I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 17, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that relate to matters under these headings. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs had its first meeting on 10 April and met most recently last week. The Cabinet committee covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; policing and justice reform; migration; and initiatives tackling local area disadvantage. Among other items, it also oversees the development and delivery of the whole-of-government response to migration and integration, including through a national migration and integration strategy. The Government is determined to eliminate hate-motivated crime and protect vulnerable communities. Attacks on migrant communities, whether physical, verbal or online, are utterly unacceptable. Everyone has the right to live safely, free from intimidation or abuse regardless of background. Under the recently amended Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Act 2024, any assault motivated by hatred will, on conviction, result in a more severe sentence than before. Every hate crime reported to An Garda Síochána is professionally investigated and victims are supported during the criminal justice process. There are more than 530 garda diversity officers nationwide. Their role includes overcoming communication barriers with those from diverse backgrounds through active engagement, open dialogue and collaboration. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.
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That was a lengthy list of questions from quite a number of Deputies. Deputy Ardagh was first into the fray. I agree with her and will talk to Minister for justice and other Ministers in respect of a dedicated safe inner city initiative, particularly as some of the ideas outlined were implemented in the north-east inner city at the time of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The impact of that feud on children in particular was very severe, so a series of measures were taken, via multidisciplinary agencies, the Garda, education and early childhood facilities, which have proven to be quite effective. There was the impact of the drug issue and young people being lured away from education into the world of distributing drugs. They were getting ready cash, which sounds attractive, but which, of course, ruined their lives in the long term. We are working to reincarnate, if you like, the RAPID programme we had in a previous era, which basically prioritised areas in terms of allocations to sporting facilities. This means that under the sports grants, for example, certain areas would get prioritisation in terms of sports facilities. Clubs and societies in such areas would also get priority. Likewise, things were done through education and targeted measures, and sometimes combining sport with education to provide first-class facilities in such locations. I fully take on board what Deputy Ardagh is saying about the absence of sporting facilities in the south-east inner city. When I was Minister for Defence, I was anxious to make the pitch the Army has at Cathal Brugha Barracks available to the GAA club there that had been using it for quite some time. I am genuinely shocked at the lack of provision in the Dublin City Council area and Dublin more generally in terms of sports facilities. Around the country, it is not uncommon for clubs to get 100-year leases, or sometimes councils will dispose land to clubs of various sporting codes with a view to affirming the importance of the development of sport. I have noticed on my travels around Dublin that there seem to be a lot of restrictive approaches to allowing clubs to fully develop facilities in their areas. That is an issue we have to take up with the councils in Dublin, and Government has to take a lead in that respect. In the Deputy’s area, there is a real crisis. I might have to look in more detail at some schools facilities to try to have them for community use as well, which happens in some areas. There is very strong merit in what the Deputy says. I will speak to Ministers about the issue. Deputy Connolly raised a serious and grave issue. He met with representatives from Exchange House Ireland recently to discuss Travellers and the high rate of suicide among them. I met the Traveller Visibility Group in Cork. It was some years ago, to be frank, but up on the wall were portraits of so many young Travellers who had lost their lives through suicide. There is a specific issue here that demands a specific response from our health service. I will be meeting again with Traveller organisations in respect of this matter, but the degree to which many young Travellers at a certain age or level feel they are othered or outside of society and on the margins is worrying. Their self-esteem deteriorates, which leads to mental health issues and, ultimately, the horror of suicide itself. The figures the Deputy provided on the rate of suicide among Travellers compared with the rate among the wider population are shocking. I will talk to the Ministers involved again in respect of that matter. Deputy Brabazon raised the issue of young people, drugs and drug distribution, scooters and so on. I will check with the Minister for Justice regarding the Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Act. That came from former Deputy John Curran, who initiated it some years ago from the Opposition benches. It eventually came through and was passed, but Deputy Brabazon’s point is to what degree is it being enforced and whether it has teeth and an impact. This is where adults are grooming young people for a life of crime and where we would target those adults and punish them accordingly via the criminal justice system. There was a common thread through many of the questions about drug trafficking and the use of young people in that regard. This is something we have to work extremely hard to deal with and to reduce significantly. Deputy O’Sullivan referred to Cork Prison. It is overcrowded. The inspector said that. The Minister for justice has received sanction from the Cabinet to build an extension. It has had a mixed reception, but there is no doubt that the current numbers at the prison are not tenable. It is an issue of safety. I will talk to the Minister about the timelines, but there is certainly a huge issue not just with Cork Prison but across the prison system. That reflects the increase in numbers coming through our courts charged with serious offences. The Minister is looking at all avenues of how to deal with the overcrowding issue. He has already received sanction in terms of capital investment for extensions, particularly that at Cork Prison. Deputy Ó Murchú also talked about the chaos that occurs in communities because of drug trafficking and the impact of drug crime. He is correct in saying it needs multi-agency interventions. I agree 100% on that, and I have dealt with some of the answers in my replies to Deputies Ardagh and Brabazon. Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of violent extremist groups in terms of a Garda investigation. I commend gardaí in the first instance for the work they are doing here. There is no doubt that there has been an increase in violent far-right activity and threatening activity. We should allow the investigation to conclude and we have to allow the criminal justice system to take its course. We do not want to prejudice the outcome of any criminal justice processes. I am conscious that this may end up in the courts. It is a very worrying and alarming development. I take issue with the Deputy saying politicians are somehow legitimising that. That is a step too far in her commentary. It is very unfair to politicians, irrespective of people’s views. That remark should be withdrawn because there is no excuse-----
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There is no excuse for an armed group being established. We cannot blame politicians for people who take it upon themselves to set up an armed group and procure weapons and bombs. It is wrong to blame politicians for that. I would simply make that point. That said, the campaign of, in certain respects, far-right terror is a worry. There is no doubt about that. Threats to politicians have increased. Politicians have been threatened by people on that spectrum, so we have to be very careful. I take the Deputy's point about care around language and how we deal with the migration issue, because migration is a very broad church. Migration has been good for the country. Many people have come to this country to work, to live and to rear families. Many are involved in the health services, technology companies, life sciences, hospitals, you name it. As was articulated earlier, many have lived here long enough that their children are growing up here. Those children are now facing challenges, notwithstanding that they are Irish citizens. They feel that, because of their ethnic background, they are being targeted by people. That is reprehensible and we need to be very clear about that and call that out. I have met with young people who have told me about their experiences of coming home from school or of being afraid to go into town because of their ethnic backgrounds. That is a real concern for us as a society. I think it is foreign to the values of our country and our people. Deputy Tóibín raised the issue of the young Ukrainian killed in Tusla accommodation. Again, the Deputy has to be careful with his language because he immediately went on to say that the Minister had questions to answer. There is an issue - the Deputy is right - for the international asylum process. I have to be careful in what I say but it seems that, on some occasions, adults can present as minors. However, it is almost impossible for someone in Tusla to tell. It should be remembered that this is not State care. The alternative here would be to allow people to roam the streets or to be on the street. What happened here involved that emergency accommodation for unaccompanied minors, insofar as Tusla could ascertain that they were unaccompanied minors. This is a general trend. There is a worry that, in trying to do the right thing - in this case, Tusla was doing the right thing - in creating emergency accommodation for unaccompanied minors to try to help, that is vulnerable to some adults in terms of ascertaining age and so on if someone is unaccompanied. I am not saying yet that that happened in this case because I have to await the outcome of the case, but it is not fair to blame Tusla entirely for everything to do with situations like this. That is too easy. Deputy Tóibín took exception to Deputy Coppinger's comments about the Aontú youth WhatsApp group but he did the exact same thing in dragging the Minister into it straight away.
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The Deputy did the same thing. He said the Minister had questions to answer. The Minister, to be fair-----
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There are policies that the Minister is certainly responsible for, but we sometimes also have to accept that people act in good faith. That is what I am saying. We should not rush to judgment against Tusla officials.
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I do not know whether there is.
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It is drawn to the attention of the authorities when there is an unaccompanied minor. They could be 17, 18, 19 or 20. They could be 15 or 14. I put it to the Deputy that people acted in good faith here and with the best intentions. What happened to that poor young child was horrific and shocking. There is no question about that. All I am simply saying is that the immediate rush to judgment and to attempt to blame is, I think, wrong. To respond to Deputy Mark Ward, I will talk to the Minister about Balgaddy. I think the Deputy raised it with the Commissioner. I think the Commissioner will act on that. The Deputy has properly raised the concerns of the community in terms of the need for visibility of gardaí but also the open drug scenarios that he has outlined and articulated. Again, I think Deputy Quaide's language was wrong. He used the phrase that I had "congratulated" the Independent Ireland-----
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I did not congratulate. The Deputy used the phrase "congratulated". I never used the word "congratulated".
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But why does the Deputy do that? Why-----
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If Mick Clifford wrote an article, he did, but it needs to be informed and evidence-based.
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I did not. This pejorative language, this attempt to label people, is a problem in the House. The left will condemn the far right and so on but it is not even prepared to allow people to have a discussion in the House on these issues. I think what they are doing is counterproductive, that is all I would say. I think it is counterproductive to shut down debate. I believe debate should be informed and evidence-based, but you cannot shut it down.
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When we say these things, that is wrong. I have my values in respect of people and ethnic background.
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That is all I am saying. I just think that there is too much of that going on. The Catherine Day report was based on the premise of 3,500 people coming in through the asylum programme on a yearly basis. That went up to 18,000 last year. It is down by close to 40% this year. There are issues around the asylum process. There is no point in saying there are not - there are. We have to have a robust and fair procedure. The acceleration of the first phase has happened and is happening. People are getting through the first phase of their applications and then they go and appeal. The focus is now on getting the appeals side done much faster so that we can get an outcome. A significant percentage of those who go through the whole process are judged to be economic migrants as opposed to those seeking refuge in accordance with the Acts and so on. If you say that, you are accused, but that is the reality if you examine the figures that come from the Department of justice on what is happening. However, we do have to accelerate the process, particularly on the appeals side after the first phase is done. Regarding Deputy Conway-Walsh, I will follow that issue up with the Minister for justice. Again, these can be very complex issues in terms of the rights of children. Historically, the Deputy is correct. Notwithstanding all of the legislation we have passed, the recent constitutional amendment went to the heart of this in terms of the prioritisation of the rights of the child in the kinds of scenario the Deputy has outlined in terms of coercive control, violence, including domestic violence, and so forth. In my view, the rights of the child have to be prioritised but sometimes those rights involve having some contact with parents as well. As Deputies, we all come across very complex family law cases where issues of access and so on constantly arise. However, I have sympathy with the position the Deputy has put forward and I will come back to her. I will also ask the Minister for justice to revert to her on the matter.
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I suggest that the Deputy write to the Minister for justice on that as well in terms of the British context and what is happening there. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan raised the redress scheme. The Minister has indicated that work is under way in respect of that. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy in respect of the survivors of the Stardust fire. A lot of progress was made on a redress scheme for the families and so on. We are now progressing further commitments in that regard. Regarding Deputy Boyd Barrett, I do not know the individual case. Fifteen years seems a long time to be here and then to be subject to deportation. Again, I would like to get the background and the details. Maybe we can-----
Sentiment score: 0.22
Yes, please, and send a copy to the Minister for justice. I will liaise with the Minister and talk to him in respect of it. Deputy Conor McGuinness spoke about an over-reliance in routine policing and how a garda had not been seen in Portlaw. Visibility is improving. More and more gardaí are being recruited. The numbers applying are up significantly. The issue is now about how to get as many gardaí trained as quickly as we possibly can to get out there on the ground and to improve their visibility.
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I propose to take questions Nos. 18 to 36, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on disability has been established to oversee the implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the area of disability, with specific focus on children's disability services as well as disability more generally under the Government's new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. Under the programme for Government, we are committed to delivering a step change in disability services and to advancing the rights and improving the lives of people with disabilities. To deliver on this, I established the stand-alone Cabinet committee on disability. This committee has met five times to date, most recently on 16 October, and it is due to meet again on 27 November. To date, the committee has considered issues including the new national disability strategy, the provision of therapists in special schools, improving the delivery of services and reform of the assessment of need process. Despite the committed efforts of so many working to provide services and significant increases in funding and resources in recent years, I acknowledge that we can and must do more and do better. I am determined that this will be a Government that moves forward with purpose in improving the level, scale and quality of support for disabled people and their families. The Government's new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, published in September, is the framework for our whole-of-government approach to addressing disability and advancing the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It represents our commitment and ambition that all disabled people in Ireland can live the life of their choosing and participate in their communities and our society to the fullest extent possible. In budget 2026, we took initial steps to deliver on this commitment through record allocations for disabilities services and special education. Reflecting the importance of disability issues, I have established a dedicated disability unit in my Department. An initial programme planned for the unit has been published, outlining how the unit will work to achieve this. The unit is already up and running, supporting the work of the Cabinet committee on disability and ensuring a truly all-of-government approach to disability.
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Which school?
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We are about seven minutes over time, is it?
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I will try to do what I can as quickly as I can.
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No, I am conscious of others. Deputy Dempsey raised the issue of transition from child services to adult services and that there was an absence of early planning for that. She also made the comment that parents were told that therapies would not be available in transition. That is not acceptable and respite should not be withdrawn. In the disability unit that I have established, a key workstream will be planning and designing for the future. There should be proper data and proper early analysis of expected need for services from primary to post-primary, from post-primary to adult or, indeed, continuing education or other aspects. That is where I want to get to and that is where we want to get to as a Government because there is no doubt - Deputy Ardagh has raised this as well, as have others - that the insecurity is shocking. It is very sad that so many parents – I have met them – have no certainty. Deputy Daly said it was a cliff edge, and it is for many. If one talks to some of the providers in the sections 38 and 39 organisations, they are all dealing with emergency cases. That is not satisfactory, so we have got to get a more planned approach to this transition. I think there are also issues in terms of the interaction between the sections 38 and 39 organisations and the Government and Government services and how that works. Many of those are under pressure as well, I have to acknowledge, but equally we have to work out the models and so forth. There should be proper databases outlining how many people are in a given service at a given time and what will the requirements be at a later date. There is that issue of creating a secure transition and that older parents in particular, senior citizens now, have a certain sense of security and knowledge well in advance that their children will be looked after in case anything happens to themselves. That is a very understandable human concern, which is not being met at the moment but that needs to be met. I am very determined that we would put services in place to enable that to happen. There is a fear there, as Deputy Ardagh said. She called for a national plan for this and that is something I am going to work on so that people will have that security. Other Deputies have raised that issue. We should be looking at a seamless transition, ideally. There is a link into housing as well in that respect, different solutions at different times in the journey of life that people can move to better accommodation, more suitable accommodation. We should have greater flexibility around that provision. There can be too many silos between different Government Departments in respect of that but we are working on it. That is what the Cabinet subcommittee is for, to do a cross-government, whole-of-government approach. Deputy Daly and others raised the income disregard and the cost of disability. The cost of disability will be looked at in the next budget and there is a working group established in relation to that. On the relationship between work and disability payments, there are some supports there for transitioning from disability, from the social protection system, into work in terms of the medical card and others. I think that can be strengthened and that those moving into work can be given greater certainty, more long-term certainty, that they will retain their benefits or whatever entitlements they have as they go into work. There have been improvements on the employer grant and so on but there is further work to be done in terms of giving greater security around that transition and encouraging people to go into work without fear of losing their health entitlements or the various other entitlements they have. Earlier during Leaders' Questions, we dealt with questions in respect of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I would say to the Deputy the Minister is this afternoon meeting with the parents. The Minister did look for a chronology from the HSE. The Minister has that. The CEO of the HSE shared that with the family. It is a draft because the HSE wanted the family's input into that. I dealt with the protected disclosure earlier on Leaders' Questions. The Minister did not see that. All protected disclosures do not go to the Ministers per se. The Minister has an obligation to establish a system by which it goes to the protected disclosure commissioner. That commissioner has the specific protected disclosure and is now going to deal with that. Without question, there is a meeting on between the Minister, the Tánaiste and the parents of Harvey, with a view to an inquiry. The precise format is to be determined. Deputy Coppinger had a similar question in relation to this. It is a fundamental question as to why Harvey was taken off a waiting list. There are clinical decisions clearly involved here that have to be examined and will be examined. Likewise, there are other, broader investigations and examinations of issues pertaining to CHI, as the Deputy knows. Some of them have come in and some have not. Overall, again, terms of reference have to be specific here. We can have statutory inquiries that can go on too long and do not give closure to families. I think there is a bit of work to be done yet and the Minister is meeting with the family in that regard. Deputy Murphy raised the issue of the cost of disability programme. I dealt with that earlier insofar as the next budget will be dealing with that. Once-off payments were two years. What we were determined to do in this budget was to increase the permanent payments within the social protection system, which we did, for example, and to enhance them as well and also, in terms of the carer's allowance threshold and income disregard, to increase that and we will eliminate that over the lifetime of this Government. We increased the domiciliary care allowance significantly. In terms of education, there are now about 46,500 teachers and SNAs working in our education system, committed to supporting and nurturing children with special educational needs. Huge numbers of special needs assistants have been appointed over the past number of years. There are about 400 new special classes in the budget of 2025, and about 2,700 new places for the 2025-2026 school year. Some of those school places are under construction and being put in place. A number of specifics have been asked. I will check those out with the Minister. I am not in a position to have knowledge of every single application from individual schools in respect of autism classes and so forth but I will follow those up with the Minister. I presume the Deputies are also engaging with the Departments in respect of that. On the assessment of need, the Cabinet subcommittee on disability did approve outline proposals for a change in legislation which will have to happen to prioritise the provision of services. Therapy services to children has been the number one priority in terms of the legislative objective of that. The access and inclusion model, AIM, is a critical intervention for early years in terms of disability, in response to Deputy McGuinness's question. I would make that point and that has been enhanced and improved and will be improved as a result of the recent budget. Deputies Quaide, Dempsey and Ardagh raised the issue of insecurity and worry for ageing parents of children with disabilities. I am very conscious of that and we will work to see if we can improve on that. I have dealt with the issue raised by Deputy Conway-Walsh. In response to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, I will check in respect of the school in Baldoyle. I do not have awareness of that. In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, again, I do not know the specific issue but I think it is an income threshold issue in terms of people marrying.
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I will have that examined. That is something that we can certainly look at. I will talk to the Minister for Social Protection in relation to that.
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Sorry. Again, I will talk to the Minister in respect of it. To be fair, this should be done at hospital level. It should be done properly through the clinicians properly engaging with the family and with the parents. There are liaison officers in CHI as well who should be-----
Sentiment score: 0.27
I will make the Minister aware of the case.
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There are about ten projects now that you have all mentioned. I am good but-----
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