This is my first engagement with the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh. I wish her well in her role and look forward to more engagements with her, particularly in respect of youth justice, which is an area in which I have a lot of interest. I look forward to working with her from the Opposition benches in a tangible and constructive way. As my colleague said, the Bill provides for engagement and information sharing between the office of the director and An Garda Síochána, Coimisiún na Meán and other bodies. We are seeking provision for the same engagement with the DPC. Some concerns were expressed at the committee regarding the way the Bill has been rolled out. I will not rehash all the arguments that have been made already, including by me on Second Stage. The manner in which the Bill has been brought through the Houses of the Oireachtas has seen Second Stage taken yesterday, with us going straight to Committee Stage today without the proper pre-legislative scrutiny that was needed. It may be that there is no need for the DPC to have a role in this but we do not know that because we did not have the time to tease out that question. We did not have proper scrutiny of the Bill. In that context, I support my colleague's amendments to provide for an ongoing engagement with the DPC.
Sentiment score: 0.23
Having an annual report on something that is new - a new Bill, a new operation or a new entity - is an absolute no-brainer just to see how things are working. We have no idea of the scale of cost of this and where it will end up. Based on the bit of information we got at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage, it is starting with 29 staff. It could be dealing with up to 300,000 orders each year and there are some suggestions that the staff number could rise to 150. Will 150 be the maximum number of staff in this new body? Do we expect 300,000 orders a year or could that rise? There is the potential for this to be a runaway train. We do not know where it is going to end up. That is why I am saying that having an annual report to report on how many staff are coming in and the cost of it is a no-brainer and it will give us the evidence to see if we need to put more resources into it. The office may have more resources than it needs and we might be able to deploy those resources somewhere else where they are really needed. I also have concerns about the impact on our court system, which is already bursting at the seams. Nothing I have heard so far, yesterday on Second Stage or at the pre-legislative scrutiny, has given me any confidence that this operation will not put any additional pressure on our court system. Does the Minister of State have any evidence that the court system will not be unduly impacted by all of these orders coming in? In relation to the annual report we are asking for, and in addition to the costs, the staffing levels and the other matters that were outlined by Deputy Carthy and me, the annual report could provide the evidence of how this is impacting on our court system. Having an annual report on something that is new is a no-brainer. It is best practice for anybody bringing in something new at the very start. Whether a small or medium-sized enterprise, a multinational or a government, when bringing in something new, there should be an annual report to see how things are working. The Minister of State should consider it.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I thank the Minister of State for giving us some sort of clarity that there will be an annual report. I refer to the process yesterday and today. We were here yesterday for Second Stage and the senior Minister got up and gave his opening statement. We all stood up and asked him some questions we were hoping would be referred to in his concluding remarks. Those questions were not answered, however, because another Minister for State came in and did not address the specific questions we had asked. No offence to the Minister of State, but we have another Minister of State here today. There is no consistency with this whatsoever. The Minister of State expects 24,000 orders per year will be processed by this body and she hopes to have 20 staff in place by the end of the year. I do not know how long these orders are going to take to process but, if each of those staff members will be processing orders and will not be there for other administration purposes, that is 1,200 orders each member of staff will process per year. How long does the Minister of State reckon it will take to process one of these orders? There seems to be a really big burden on the staff the Minister of State is hoping to recruit. I ask for clarity on that.
Sentiment score: 0.11
If the Minister of State has the information, in relation to the 20 members of staff and the 24,000 orders per year they are going to be processing, how long will each of these take to process? Does the Minister of State think that is going to be a burden on the staff?
Sentiment score: -0.22
I will have to get my calculator and work out how long it is going to take. Maybe that could be in the annual report also.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I move amendment No. 10: In page 21, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(9) Counselling records in relation to sexual offence trials shall not be processed under this Act.”. We have had extensive engagement with the Minister in recent weeks in the Dáil regarding the disclosure of counselling notes in trials. I appreciate that the Minister has moved somewhat on the issue but I will take the opportunity to ask him to move further and meet the needs as outlined by survivors with whom we have engaged. This gets to the core of the concerns regarding this Bill. It involves what happens with a court case in another jurisdiction regarding an alleged offence when it is known that a counsellor has electronic records of counselling notes. An order is received by a service provider in Ireland that provides online storage facilities. Is the Minister of State willing to stand over legal protection for survivors of domestic, sexual or gender-based violence that is less than what we provide for people in Ireland? The Minister of State might say that the legal systems here are different and have different safeguards and that would be true but is she willing to stand over whichever legal system in the EU may provide the least amount of protection to survivors-----
Sentiment score: 0.05
Time is up. That is not the first time we have had discussions and time has run out.
Sentiment score: 0.00