14, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:
“Stay of proceedings
34EA. (1) Upon an application made under section 34E by a defendant to a proceeding, no further step may be taken in the proceeding by any party until the application, including any appeal against the application, has been finally disposed of.
(2) Unless a judge orders otherwise, the claimant is not permitte…