I, too, express my sincere sympathies and condolences to the family of Garda Kevin Flatley on the truly horrific circumstances of his passing. I attended Henry Street Garda station in Limerick earlier on this week to sign the book of condolences and spoke to the Garda chief subsequently to convey our feelings and thoughts to his colleague and the Garda community up and down the country. I thank the Deputy for his question. The Department is leading an ambitious programme of reform outlined in the first family justice strategy, which sets out a vision for a system refocused on the needs and rights of children, who are central to many family justice matters. The implementation of more than 50 actions across nine goals contained in the strategy will lay the foundation for this reformed system. One will assist families to resolve their family justice issues in as straightforward a manner as possible. The Family Courts Act 2024, which was passed in both Houses of the Oireachtas last November, is a key component of the strategy. The legislation provides for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures: a family high court, a family circuit court, and a family district court. Judges who have specialist training or experience in dealing with family law matters will be assigned to the family courts divisions on a full-time basis. Importantly, the Act contains a set of guiding principles for the family court system, making the best interests of the child a primary consideration in the conduct of all family law proceedings, operating in an efficient and user-friendly manner and encouraging active case management by the courts. As committed to in the programme for Government, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, intends to publish an implementation plan for a new family court system by the end of January 2026. He has established an implementation team within the Department which is currently concluding a period of initial stakeholder engagement. This has included an interactive workshop at the recent Family Justice Development Forum, which provided an opportunity to gain further insight into the perspectives of a broad range of family justice stakeholders on the development of an implementation plan. Alongside this work, preparations are in train for the construction of a purpose-built family law court complex on Hammond Lane, in Dublin.
Sentiment score: 0.33
As regards judicial resourcing, the Judicial Planning Working Group was established in 2021 in line with the previous programme for Government and submitted its report in February 2023. This led to the appointment of 24 additional judges in 2023 and Government approval for the appointment of an additional 20 judges in October 2024. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, intends to request the Judicial Appointments Commission to initiate the selection processes for these judges later this year. Taken together, these two sets of appointments represent an increase of approximately 25% in the number of judges in Ireland. As regards the specialisation, which the Deputy queried, the Family Courts Act provides for the new positions of principal judges of the family high court, the family circuit court and the family district court to be created as specific assignments. The principal judge of each of the family court divisions will manage the business of each of those divisions.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I will revert to the Deputy on the commencements. Our intention is to ensure that the new family law courts are sufficiently funded. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is very conscious of the need to resource the new family law courts system and we are committed to ensuring that it is properly funded to deliver meaningful reform. In budget 2025, the Department of Justice allocated an additional €11 million to the Courts Service, €3 million of which is earmarked for the children's court advocate project, which will support children in their journeys through private family law proceedings and provide information ensuring that their voice is heard.
Sentiment score: 0.46
The Deputy is right about the issue he has raised. It is something I and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and indeed the Department, are aware of. It is my understanding that a submission is being made to the Department on that and it will be given due consideration. We do recognise it absolutely as a serious issue.
Sentiment score: -0.04
I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to improving outcomes for young people at risk of a life of criminality through investment in youth justice services. Our commitment is clearly outlined by our youth justice strategy. A top priority of the strategy is the expansion and deepening of the services offered to young people by youth diversion projects. These projects are community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives which seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime or antisocial behaviour and to support wider preventative work within the community and with families at risk. They are funded by our Department under the youth justice strategy and run by community-based organisations. On average, the projects engage with about 4,000 young people across the State in any one year. Funding for youth diversion projects and other youth justice measures has increased substantially in recent years, doubling from €18 million in 2020 to a total allocation of just over €36 million in budget 2025. This is supporting an increase in the availability of youth diversion project services in the evenings and at the weekends when many young people need these services. It will facilitate an increase in supports for families, interventions for disadvantaged young people and early interventions for eight- to 11-year-olds who may be at increased risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity. There are 93 YDPs available throughout the State and a further two have been established and are due to be up and running in north Tipperary and east Clare later this year.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I mentioned there were two new projects being stood up in east Clare and north Tipperary. That confirms we have full national coverage for youth diversion projects. Of the 93 projects, three operate in County Meath. Of the three Meath programmes, the ones in Navan and Duleek in south-east Meath are operated by Foróige and the SMART Project in Trim is operated by the Crann Support Group. In total, these projects will benefit from funding of approximately €1.4 million in 2025. This represents an increase of over €800,000 from the year 2022. I have a table here where the Garda has outlined to us the number of annual referrals made to its youth diversion programme in the Meath-Westmeath Garda division for the past five years. I will furnish the Deputy with those in due course.
Sentiment score: 0.20
The community safety fund is currently open for applications and is funded by the proceeds of crime seized by CAB. As the Deputy correctly said, the idea is to make available those proceeds to communities that have been impacted by crime. I will revert to the Deputy on his specific query, as I am not in a position to give him an answer about it now.
Sentiment score: -0.24