Matt Carthy
Cavan-Monaghan · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I move amendment No. 1: To insert after "on 2nd July, 2026": "and: further calls on the Government to provide that the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme shall apply only to: — existing recipients with respect to the beneficiaries of temporary protection currently benefitting from the scheme where those beneficiaries of tempor…”
“10 reads, "In page 5, line 31, after “section 2” to insert “or section 3”." Section 3 criminalises recording, sharing or publishing an intimate image without consent where it seriously interferes with a person's privacy or causes alarm, distress or harm to them.”
“In terms of the legislation, as well as the breadth of the issues covered in the Bill, the other problem is the number of amendments the Minister has introduced on every Stage on new and unrelated matters that just have not been discussed in this House at all and will not get discussed here because of guillotines being applied and the Min…”
“It is not an additional punishment to be included on the register. As has been said, this is just about having a mechanism whereby the constitutional diktat that justice should be done in public is actually made available. This is not an additional punishment. It is actually a protection for others.”
“We must bear in mind that the vast majority of domestic violence offences and abuses never make their way to court. Most of them never result in a complaint. When complaints are made, most of them never see a file being sent to the DPP. Even when that happens, most of them never actually make it to court.”
“She made the point that when a woman, in the majority cases we are talking about women, goes to a Garda station to make a complaint about domestic violence you can virtually bet your life that it is not the first instance of domestic violence that she has encountered.”
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“In some cases, an appointment is offered fairly quickly and there is a pattern of a number of appointments within a short period of time. Then it all starts again; radio silence. Of course, that is because the CDNT is under huge and immense pressure and it is trying to juggle all of the competing demands of families who are in very stressed situations. My call on the Minister of State this morning is to ensure there is a direct intervention at every CDNT level. First, to decide whether the structure of the current CDNTs within each region is fit for purpose, whether the level of service delivery is up to the standards any of us expect and that those families would deserve and, second, to ensure adequate resources are within each CDNT. I mention particularly the issue of staffing allocations because there is clearly a problem.”
“Although I have not received the information, I suspect the situation is worse in County Cavan because the numbers of parents who are contacting my office at absolute crisis point is increasing all the time. In County Monaghan this is an issue that has been getting steadily worse in respect of the length of time people are expected to wait for appointments and then the routine in which appointments are offered. There is a pattern with many families who contact me; I am sure it is the same for other Deputies and elected representatives. The families contact us to let us know they are waiting on OT, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy or other appointments in some cases for years without hearing a dickey bird. They contact our office and we contact the CDNT.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here. Last week, the Dáil debated the motion in respect of the assessment of need scandal, as I would describe it, where Government is flagrantly breaching the law on a daily basis in terms of providing assessment of need for children with disabilities in particular. What might have got lost in that scandal is that for many families of children who have received assessment of need, their battle only starts there. In Monaghan and Cavan we have CDNTs that are at crisis point. In March, in a response to a parliamentary question I received from the HSE, it was confirmed at least 12 posts were unfilled. These ranged from social workers, speech and language therapists, psychologists, OTs and across virtually every discipline.”
“I welcome the fact that the Government has increased its contributions to organisations such as UNRWA. However, unless we make a real stand that has a real impact on Israel, all of that will count for nothing. We have to enact the occupied territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill. We have to be sure that not a single bullet passes through Irish airspace on its way to Israel and, yes, we have to stop any suggestion that our Central Bank is being used to funnel funds to the IDF. The Minister has to support this Bill because it will be beyond shameful if the Irish Government does not do so.”
“I have said on multiple occasions in this House that Israel would continue to do what it is doing until the world forces it to stop. I was actually so far wrong, it is unbelievable. Israel has not continued to do what it was doing. What we are actually finding out is that the failure of the world to say "Stop" has resulted in Israel becoming even more depraved, gruesome and inhumane in its actions. There is now such a moral gap across the world precisely because nobody said, "Stop". It gives me no great gladness to say that we are all part of the global failure. Yes, the Government has done some very positive things, such as joining the ICJ case taken by South Africa, intervening in the genocide convention. That was a meaningful intervention.”
“It should not have been necessary but it has all been vindicated today. Above all, I hope that you Lucia and Jim, and Gemma, and Pia, Amy and Hannah, know that you have done Shane proud. I hope that your grieving process can start properly today. I sincerely hope and pray that you can all at last find the peace you deserve and the peace and comfort that, I know, Shane would want for your all.”
“The publication of those documents would be a signal that the Government's words of today will have meaningful effect and I hope that happens. I mentioned that I regret that I have gotten to know the O'Farrell family so well but in another sense I am so proud to have gotten to know them over the years and to have joined them for a small part in their journey. Lucia O'Farrell is a force of nature. I am sorry, Lucia, that it has taken so long for you to get to this point but I want you to know that you have touched the lives of so many people over the past 14 years. You have been an inspiration, in particular, to others who seek truth and justice for their loved ones. I hope that you know that today would not have happened were it not for your efforts - all those meetings, letters, emails and countless hours of investigation and reading.”
“They did everything that they did for Shane, above all - there is no doubt about that - but they also did it to ensure that no other family would ever have to go through what they had and that will be the test of the words of Government today. The Minister can direct that the GSOC section 103 report, entitled "The Public Interest Report", into Shane's case be published in full. He should also direct that the file that we know exists relating to Zigimantas Gridziuska, held by the Garda National Crime and Security Intelligence Service, be published because many people, myself included, believe that Zigimantas Gridziuska was an informer and that he was permitted to wreck havoc because gardaí prioritised the protection of their source above all else.”
“I have come to realise that there is nothing more powerful because it was not any of the State investigations, not the Garda, the courts or the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, or GSOC, or IRM or the scoping exercise, that found any of the failings that have been outlined here today. In some instances, in fairness, it was the media, "Prime Time" and The Ditch , in particular, but, in virtually every instance, it was the tenacity, determination and intelligence of Shane's father, Jim, Shane's sisters, Gemma, Pia, Amy and Hannah, and, above all, Shane's mother, Lucia, who found the answers that brought us to today.”
“Was he just the luckiest criminal to ever walk the earth or was it something more sinister? For 14 years, they have sought answers from the State and for 14 years they have been stonewalled at every turn. They endured a seven-year GSOC investigation, an 18-month independent review mechanism process and a four-year scoping exercise, none of which delivered answers and all of which fulfilled what, I suspect, was the intention to delay and frustrate the O'Farrell family's quest for truth, but they could not succeed because Government after Government failed to appreciate or understand the formidable opponent that they had pitted themselves against. Lucia O'Farrell today told me that she is just a 67-year-old mother trying to get justice for her son.”
“He even ended up imprisoned in the North for a time and nobody seemed to notice. The Courts Service also managed to mislabel papers to Gridziuska's advantage. Any one of multiple failings, if it had been set right, would have ensured that Shane O'Farrell would be alive today. Even when he was in court after he killed Shane, gardaí did not object to bail. Zigimantas Gridziuska walked free again. Upon his conviction after Shane's death, the judge offered Mr. Gridziuska a choice: either serve a prison sentence or return home to his family in Lithuania. The simple question that Shane O'Farrell's family have been asking ever since is: how could that be? Why is it that, regardless of the crime, the man who killed their son and brother could simply not be jailed?”
“Time and time again, he committed crimes in Ireland. Time and time again, he walked free from theft, drugs and traffic offences. In 2008, 2009, 2010 and throughout the first half of 2011, he was repeatedly arrested and repeatedly brought to court and, repeatedly, he walked free. He committed hundreds of bail violations. Whenever he was returned to courts, gardaí failed to notify the presiding judges of the facts of this man's criminal rampage. They mislabelled evidence and failed to tell the courts of outstanding warrants. When a judge demanded that further crimes result in a return to his court, gardaí, it seems, simply ignored the call. Despite a bail condition to sign-on daily at Garda stations, Gridziuska managed to carry on as if that condition did not exist.”
“He had an amazing ability to avoid consequences for breaking the law in Ireland, such as the moment, less than an hour before Shane was killed, the car in which Mr. Gridziuska was travelling was stopped by the Garda. There was no tax, no NCT and the insurance had been secured fraudulently. Driven by one known criminal, the passengers comprised of other known drug dealers, including Gridziuska, but there was no search, no arrests or no seizure of the car. Gridziuska was told to take the steering wheel and then he drove on down the road to hit Shane O'Farrell, throwing him over the bonnet of the car, leaving Shane to die on the side of the road before driving on into Carrickmacross, hiding the car and going to bed. A few years before that, Gridziuska had arrived in Ireland with 12 convictions from Lithuania.”
“The shadow of an unbearable grief was to become the constant backdrop to their lives but they were also set to become formidable campaigners for truth and justice and today is their vindication. Today is a welcome acknowledgement by the Government that this family was right in their campaign. No longer can their assertions of State failures be described or dismissed as allegations. It is an indisputable fact that Shane O'Farrell was failed by the State resulting in his death and that his family were failed by the State every day since. The man who killed Shane O'Farrell should not have been at liberty on 2 August 2011. Zigimantas Gridziuska lived what has been described as "a charmed existence".”
“To use that Irish phrase, I knew Shane O'Farrell to see but I had never spoken with him. It is one of my regrets that I did not get to know the man in life that I now feel I know well - the good-looking, talented, popular young man from my home town of Carrickmacross. Conversely, I regret that I have had to get to know his family so well. I regret that because it is only because of what happened to Shane on a summer's evening in August 2011. Prior to that, Jim and Lucia O'Farrell were the quiet dignified parents of four daughters and their beloved son. They caused no offence to anyone. They were model citizens. They were the definition of a perfect Irish family. Their lives changed forever when Zigimantas Gridziuska killed their son.”
“This means that 88% of the plastic collected under what is called an environmental scheme is actually being shipped to locations throughout the world. Does the Tánaiste accept this is environmentally ludicrous and goes against the principle of the scheme? Will he, as Tánaiste, along with the Taoiseach knock whatever heads need to be knocked together to sort out this scandal?”
“The deposit return scheme is the scheme through which people pay extra for their drinks in bottles and cans, to be reclaimed afterwards from machines that are usually in supermarkets. It is described as a circular economy initiative. We are told it is about helping the environment. Why then is so much of the plastic that is collected needlessly shipped out of Ireland? There is a company in this State that can recycle the plastic. It is Shabra Plastics and Packaging, which is based in my constituency. It creates local employment, contributes to the Irish economy and provides an environmentally sound point to recycle the plastic collected in Ireland. Here is the scandal. By June this year 17,000 tonnes of plastic will have been collected under the scheme but only 3,400 tonnes of it will have been recycled in the State.”
“As we are discussing the budgetary allocation for the Department under this motion, it would be appropriate if the Minister addressed this issue and, in particular, whether he will make additional funds available to address this very real problem impacting the safety of victims of domestic violence, whether he will increase the fees to solicitors on the District Court family law solicitors panel to address the crisis and whether he will look at District Court case fees for private family law proceedings and introduce an additional payment for each subsequent adjournment. I am told the absence of an additional payment in these cases for subsequent court appearances is part of the problem in terms of why solicitors are not taking up this work. I would welcome some impetus in the Minister's response.”
“It is not something that can be put off while everything moves at a snail's pace in the Department. The Minister told me recently that he had received the report of the review group of civil legal aid chaired by former Chief Justice Mr. Frank Clarke and that it was being examined. It is three years since this review was initiated. We need urgency. The specific issue I raised needs to be addressed regardless of the wider recommendations of the report.”
“They have to be rejected by three solicitors before they can go back to the Legal Aid Board. This is a crazy barrier for those seeking to break free of domestic violence. There is worrying anecdotal evidence that many are giving up and returning to abusive and sometimes very dangerous situations. From the Minister's response last week, I am concerned that there is not an acknowledgement of the urgency of the issue for those who need legal aid to secure barring orders. There is no use in the House talking about zero tolerance on the one hand and, on the other, referring to a review of civil legal aid that was established in 2022 when we ask for immediate action on the problem. The kind of response we have been receiving shows no understanding of how big a step it is for someone to seek a barring order.”
“Those seeking to secure a barring order who have a civil legal aid certificate are not able to secure legal representation because of the fees paid to solicitors. There are simply not enough solicitors who will take on the work because of how the fees are currently structured. From responses to parliamentary questions I received this week, it is clear that the number of practitioners on the District Court family law solicitors panel has fallen significantly in most counties over the past year. The overall number of solicitors on the panel went from 528 in January 2024 to 377 in January this year. In Dublin, the number fell from 115 to 85, from 44 to 31 in Galway, from 78 to 60 in Kildare and from 62 to 50 in Wicklow. People working in this area tell me the system just does not work for victims of domestic violence.”
“I urge the Minister to turn it on its head and inform local elected representatives as soon as negations or conversations take place in respect of these sites. Otherwise, it will get to the point where virtually every empty building in the State will be subject to a query to the Department. Let us be upfront with elected representatives and, just as important, communities. As we are dealing with Revised Estimates for the Department, I also raise with the Minister an urgent matter related to budget allocations. I raised this issue with him during questions last week. As we speak, domestic violence survivors are being denied access to justice because of problems in accessing civil legal aid.”
“I believe it takes 2.5 years on average for non-accelerated procedures. I hope the Minister will indicate this at some point, but we need a plan for the end of the temporary directive in respect of Ukrainians. It is called "temporary" for a reason. A plan is needed for when that directive ends in March that moves beyond emergency measures for a medium-term and long-term approach that recognises all of the realities. There is also a need to rethink how information about IPAS accommodation is provided. I thank the Department for answering panicky emails from me and other elected representatives over the past couple of days. Every time a workperson shows up at a vacant site, somebody is on social media saying it is an IPAS centre and then we have to run to departmental officials to seek clarification.”
“The Minister will agree that, for months, there was a sort of dichotomy where one Minister answered questions on migration-related issues while another took the political lead. As an Opposition spokesperson, it was hard to get clarity on things like the accommodation recognition payment and, particularly, the impact on the private rental sector. I hope this Minister will be more forthcoming. As the Minister said, the whole area of accommodation in respect of international protection and the temporary protective directive has reached huge levels - I believe the Minister cited €1.2 billion as the anticipated spend for this year. Even from a purely financial point of view, it is imperative that we ensure we get better at dealing with things. Decisions are still taking too long, particularly when appeals are involved.”
“As the Minister said, the motion regarding the further Revised Estimates for public services, Vote 24, just relates to the transfer of functions to the Department of Justice. Had committees been established in a more timely manner, as they should have been, this motion would have been properly dealt with by the justice committee. Ach buíochas le Dia tá an coiste dlí agus cirt bunaithe anois agus ba mhór an onóir dom a bheith ceaptha mar Chathaoirleach. Bhí ár gcéad cruinniú againn inné agus táimid réidh le dul i mbun oibre. On 1 May, responsibility for integration, international protection and Ukrainian accommodation transferred from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to the Department of Justice. I welcome this transfer. I hope it will improve accountability for migration issues.”
“It is crucially important that we ban the practice of top-up payments under the ARP, particularly unregulated top-up payments that have nothing to do with throwing a few euro towards the cost of electricity or groceries in a family home but are, rather, I suspect, additional payments being made to landlords tax-free. I urge the Government and all Members of this House to support the amendment.”
“That is why Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment to the motion to ensure the following steps are taken to address the fundamental elements of the unfairness within the ARP prior to any further payments being made under this scheme. Just to be clear, our amendment calls for an end to the scheme for new entrants. It confines the ARP to primary residents, in other words, people who are housing people from Ukraine in their homes, something we have repeatedly said is very commendable and that should be supported, but does not displace the private rental sector. We have said quite sensibly that the ARP should be means tested, as is the case with every other housing assistance payment.”
“We are simply told that the proposed reduction in payment seeks to mitigate against unintended impact on the private sector but we do not know if any of these reports have looked at the impact on top-up payments, as I have mentioned, that have been permitted alongside the ARP. Let me be very clear. All the reports on the ARP impact on the private rental sector must be published without any further delay. This is taxpayers' money, a lot of it, being paid under a scheme and it is absolutely unfair and quite disgraceful that we are being expected, as Members of the Oireachtas to stand, speak and vote on motions such as this one without any access to information that is within the gift of the Government to share.”
“We are also told there is a record dated 26 February this year entitled Impact of ARP on the Rental Market. What we do not know is what any of those reports actually say because in the first instance the Minister of State refused to acknowledge they existed and now he is refusing again to admit there is any impact on the private rental sector. It was only in response to a parliamentary question last week that the Minister for Justice, who has now assumed responsibility for the ARP, explicitly acknowledged that the ARP was impacting on the private rental sector. However, all we have is the Minister's understanding of the indicative findings. We have not had sight of any of this research.”
“That is very interesting because the Government was at pains to deny that there has been any impact on the rental sector at all when Sinn Féin repeatedly raised these problems. There is an issue with an absolute lack of transparency from the Government regarding what analysis or documentation it has regarding the impact of the ARP on the private rental sector. What we do know is that there are a number of reports in existence but FOI requests for access have been refused. We are told there is a record dated 30 September of last year entitled Accommodation Recognition Payment and Potential Impact on the Private Rental Market. We know there is a record dated 14 February this year entitled ARP and the Impacts on the Private Rental Market. That was a paper prepared for the Taoiseach, we are told.”
“That is what makes this scheme divisive, deeply unfair and why, in our view, it should be ended for new entrants. It should be means tested, as all other housing supports are, and the practice of permitting top-up payments should be banned. In addressing the problems with the scheme, we are clear that obviously there should be no cliff edge that would put anyone at risk of homelessness. There is an important distinction to be made between those who are housing families in their own homes and landlords in the private sector who are availing of the ARP. The Government has to acknowledge that distinction as well. The Government has said this reduction is to mitigate any unintended impact on the private rental sector.”
“We have a situation where, uniquely within the private rental sector, unregulated payments are being made, with no way of knowing what level they are, whether they are genuine payments towards costs incurred or whether they are top-up rental income being paid tax-free to landlords concerned. The motion before the House today can only be described as a missed opportunity because there was a chance to address a number of key problems with the scheme that make it inherently unfair, including allowing for top-up payments and, crucially, for the introduction of a means test. We can have a situation where one person who is availing of this scheme could be employed in a well-paying job and, because there is no means test as there is in every other rental support scheme, they are availing of this subsidy.”
“That puts other renters, including people who might be on lower incomes or in a more precarious situation, at a severe disadvantage as the scheme has incentivised landlords, particularly when there is a new property, to rent their properties to Ukrainians under the scheme, especially where there might be lower rents traditionally. The tax-free payment is going to be reduced to €600 but it is hard to know what difference this will make. The Minister has essentially not only refused to state that Government will ban the practice of top-up payments but has defended that system.”
“It is acknowledged that at the beginning this scheme was an emergency measure to support those who opened up their own homes to people fleeing war, which was commendable. What we have increasingly been seeing is landlords in the private sector availing of the ARP because in some areas it is financially advantageous for them to do so compared with renting to other potential tenants. It is important to say that it frees landlords of the obligations they would have to tenants under formal tenancy agreements, which is something that some landlords unfortunately see as advantageous. Currently, we know that the State is paying landlords €800 per month, tax-free, to accommodate a person from Ukraine here under the temporary protection directive.”
“This motion reduces the accommodation recognition payment from €800 to €600 but it does not deal with any of the other issues regarding the ARP which need to be addressed. As the Minister of State alluded to, Sinn Féin has repeatedly highlighted issues of unfairness with the Ukrainian accommodation recognition payment scheme that the Government has simply, again, ignored. For far too long, members of this Government have essentially stonewalled anyone who pointed out that the scheme was impacting on the private rental market, particularly in counties that might traditionally have lower rents. There was a point-blank refusal to deal with this issue on numerous occasions when Sinn Féin raised it.”
“I move amendment No. 1: to insert after "on 14th May, 2025": "provided that future financial contributions under Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) Scheme shall only be paid after the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 has been amended to provide for the following: — existing recipients with respect to the beneficiaries of temporary protection currently benefitting from the scheme where those beneficiaries of temporary protection have satisfied a means test similar to those applicable for other housing assistance payments; — new applications who propose to host a beneficiary of temporary protection in their property which is also their own primary residence and who have not availed of the Rent-a-Room Scheme in the previous 12 months; ensuring that the ARP does not further distort the rental sector; and — recipients who are not in receipt of any additional or 'top-up' payments from a beneficiary of temporary protection.".”
“Tonight, we are once again treated to all the contradictions and contortions. The message is very clear: for all the rhetoric, the message from the Government is that the families of children with disabilities will have to keep fighting every day. The message back is equally clear: fight they absolutely will and we will stand with them every single step of the way. Disability rights were hard won. They will not be given up regardless of whatever spin is put on them. The message to the Government is clear; stop breaking the law.”
“It is Ireland's disability services under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, propped up by the lackey Independents who are all too happy to blame the HSE rather than the Government they support.”
“I have also seen, however, the heartache of those families who are literally begging anyone who will listen for the services that their children need. I have seen the teenagers who have not advanced to their full potential for no other reason than they were let down by the Government and were denied the services they needed when they needed them. I have stared at the formulaic, bureaucratic, frankly insulting responses from Monaghan and Cavan CDNTs that blandly state that an OT, speech and language, physiotherapy, psychological treatment or assessment of need that those children require is subject to a waiting list. They say sorry for the long wait but we expect an appointment some time in the next few years. It is Ireland at its worst.”
“In the case of Governments that ignore that law, however, which are forced through the courts, found guilty, still ignore the law and, rather than upholding the right, come up with the ingenious solution to simply get rid of the right altogether, that is Ireland at its worst. I have dealt with hundreds of families in Cavan and Monaghan where parents are fighting every day for their children with disabilities. I have seen the absolute love they have for their special children and the unquenchable love they get in return. I have seen communities rally around them and their demands for respite centres and a special school. I have seen workers in the sector going beyond the call of duty for those children. That is Ireland at its best.”
“This is a bizarre debate full of contradictions and contortions. Essentially, we are discussing a motion endorsed by the combined Opposition that, in its most simple terms, asks the Government to stop breaking the law. The Government states it will not oppose the motion but no, it will not actually stop breaking the law. Anyone who has interacted with disability services in Ireland will understand the contradictions. When it comes to disability in Ireland, it is Ireland at its best and at its worst. A Disability Act that guarantees children with disabilities the right to an assessment of need within six months is Ireland at its best.”
“If we want to address the myriad of issues facing our farming families and all of the other societal challenges we must face, we need a fair CAP and to ensure farmers get fair pay for their product and that there is fair play in the overall agrifood system.”
“To make matters worse, the Government tried to play a three-card trick and is still doing so. It is trying to claim that there is more money in CAP than there was previously. When speaking to any farmer, he or she will say that is absolutely not the case. Through carbon taxes and other measures, the Government has been robbing farmers and pretending that some of that money will be reinvested. We have a system where those schemes that are important, are environmentally beneficial and assist farmers in making the transitions required and that everybody accepts are required are being rolled back, becoming more difficult and bureaucratic to draw down or, worse still, are unpaid despite commitments to the contrary.”
“We often forget that the network of farming families across this island provide us with a number of services and, crucially, with the food we eat. That is what CAP is. It is a payment to our farmers for the services they provide. The crucial and pivotal problem that we, our farming communities, our rural communities and the towns and villages that depend on farmers have faced is that farmers are getting paid less for the service they provide while at the same time being asked to do more across a raft of areas. In 1973, the CAP comprised 73% of the European budget. By 2017, it had fallen to just 37%. In the most recent multi-annual budget, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael negotiated a further reduction to 30%. This is an unforgivable act, especially given that Ireland was operating as a net contributor and the CAP was a pivotal programme.”
“In response to the last Deputy, I know she is very passionate about these issues but it is important this House reminds itself that Irish and EU farmers adhere to the highest and strictest animal welfare and environmental water quality standards of any farmers anywhere in the world. That is not say that in all of those areas we do not need to go further but we must recognise that when we talk about our farming community, we are talking about working class low-paid workers. In fact, there is nobody who gets paid less per hour than the average Irish farmer. I would contend that the parties of the left need to work with farmers to address all of the many issues in which respect which we depend on farmers.”
“We all need to have a handle on why some members of An Garda Síochána have left or feel they have no choice but to leave. Will the Minister review the system whereby his Department refuses parliamentary questions relating to the work of An Garda Síochána and cites the Act that was passed just last year for doing so? This House needs to hold the Minister and his agencies to account. We cannot do that if the Department is refusing to engage. I ask the Minister to revise the current position.”
“We can talk about statistics, but the reality is that there have been 55 retirements and 31 resignations from An Garda Síochána in the past two months alone. We know that 1,640 gardaí will be eligible to retire over the next five years. The Minister spoke about some more recent work, but we know that prior to the commencement of exit interviews within An Garda Síochána, the GRA carried out its own research in 2023 with existing members. It found that members felt burnt out and stressed, were weighed down by administration, lacked the resources to be effective and were critical of the standard of training they received throughout their time in An Garda Síochána. The Minister has alluded to what some of the more recent research has found. Does he agree that the Dáil needs to be furnished with that research?”
“Does the Minister plan to revise or review the fees that are in place, perhaps creating an additional payment for additional court appearances? Quite simply, the issue needs to be addressed.”
“I wish to ask a supplementary question to Deputy Moynihan's question. It is in respect of an issue that has arisen for many domestic violence survivors who are having difficulty in accessing civil legal aid, those who perhaps want to take out a barring order against an abuser. They have a civil legal aid certificate but are not able to secure representation because, quite frankly, solicitors will not work under the terms that are in place. People who work in this area tell me there is a particular problem, an anomaly, whereby somebody who is in that position has to go to three separate solicitors and get refusals before they can go back to the Legal Aid Board. Anecdotally at least, people simply give up and go back to the situation they were in.”
“To give some reassurance, can the Minister of State point to any instance where an IPAS contract has been withdrawn or cancelled as a result of any of the checks and balances that he has outlined here today?”