1. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of gardaí who attested in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20732/26]
Sentiment score: 0.20
For all the rhetoric, there has actually been very little progress made in tackling the Garda recruitment and retention crisis. There continues to be a severe over-dependence on overtime for routine Garda work. Considering the significant challenges gardaí will face this year, will the Minister inform the House of precisely how many gardaí attested in 2025?
Sentiment score: -0.14
The Minister stated he wants to reach 5,000 attestations over the lifetime of the Government. It does not take much deduction to realise that 619 gardaí attesting in the calendar year of 2025 remains way below what is needed in order meet that goal. That number will come as a surprise to many people, especially when they have heard so much about the fact that over 11,000 people applied to join An Garda last year. That points to a crisis. It certainly points to a failure. Despite the welcome increase in the intakes into Templemore, there has to be a recognition the numbers are still nowhere near where they need to be. What is the Government going to do about this? What additional measures are going to be put in place? We have outlined proposals to increase both the training allowance and the number of training places and to encourage gardaí who have left the force to rejoin it. Has the Minister done any of those things?
Sentiment score: -0.01
Of course we want to see more gardaí across all the regions, but we also need to address the failure in terms of numbers. In that context, I am sure the Minister will accept that there is far to much reliance on overtime for routine police work. We have far too few community and roads policing gardaí. We are in what is probably an unprecedented year, with the EU Presidency and the upcoming Ireland-Israel UEFA Nations League game, which, unfortunately, is still going ahead. We still have the potential of a visit by Donald Trump in September. The Minister mentioned the representative organisations. My understanding is that the Garda Representative Association, GRA, has threatened to refuse voluntary overtime as part of its dispute. An Garda Síochána has classified more than 40 events that will need to be the subject of major security operations during the Presidency . If we are going to rely on overtime for those, it will invariably mean that there will not be enough Garda visibility in areas outside of Dublin. What assurance will the Minister provide to communities that these additional responsibilities for gardaí will not leave their areas under-policed when the events to which I refer are taking place?
Sentiment score: -0.05
2. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding all discussions he has held with British authorities on the implementation of the EU migration and asylum pact and its impact on the common travel area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20733/26]
Sentiment score: 0.18
I was watching in for parts of the Seanad debate on the International Protection Bill. I was interested in, but not a bit surprised about, the failure, either in the Bill or in the EU migration and asylum pact, to have due consideration for the common travel area. The latter was a dominant part of the debate. What discussions has the Minister had with the British authorities regarding the pact's implementation and its impact on the common travel area?
Sentiment score: -0.17
We can have our opinions on Brexit. In fact, I am sure we would agree on many points. However, we would also need to agree on the fact that Brexit is a fact of life and that we find ourselves in a unique position. It is a fact that no other state which has signed up to the EU migration and asylum pact is also part of a common travel area with a state outside of the Union. The Minister has repeatedly made the claim, as have other Ministers, that the majority of international protection applicants enter the State via the common travel area. In fact the Minister's review of Protocol 21, which was published last year, acknowledged that the opt-outs we had to things like the migration pact were important in order to maintain the common travel area. The Minister referred to discussions he has had with British Ministers. Correct me if I am wrong, but I did not hear anything about either a fundamental change or a new bilateral agreement being on the cards. Does the Minister not accept that this is what is required between this Government and the British Government if we are to have an asylum process that works?
Sentiment score: 0.15
You can try, Minister. That is what I am asking. What efforts have been made? I will touch on the designation of Britain as a safe third country. Let us assume the figures the Minister has given are accurate, although a lot of work needs to be done on the collection of data as to where IP applicants are coming from. Section 220 of the International Protection Bill 2026 requires the Minister to be satisfied that any proposed safe third country fully meets EU standards, particularly in relation to non-refoulement and access to a functional asylum system. Will the Minister outline the assessments that his Department has carried out as to the prospects of Britain meeting these criteria and how these will be assessed? Has analysis been carried out as to what happens if Britain does not meet statutory and EU requirements or if a legal challenge to such designation in the courts were to be successful? The Minister will agree that if the figures he has cited are anywhere close to the reality, this would create huge problems, which could potentially derail the entire system he intends to implement.
Sentiment score: 0.26
4. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will establish a historical investigations unit, as proposed by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Committee on the Administration of Justice, to allow for independent police investigations into unresolved deaths and incidents of torture or ill-treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20734/26]
Sentiment score: 0.27
I am sure the Minister's office is even more inundated than mine in respect of this matter. Anybody who has ever been a member of the justice committee will have dealt with a huge number of outstanding legacy issues relating to the ongoing legacy of the Garda heavy gang, unresolved cases relating to the conflict and other historical investigative failures. How we have dealt with those matters has been a matter of much debate. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Committee for the Administration of Justice proposed the establishment of a historical inquiries unit. That proposal merits consideration. Is the Minister considering the establishment of such a unit?
Sentiment score: 0.43
Of course, there are a range of historical cases. I am talking about cases in this State in respect of which justice and accountability have not been delivered. There are well-known cases of collusion and cases relating to the legacy of the conflict. The actions of the Garda heavy gang need to be addressed, particularly as those involved were central to a number of miscarriages of justice. The 50th anniversary of the Sallins case is approaching. There was no accountability for the actions of the gardaí involved in those events. The Kerry babies case is an outstanding area of concern. Little or nothing has been done regarding a number of conflict-related events, including the killing of Eddie Fullerton, the Dublin Airport bombing, the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the case of John Francis Green in my constituency. All of these cases cast a shadow in terms accountability and give rise to an ongoing burden for the families involved. The Irish Government has supported the establishment of an historical inquiries unit in the North. Why will it not do the same in this State?
Sentiment score: 0.05
That answer speaks volumes. Let me be clear: every family that lost a loved one deserves truth and justice. I say that without equivocating or engaging in whataboutery. Let us deal with the Sallins case. Anyone looking at the detail of that matter can see that the investigation was rotten from start to finish. People's confessions were coerced, and that undermined the justice system. The problem is that, under the current framework, the Minister can just say that he does not think there should be a public inquiry. It should not be up to him, me or any other politician to decide which families are entitled to truth and justice. We should have a stand-alone mechanism for people, regardless of their background, the amount of money they have or their level of political influence. If individuals are entitled to the truth, they should have recourse to get it. Otherwise, how do we not create a scenario whereby there is the potential for political favouritism and a feeling that some people are entitled to truth and justice and others are not? That is why the proposal from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Committee for the Administration of Justice warrants consideration.
Sentiment score: 0.20