1. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will support the introduction of protection orders for victims of sexual violence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54195/25]
Sentiment score: -0.02
The Minister may know that I introduced a Bill to the House in June, entitled the Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill. It was drafted by my office in response to discussions we held with a number of victims and survivors of sexual violence, who made it clear to me that having a provision to protect them after the release of the perpetrator of their attack would have a profound positive impact. Is the Minister inclined to support the Bill when it comes before the House?
Sentiment score: -0.27
While I welcome the statement by the Minister that he will at least consider the legislation, I can tell him, from speaking to victims and survivors with real-life experience, that there is a legislative gap in place. What this means in reality is that for many survivors of sexual violence their fear intensifies the longer the sentence of the person convicted of the offence goes on. They fear that on the release of the perpetrator they could end up having an encounter. They have told me about the impact this has on their lives and how they feel they are on a countdown to the release. In some cases these are people who have exerted control over them for many years as part of the abuse. In some cases there is genuine fear that a perpetrator would seek retribution. Does the Minister agree we need to empower victims and survivors of sexual violence and help them as much as possible to have a sense of safety and security to rebuild their lives? At the moment of the court case there is an opportunity to put in place a protection that will last beyond release.
Sentiment score: -0.24
The Minister is on the record as acknowledging the trauma often involved for victims and survivors going through the judicial process in the first place. The system essentially makes it necessary for them to go through it again to seek a protection order on the release of the perpetrator. This is why this legislation allows the victim and the State to put in place the protections at a much earlier stage. We have had many discussions on this. The committee was dealing with a miscellaneous provisions Bill last week and we heard victims again speak directly about the issue of counselling notes. This is something we need to deal with. What should happen for a survivor is that conviction is day one of rebuilding their lives. If it is day one in rebuilding their lives but a clock is ticking in the victim's mind counting down to the perpetrator being released, creating genuine fear, the success that might have been is undone. Is the Minister amenable to at least allowing the Bill to pass First Stage and Second Stage so that we can deliberate on the nuances in committee?
Sentiment score: -0.17
3. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if, following the issues identified in the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding the management of international protection accommodation contracts, he will initiate a full and thorough look back review into the way in which public money has been spent on IPAS accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54196/25]
Sentiment score: 0.18
The Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report contains a chapter on asylum accommodation that details a litany of issues in respect of the management of contracts for IPAS accommodation. As the Minister of State will know, the State is due to spent approximately €1.2 billion on such accommodation this year. The report is what I would call a damning indictment in terms of due diligence and cost controls. Will the Government now initiate a thorough review of how public money has been spent on IPAS accommodation?
Sentiment score: 0.03
That was a long way of saying the Government does not plan to carry out a full review of every single contract. A full review is required. As the Minister of State rightly said, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report deals only with a sample of contracts. From this, it has found that pre-contract due diligence records were significantly incomplete. In more than a third of the cases examined, invoice rates were not clear and could not be verified as signed contracts were not available. There was clear evidence of substantial overcharging in some instances, and the pre-payment checklist used by IPAS did not include a check to verify the correct capacity or occupancy. The Minister of State cannot simply argue we will be doing what is required in the future and that we were under pressure in the past. This is about a substantial amount of public money, taxpayers’ money. It has enriched a very small number of individuals and companies to the tune of millions of euro and in the process caused tension and anger across communities. As a result of the damning findings in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, is anybody going to be held accountable? The only way somebody can be held accountable is if every single contract is examined for flaws. Without that, the public can have no confidence that there will be any transparency.
Sentiment score: -0.03
None of that is good enough. Every single week, we hear about another scandal in respect of an IPAS contract. Huge sums of money were paid to people with no track record and there is no explanation as to why this was the case. We do not get these revelations from the Minister of State’s Department, by the way; it is usually journalists who give us information that is in the public interest and that we as a House should have control over. Take, for example, the most recent issue, that of Ryevale House in County Kildare. We found out through the media that the company in question, which has secured a substantial IPAS contract, cannot even provide water. In fact, according to newspaper reports it is alleged the company is actually robbing public water from a fire hydrant. How does that happen? How do we have circumstances in which somebody named by CAB as potentially involved in gangland crime can get an IPAS contract? How do we allow a system that sees a company move from having a café making a profit of €2,000 to paying the directors almost €5 million in wages? We need to ask these questions. If experience tells us anything, it is that if we do not tackle the misuse of public funds at source, with full transparency, mistakes will be repeated time and again.
Sentiment score: 0.05
How is the Ryevale House issue arising now?
Sentiment score: 0.00