Jim O'Callaghan
Dublin Bay South · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“This relates to section 69 of the Bill as passed by Dáil Éireann, which amends Schedule 5 to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 to add the Courts Service to the Schedule.”
“The first four amendments in this group are minor drafting corrections. They corrected the wording in four places so that the Bill reads consistently. It is changing the word "references" to "a reference". They make no change to the substance or effect of the Bill.”
“The ARP scheme was introduced in July 2022 to recognise the generosity of members of the public who opened their houses, whether in their entirety or through the provision of a room, at their own expense to provide shelter to people displaced by the Ukraine war. The Department of Social Protection administers the scheme on my behalf.”
“I have no doubt it will be challenged, and I have to be able to convince a court, if it is being challenged, that this legislation weighs up conflicting interests and recognises there is a mechanism for somebody who has reformed himself to get off the register.”
“The scheme has been a lifeline for people from Ukraine displaced by the conflict, given high rental market rates and scarcity of rental accommodation.”
“I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in the first instance for presiding over these Stages of the legislation. I am very pleased that this legislation has been enacted. I want to thank a few people very briefly. I thank Deputy McAuliffe for introducing me to Jason Poole. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for her work on this issue in the Seanad.”
The complete record
Every one of 4,181 lines we hold for Jim O'Callaghan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 68 of 84.
“The elected Members of this House and the Lower House are making a determination as to whether we opt in to these measures, and I am asking them to permit opting in under Article 3. Senators Kelleher and Byrne made contributions in respect of the immigration and asylum processes. There is no doubt that immigration has served this country well but when it comes to immigration, we also need to recognise that we have to have rules. No country in the world has an immigration system that does not have rules. All I am trying to do is achieve a controlled immigration system. Asylum is a small part of the immigration system. Tens of thousands of people come to Ireland every year on work permits, thousands come to Ireland each year on student visas, thousands come for holidays and individuals come seeking international protection.”
“I want to see a turnaround time of three months between the hearing of the application at the IPO and the determination on appeal in the second instance. The IPO has become considerably faster. It is very efficient. I need to introduce the same efficiencies into the appeals board. In the past couple of weeks, I have appointed 36 new members to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, which will have the effect of speeding it up. Bhí mé ag éisteacht leis an Seanadóir Conway. Dúirt sé go bhfuil Éire in áit cosúil le "Tadhg an dá thaobh". That is a bit unfair. We have an option in terms of Protocol No. 21, which was agreed many years ago, whereby we could opt in to justice and home affairs matters if we decided to. Some Members have asked what we are doing about sovereignty. This is us exercising Irish sovereignty.”
“I listened to the Senators very carefully and I thank them for their contributions. I will try to respond to the points they raised but if I miss a point, I apologise. Senator Gallagher asked a couple of succinct questions. He asked how many people have sought international protection in Ireland to date this year. The answer is 6,000 in the first six months of the year. It was considerably lower than last year. In 2024, 18,500 people sought international protection in Ireland, while in 2022 and 2023, the figure was 13,500. Looking at the figures, I believe that this year's figure will be lower than in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Senator also asked how many applications had been processed this year. The answer is 9,475. Of those applications, 81% were refused or ruled inadmissible. The Senator asked what the turnaround time was.”
“In respect of the fourth measure, which is the returns measure, I need to consider more what is going to happen in the European Commission and if it looks like Article 4 of Protocol No. 21 is the most preferable way to get into it, I will be back here at some date in the future looking for approval to opt in under Article 4 should Ireland be permitted to get into the returns regulation.”
“Given there are approximately 87,000 Ukrainian people in the country it would put extraordinary pressure on our system, specifically the IPO and IPAT, if that were to occur. It is important for Ireland to opt in to all these proposals to ensure Ireland's immigration system is robust, but also effective and efficient. Opting in to the three measures I am seeking approval for would also underline Ireland's commitment to EU values and its support for the EU's migration system and would demonstrate Ireland's continued solidarity with our EU partners. I thank the Cathaoirleach and will briefly state again I am seeking the approval of Seanad Éireann to permit Ireland to opt in to the three measures before the House under Article 3 of Protocol No. 21. That will enable us to participate before the legislative measure is finalised.”
“The proposed Council recommendation will not be binding in nature; rather, it is an important tool to support a co-ordinated EU-wide exit from temporary protection. Providing a roadmap for an orderly exit from temporary protection, this recommendation is essential to meeting one of the key objectives of activating the temporary protection directive, which is to protect the member state's international protection system, while acknowledging that many persons enjoying temporary protection have been in the Union for several years. We need to take into account that if we decided to just end temporary protection, the strong likelihood is every Ukrainian person here would simply decide to apply for international protection.”
“Given the inherent temporary nature of the temporary protection directive it is accepted that even if the war in Ukraine remains protracted, temporary protection must come to an end; otherwise it is no longer temporary protection. The Commission has published a proposal for a Council recommendation on a co-ordinated approach to the transition out of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine. The four sets of measures I have outlined promote the transition into other legal statuses before the end of temporary protection, ensure smooth and sustainable reintegration in Ukraine, ensure the provision of information to displaced persons and enhance co-ordination, monitoring and exchange of information among member states and Ukrainian authorities to monitor and support reintegration efforts.”
“The particular manner of Ireland’s participation is still under discussion with our EU counterparts, given the complexity of the hybrid legal basis issue. The issue will be formally discussed by all member states in the relevant working group next Monday, 8 July. I am going to reflect on that discussion and if the emerging consensus is that an opt-in under Article 4, instead of Article 3, of Protocol No. 21 would be preferable, I will instead ask officials to pursue that path and will subsequently be back before this House seeking approval at a later date for an Article 4 opt-in. In respect of the other proposal before the House, on 4 June 2025, the Commission published a proposal for a Council recommendation on a co-ordinated approach to the transition out of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine.”
“Opting in under Article 3 of Protocol No. 21 would, as I said, allow Ireland to influence the proposals during the legislative process, giving potential to mitigate any aspects of the proposals may cause difficulties for us. On 11 March 2025, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union. Opting in to this proposal would demonstrate Ireland’s commitment to a common EU-wide solution to migration, which is already evidenced by our opting in to the pact. The returns proposal has been constructed by the Commission as a hybrid measure with both a Schengen and non-Schengen legal basis to facilitate the participation of Ireland and Schengen member states and Schengen-associated countries.”
“One is that the concept can be applied based on transit through a safe third country before reaching the EU. The other is on the basis of an arrangement or agreement with a safe third country ensuring the examination of requests for effective protection in that country. As the EU intensifies efforts to establish an effective and safe migration policy, it is important Ireland is strategically aligned with fellow member states on a multilateral basis to benefit from opportunities and address challenges. Ireland's strategic role in relation to migration decisions will be strengthened through its participation in migration measures at EU level. A decision to opt in to these proposals would demonstrate Ireland’s commitment to a common EU-wide solution to migration as evidenced by our opting in to the EU migration pact.”
“This allows member states to determine an international protection application is inadmissible when the applicant could receive effective protection in a third country considered safe for the applicant. Currently, I may, by virtue of section 72A of the International Protection Act, designate by order a country as a safe third country. As I said, the only country so designated under our legislation is the UK, which includes the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The asylum procedure regulation will govern the safe third country concept at an EU level when pact measures come into effect and when the international protection Bill is enacted by these Houses in June 2026 or beforehand. Under the proposed amendments, the connection criterion will remain, but there will be two further alternatives.”
“I am seeking permission from the Seanad to avail of our opt-in procedure under Article 3 of Protocol No. 21 which will allow us, as Senators will know, to get actively involved before the procedure is finalised and put in place as a regulation. The second motion concerns a different proposal concerned not with safe countries but "a safe third country". At present, under section 72A of our legislation we can designate another country as "a safe third country". To date, we have only done it in respect of one country, namely, the United Kingdom, which includes the Isle of Man. However, on 20 May 2025, the Commission published a proposal for a regulation amending the asylum procedure regulation as regards the application of the safe third country concept.”
“The countries we designate safe are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Malawi, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia and South Africa. When one compares the countries identified in our national legislation as safe countries with the countries proposed to be designated safe at EU-wide level, one will note the EU list contains three countries that are not on the Irish list, namely, Colombia, Türkiye and Tunisia. The agreement of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level would contribute to the objective of enhancing co-operation on return and readmission as part of the comprehensive approach to migration set out in the migration pact. That is the proposal in respect of the safe countries of origin at EU level.”
“The possibility for member states to designate countries as safe countries of origin at national level is retained and will be retained into the future. It is proposed to designate all EU candidate countries, which are currently Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine, as well as Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia as safe countries of origin at Union level. As I mentioned a moment ago, under section 72 of the International Protection Act 2015, I as Minister for Justice can make an order designating a country as a safe country of origin. To date, that has been done by me and my predecessors in respect of 15 countries. The 15 countries we have designated as safe overlap to a certain extent with the countries proposed at EU-wide level.”
“On 29 April 2025, the Government approved my proposal that we draft a new international protection Bill, which would, in effect, transpose into Irish law the measures contained within those European Union regulations and directives. The reason I am here is that on 16 April 2025 the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation amending the asylum procedures regulation as regards the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level. This regulation provides for the first time in EU law for the possibility and conditions to designate safe countries of origin at Union level. As the Cathaoirleach will be aware, we already do that at national level pursuant to section 72 of the International Protection Act.”
“It is important for Ireland to opt in to these three proposals to ensure Ireland's immigration system is robust but also effective and efficient. Opting in will underline Ireland's commitment to EU values and support for the EU's migration system. It would demonstrate Ireland's continued solidarity with our EU partners. It would also show that we have a harmonised agreed approach in response to the big challenge of asylum applications in respect of Europe in the 21st century.”
“What we do not want to do is to completely disrupt our system of international protection, which is working faster at present, by telling the 80,000 or 90,000 Ukrainian people who have temporary protection they no longer have it and they would then have to apply for international protection. That is the reason it is appropriate to have a harmonised and co-ordinated response by the European Union to how temporary protection should end. We do not want to see a situation where people from Ukraine in different EU countries are looking around saying let us head to Ireland or Czechia as there are better services there, or there is more preferential treatment in one country over another. We want to ensure that there is a harmonised response across the Union to how this process is terminated.”
“Everyone recognises because of its name that temporary protection cannot go on forever. It must come to an end. However, it would be extremely dangerous if Ireland were to adopt a unilateral approach and to say we should just bring temporary protection to an end for ourselves. The effect of that would be the 90,000 people from Ukraine who are in Ireland at present would all apply for international protection. We have managed to get the numbers of people seeking international protection down in Ireland significantly from where they were last year. For the first six months of this year, there have been approximately 6,000 applicants. In total, last year there were 18,500 applications. We are on target to have a lesser number than was the case in 2024 and, indeed, in 2023 and 2022.”
“Providing a roadmap for an orderly exit from temporary protection, this recommendation is essential to meeting one of the key objectives of activating the temporary protection directive, which is to protect the member state's international protection system, while acknowledging that many persons enjoying temporary protection have been in the Union for several years. The third proposal before the House today seeks to get the permission of Dáil Éireann to permit us to opt in to those proposals in respect of temporary protection. One thing I am certain of when it comes to temporary protection that was granted in respect of persons fleeing Ukraine is that there must be a co-ordinated response by the European Union to how that temporary protection should come to an end.”
“The four sets of measures promote the transition into other legal statuses before the end of temporary protection, ensure smooth and sustainable reintegration in Ukraine, ensure the provision of information to displaced persons and enhance co-ordination, monitoring and exchange of information among member states and Ukrainian authorities to monitor and support reintegration efforts. The proposed Council recommendation will not be binding in nature; rather, it is an important tool to support a co-ordinated EU-wide exit from temporary protection.”
“Colleagues are aware that on 4 June 2025, the Commission published a proposal for a Council recommendation on a co-ordinated approach to the transition out of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine. Given the inherent temporary nature of the temporary protection directive, it is accepted that even if the war in Ukraine remains protracted, temporary protection must come to an end. The Commission has published a proposal for a Council recommendation on a co-ordinated approach to the transition out of temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine.”
“In respect of the returns proposal, what I am stating is that I want first to have engagement with the European Union to see what the consequences would be of opting in under Article 3, and what the benefits or consequences would be of opting in pursuant to Article 4. I will be in a much better position to make a determination on that after Monday. If the advice I receive is that an opt-in pursuant to Article 4 is more favourable to Ireland and is preferable, I will come back to this House to seek permission to opt in, probably next year or late this year. I will now deal with the third proposal that is on the agenda for today, which concerns temporary protection. I am also seeking to get the permission of Dáil Éireann to permit Ireland to opt in to this Council recommendation on a co-ordinated approach.”
“The returns proposal has been constructed by the Commission as a hybrid measure with both a Schengen and non-Schengen legal basis to facilitate the participation of Ireland and Schengen member states and Schengen-associated countries. The particular manner of Ireland’s participation is still under discussion with EU counterparts given the complexity of the hybrid legal basis issue. The issue will be formally discussed by all member states in the relevant working group next Monday. I want to reflect on the outcome of that discussion, and if the emerging consensus from that discussion among member states is that it would be preferable and more beneficial for Ireland to seek an opt-in under Article 4, instead of Article 3, I will then ask officials to pursue that path. I will seek the approval of the Houses regarding same in due course.”
“It is the case that historically and recently, Ireland has availed of Article 4 more than Article 3. Before I go on to deal with the other opt-in I am seeking the permission of Dáil Éireann to carry through, I refer to the return regulation, an issue that had originally been listed as a legislative proposal which I wished to get the permission of Dáil Éireann to opt in to under Article 3. On 11 March 2025, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing a common system for the return of third country nationals staying illegally in the European Union. Opting in to this proposal would demonstrate Ireland's commitment to a common EU-wide solution to migration which is already evidenced by our opting in to those other measures which make up the pact.”
“At this stage I should pause and say that, as Members of the House will be aware, when it comes to Protocol 21 there are two options available to Ireland. We can opt in under Article 3, as I am proposing here in respect of the safe third countries and safe country of origin measures. We also have the power to opt in under Article 4. The difference between opting in under Article 3 and Article 4 is that under the former, we participate in negotiations and play a significant part in trying to get agreement for the outcome and conclusion of the legislative proposal. When it comes to Article 4, however, we see the finished proposal and then decide ourselves whether we wish to opt in to it. There are advantages and disadvantages in respect of both.”
“It is important and advisable that a country such as Ireland should seek to align ourselves and harmonise our approach with other EU countries. Ireland’s strategic role in relation to migration decisions will be strengthened through its participation in migration measures at EU level. A decision to opt in to these proposals would demonstrate Ireland's commitment to a common EU-wide solution to migration, as evidenced by our opting in to the series of EU legislative proposals that I outlined earlier. Opting in to this safe third country proposal under Article 3 of Protocol 21 would allow Ireland to influence the proposals during the legislative process, giving potential to mitigate any aspects of the proposals that may cause difficulties for Ireland.”
“One is that the concept can be applied based on transit through a safe third country before reaching the EU. The other is on the basis of an arrangement or agreement with a safe third country ensuring the examination of requests for effective protection in that country. As the EU intensifies efforts to establish an effective and safe migration policy, it is important that Ireland is strategically aligned with fellow member states on a multilateral basis to benefit from opportunities and address challenges. We have seen what happened when the United Kingdom decided to respond to illegal migration of its own accord by leaving the European Union. Things have got considerably worse for that country in terms of illegal migration.”
“This allows member states to determine an international protection application is inadmissible when the applicant could receive effective protection in a safe third country, considered safe for the applicant. Currently, by virtue of section 72A of the 2015 Act, I can designate by order a country as a safe third country. Only one country to date has been designated under the 2015 Act as a safe third country, namely, the UK including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The asylum procedure regulation will govern the safe third country concept at an EU level when measures come into effect in June 2026 with the enactment of the international protection Bill. Under the proposed amendments, the connection criterion will remain, but there will be two further alternatives.”
“That is the first motion, seeking the approval of Dáil Éireann for permission for us to opt in pursuant to Article 3 of Protocol 21 to the EU-wide list of safe countries of origin. The second proposal and second motion concerns another matter which is referred to as "safe third countries". Safe third countries are different from safe countries of origin. Safe countries of origin are the place from where the applicant emanates. Safe third countries are places to which an applicant from another country may go or may be returned to. On 20 May 2025, the Commission published a proposal for a regulation amending the asylum procedure regulation as regards the application of the safe third country concept.”
“Comparing the list of countries that Ireland has designated as safe under section 72 with the proposal for the EU-wide list of countries, we see there is considerable overlap. The only real difference is that on the EU list, there are three further countries, namely, Turkey, Tunisia and Colombia, which three countries have not yet been designated by Ireland as safe countries of origin. The agreement of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level would contribute to the objective of enhancing co-operation on return and readmission as a part of the comprehensive approach to migration set out in the proposed new international protection Bill and in the other EU legislative proposals contained within the pact.”
“That would continue alongside the national power that Ireland and all other member states would retain to designate their own list of safe countries. As I have stated, under section 72 of the 2015 Act, I can make an order designating a country as a safe country of origin. To date in Ireland, 15 countries have been designated by us as safe countries of origin under section 72, namely, Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Malawi, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia and South Africa. It must however be noted that the application of section 72 will not be affected by the proposed amendment to the asylum procedures regulation I am seeking permission to opt in to here.”
“Members will be aware that under section 72 of the International Protection Act 2015, Ireland is entitled to designate countries as safe countries of origin for the purpose of the asylum application process. That statutory power will remain when the new Bill is enacted next year. What we are seeking to do here is recognise that parallel to that will be an EU system whereby the EU can designate countries as safe. The current proposal of the EU is to designate all EU candidate countries as safe. These countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine. It is also proposed at EU level to designate the following non-candidate countries as safe: Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia.”
“The purpose of the new Bill is to reform the system of asylum applications in Ireland and ensure we are transposing into Irish law the requirements of our membership and the agreement to take on board the content of the migration pact. On 16 April 2025, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation amending the APR as regards the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level. This relates to the first of the three motions. The APR provides, for the first time in EU law, for the possibility and conditions to designate safe countries of origin at Union level. The possibility for member states to designate countries as safe countries of origin at national level is retained. This, in particular, is something I wanted to emphasise.”
“Ireland has an option when it comes to opting in. It can opt in pursuant to Article 3 or pursuant to Article 4. With respect to the three motions before the House today, I seek the permission of Dáil Éireann to permit Ireland to opt in pursuant to Article 3, which gives us an opportunity to get involved in the negotiation of the legislative instrument before it is finalised. In 2024, Ireland opted in, under Article 4 of Protocol 21, to seven non-Schengen measures of what was referred to as the migration pact, including the asylum procedures regulation, APR. On 29 April 2025, I brought before the Government a memorandum seeking Government approval for the drafting of a new international protection Bill to replace the current one, which has been in place for ten years.”
“The Chair will be aware that the central priority of the Government is to have an immigration system in the country that is robust and in which the people can have confidence. Ireland is committed to supporting and advancing the development of a common European system of asylum to provide a consistent, fair and efficient asylum procedure in ordinary times and also in times of crisis, which we certainly saw last year when 18,500 people came to Ireland seeking asylum. For this reason, I ask that the House approve the three motions before it this afternoon, which seek permission to allow Ireland to opt into the three proposals in the field of international and temporary protection. The Chair will also be aware that the legal basis on which we seek to opt into these proposals is pursuant to Article 3 of Protocol 21.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 as regards the establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union level, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 16th May, 2025. For the convenience of colleagues who may not be here but who may be watching the proceedings on a screen, I will probably not take the full 35 minutes.”
“Partnerships will not be set up as individual separate satellites where they operate independently without recourse to what is happening in other areas. The office in my Department will play a crucial role in ensuring that we see a harmonised and effective role throughout the country. There is no reason these cannot succeed and as Minister for justice, I am committed to seeing them succeed.”
“When they are set up, we will look at them. We should not say in the first instance, "Let us start reviewing them." Let us get them up and running. Let us get them operating effectively and successfully. Everyone here wants them to succeed and I know that the partnerships themselves will want to succeed. If we manage to get this right, it will be a major step forward in terms of just raising issues of concern at local authority level. That is where the issues are really highlighted. This will provide a really useful mechanism to raise issues of concern relating to policing, housing and health. There will be a statutory office in my Department with responsibility for the overview of the partnership scheme.”
“Of course, I will be keeping a close eye on them and there will be an assessment after a period of time as to the extent to which they are succeeding and achieving the objectives that we all want to see them achieve. The Deputy asked about the process for the HSE and Tusla to nominate people. In the first instance, those bodies will put people forward and that will be the process by which individuals from those organisations come onto the partnerships.”
“I note what the Deputy has said about the JPCs, which did a lot of good work. Like me, the Deputy is a former member of a local authority. At stages, they could become very formulaic, with many gardaí, including senior gardaí, sitting there and just engaging directly with local elected councillors on very specific issues. Many of the issues raised at JPCs were issues the Garda could not answer because they related to issues such as housing, health or childcare in terms of the role played by Tusla. There will be a benefit in having a broader range of people on the partnerships. The Deputy asked if we would be reviewing the partnerships' operation.”
“There will be a facility for Members of the Oireachtas to attend at least one meeting. Each newly established partnership is required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work so that issues arising can be dealt with in a co-ordinated manner and addressed collectively. Each partnership will have the ability to consider the local landscape. As Minister for justice, I intend to keep a close eye on their being established and to ensure they succeed in their work.”
“As I said previously to Deputy Currie, they will have a direct involvement in trying to address many of the issues faced by local communities. The legislation is entitled "Policing, Security and Community Safety". It is not all about policing; there has to be community safety as well. The Garda cannot always deliver it on its own. That is why I welcome that the partnerships will include local councillors and representatives from the HSE, Tusla, the local authority executive, business, education and many others, obviously including An Garda Síochána. As outlined in the regulations, the safety partnership may hold as many meetings as required but must meet at least six times a year, including one public meeting and one meeting for local authority members and Oireachtas Members.”
“I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, last week, I signed the regulations for the local community safety partnerships, which came into operation on Monday, 30 June. A total of 36 partnerships can now be established across the country, with partnerships in each local authority administrative area. That means there will be five in Dublin. Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and supported by a full-time co-ordinator and administrator. The chair will be elected from among and by the membership of the safety partnership. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is my intention that the local community safety partnerships will now be established as soon as is practicable throughout the country. They will replace and build upon the excellent work that was done by the JPCs and will bring together a broader range of people.”
“I will leave An Garda Síochána, the Commissioner and the senior staff to make a determined calculation as to where they wish new Garda recruits to go. They are the best-positioned people to determine it and they assess all the factors. Just because a Garda recruit does not come to a station direct from Templemore does not mean that stations such as Blanchardstown do not get people transferred there.”
“I agree with the Deputy regarding the K district in Blanchardstown. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Blanchardstown Garda station and had the pleasure of meeting the gardaí there. They do excellent work. It is a very demanding and busy station. The Deputy mentioned that I needed to get involved in directing the Garda Commissioner as to where Garda numbers should go. I will not do that. If I start doing that, it will then become a very politicised system whereby the Garda Commissioner simply responds to where the Minister wants gardaí to go. Where will that lead us in the future, if the Minister or Ministers of State ask for lots of gardaí to be put into their constituencies or to have more? I will not do that.”
“Each local community safety partnership will be supported by two full-time permanent staff within the local authority. Each partnership will be led by a voluntary chair and vice chairperson who will be elected from among the membership. It is my intent to start meeting these partnerships. It is very important that all of us, and me in particular, start selling them and telling people about the benefits that come from them.”
“I will be taking an active role. It is an important time and occasion, now that these regulations have been signed and are being rolled out. The community partnerships will not be on their own trying to formulate their own guidance because, as I said, there will be a National Office for Community Safety, which is a statutory office that will be based within my Department. That office will be providing guidance for the partnerships with overlapping areas. Such collaboration can include exploring opportunities for joint initiatives, shared resources and joint meetings as well. As laid out in the regulations, each local community partnership may have up to 30 members. Mandatory members will include representatives from the local authority, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive and the Child and Family Agency.”
“I want the Deputy to be aware, in terms of her own constituency and, indeed, all other constituencies, that within my Department there is the National Office for Community Safety. It will have a responsibility in terms of providing guidance to local community safety partnerships as to how they should deal with issues in the area.”
“The Deputy will be aware, from the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, that community safety requires multi-agency co-operation. That is why the legislation specifically requires that we have not only gardaí and elected representatives from the local authorities on it, but also people from the HSE or Tusla, in order to recognise that many of the issues that arise do not only concern policing, but also relate to community safety and community partnership. Deputy Currie raised the issue in respect of her area in terms of her constituency of Dublin West. There is an issue there because administrative boundaries require that certain areas fall into neighbouring LCSPs but the overarching aim is to maintain a co-ordinated place-based response to community safety needs.”
“If I am answering the wrong question, my very vigilant Ministers of State will tell me I am doing something wrong. The Deputy is correct in stating that last week, I signed the regulations giving effect to the local community safety partnerships, LCSPs. They came into force on Monday of this week. As the Deputy will be aware, much work has already been done in respect of local community safety partnerships, but now we have the regulations in place and people will be aware that we have to put in place these partnerships as they are an essential part in ensuring that the public in those particular areas are served. The regulations outline clearly how the safety partnerships will operate in practice and will ensure that each partnership operates with transparency, focus and strong local engagement.”