Gary Gannon

I thank the Minister for his response. There was one part of the question he did not answer, which was the number of gardaí eligible to retire within the next three years. That is a figure of particular concern to me. When the Minister wrote about this issue in 2024, it was of particular concern to him. At that time, he talked about nearly 50% of the force becoming eligible for retirement by 2028.…

I would like to hear more about the recruitment and the capacity for expansion, particularly around Templemore. We reach a particular limit when the Garda does recruitment drives. A lot of people put themselves forward but such is the level of time it takes for the training, which is obviously necessary, and for vetting, which we have seen huge problems with, I do not believe we are bringing enoug…

Has the Minister any plan at all to deal with the spate of arson attacks and vandalism happening at playgrounds the length and breadth of Dublin? This seems to be an issue that has increased in frequency and scale during his time as Minister for justice. Does he have any plan at all? I refer here to Diamond Park, Bridgefoot Street Park, St. Anne's Park and Sean Moore Park, which is in the Minister…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am very proud to stand here this evening to introduce the Criminal Justice (Rehabilitative Periods) Bill to the Dáil. This is legislation that has been championed for years, since 2018, by my friend and colleague in the Seanad, Senator Lynn Ruane. I want to acknowledge her work on this Bill from the outset. It is a Bill rooted in lived experien…

It is never not a privilege to stand in this Chamber. Ever single day I take a breath and realise how important the work is that happens here, but this evening was a genuine privilege. It was a real honour to be here to discuss an issue that too often went undiscussed. I thank the Ministers of State for their contributions and the Department officials for their engagement. I look forward to bringi…

I listened to the opening contributions from the Government Members today and I thought to myself, my God, does the air feel lighter over on that side of the Chamber? The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, somebody who was vociferous in holding previous Governments to account on failures of local amenities, encouraged us in the Opposition to tell people to use their local post office, ev…

The national codes of practice governing events date from 1996 and 1998 and have not been formally updated in almost 30 years. This has left a situation where Dublin city, Cork, Galway, Kerry and Fingal local authorities have all introduced supplementary event guidance that have different criteria, documents needed and procedures. Will the Department push for the national code to be updated to sup…

I am.

I appreciate that the Department oversees the funding of arts but there is a significant gap in the sense that the Department's budgets operate on a 2026 basis but the laws upon which these events occur date from 1996. That creates a problem. There is a gap in terms of regulation. If you have an event in Dublin, you have the same event in Galway and you have a similar event in Cork, you are dealin…

I am talking about updating events' codes, which are 30 years outdated. The Minister referenced the Department of housing, which has responsibility for planning and the Department of enterprise. He said surely I would not wish to interfere with local authorities but that creates a gap for those who wish to put on live events. There are very significant discrepancies between holding an event in one…

They do not have an event code.

They do not have an event code.

Sorry-----

-----the question states, "codes of practice for live events, particularly live music events, to better facilitate live music performance; and if he will make a statement on the matter." The Minister went off on a tangent from the question.

I thank Deputy Rice for the dedication and vision he has brought to this most important issue. There is a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing effective doctor care within our system. To give context, the national benchmark is one GP per 1,759 people. In my constituency of Dublin Central, it is dramatically higher. In the north inner city, for example, it is one GP for every 3,525 people. I…

It would be completely wrong to reframe this as some form of simple communication problem. This is a systematic policy failure. Successive governments have designed a model that narrows how care is defined. It signed off on it and allowed letters to be issued. When the schools and the parents rightfully reacted, suddenly everyone seemed to be taken by surprise. Absolutely nothing about this was su…

Get to the vote.

Who is supporting it?

I am not opposed to this amendment at all. My point is probably more relevant to the next amendment, but heaven knows if we will ever get there. Of course, we should have transparency in relation to contracts, but that should be the lowest bar. Our position is that we should be moving towards State-owned reception centres. I fear that supporting an amendment such as this enshrines privatisation in…

We voted against the last amendment because we feared it would enshrine privatisation in the system. We make no apologies for that. We are dealing with a Bill that enshrines the detention of children in the system. When we talk about introducing a per person cap, we present the image that asylum seekers are somehow being kept in the lap of luxury. There is rightfully a lot of talk about profiteeri…

I move amendment No. 20: In page 28, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(14) The best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in the carrying out of procedures in respect of a minor under this Part, in accordance with Article 14(1) of the Eurodac Regulation.”.

I move amendment No. 21: In page 32, to delete lines 14 to 18. In the first instance, I will speak about amendment No. 21. Let me quote the subsection of the Bill I am seeking to remove so we will have a sense of it. It provides: Where a member of An Garda Síochána, an immigration officer or an officer of the Minister has reasonable grounds for believing that it is in the interests of public po…

Before the Minister came in, the Minister of State talked about being a true democrat and about the Government having a democratic right to legislate. Nobody is refuting that. However, if the Minister knocked at any door in this country, as all of us across the Chamber do, who would ask that a victim of trafficking be compelled to go to a screening centre? There is no obligation on that. Screening…

In the first instance, a victim of trafficking will be identified by their vulnerability assessment. That is provided for under the special reception conditions. I am surprised the Minister did not know that. Given the day that we had today in the Dáil when another State apology was made, I cannot help thinking of the words of Christine Buckley. I am sure most of us around the Chamber remember th…

I reiterate that the screening procedures, as designed, are not designed to ensure early detection of human trafficking and modern slavery. There is also no clear referral pathway in the Bill in regard to the national referral mechanism. That is really important because I think something that has not really been understood yet in the 13 hours we have given to this Committee Stage is that this Bill…