Niall Collins
Limerick County · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“We believe that EU membership is about being aware of the advantages of membership and making sure these are understood by the public. We want to encourage the Irish public to participate in that national conversation.”
“On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank the Deputies for raising these important issues. On 1 April, the Road Traffic Control of Certain Vehicles Regulations 2026, known as Grace's law in memory of Grace Lynch, were signed into law.”
“The Department of Transport is examining the issue of mandating the use of protective equipment for e-scooters and e-bikes along with other road safety-focused measures. Proposals in this regard are under consideration by the Ministers. The Department is also considering the matter of registration for e-scooters.”
“The strategy, A Career for EU, aims to improve Irish participation and success rates in EU recruitment processes for institutions such as the European Commission, the European Parliament and over 50 EU agencies.”
“They already benefit from significant Exchequer-funded rent supports through the housing assistance payment or rental accommodation scheme and, critically, must comply fully with the housing standards for rental houses regulations.”
“The timetable for implementation of all new and enhanced services is subject to funding, operational readiness and capacity. The public transport sector is currently experiencing a significant workforce shortage, particularly among drivers and mechanics.”
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“There is a commitment within the programme for Government to provide for increased prison spaces, as she knows. Much investment has gone in over recent years to create additional prison spaces. Her points were very well made. It goes back to some of the youth diversion programmes and putting in place the proper front-line services to help people who suffer addiction and who suffer from mental health, like the CAST programme that is being piloted in Limerick that tries to intervene with people and recognise the issues and challenges they have to try to keep them away from the custodial system. At the same time, however, we have be real about it as well. We have a growing population, and with a growing population there will be a greater prevalence of crime.”
“There is a commitment in the programme for Government, as Senators will note, to devise, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, a national rural safety strategy. That will put another added focus on the issue of rural crime. Senator Cathal Byrne mentioned unexplained wealth. I think it goes without saying that one of the most successful units within An Garda Síochána is the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB. It does outstanding work to identify, investigate and recover the proceeds of crime. Every Garda division has a CAB unit - a CAB officer and a CAB office. They do good work and they are quite successful. They should be supported. Senator Tully mentioned mental health, community supports and addiction issues in the context of prison spaces.”
“It is something that needs to be worked on day by day and you need the manpower to do it. That, again, falls back to the Garda recruitment campaign, which is under way to try to encourage people in. People mentioned an expanded Judiciary. It is within the programme for Government to appoint more judges. We have to appoint more family law judges. We need more judges in the appeal courts to try to speed up the hearing of cases and the processing of cases because, as we all know, justice delayed is justice denied. We need to ensure we have a unit within the courts related to planning law. As we know, there are many issues. That was one of the outworkings of the new planning Bill, which was enacted just before the general election. Rural crime was mentioned in relation to the IFA.”
“She mentioned quite rightly the number of heroin detections in Galway city. I used to find the JPC was terribly helpful with that, and the new community safety committees will have a huge role in that. The issue of antisocial behaviour in our urban settings was raised by Senator Mary Fitzpatrick and other speakers. It is a big challenge. We have it in all the big urban areas of Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Galway, where people are begging and carrying on in an antisocial behaviour manner and fashion. It comes back to gardaí being visible on the street and enforcing and rolling out a plan for it. We all speak from the experiences of our own communities. Superintendent Andrew Lacey in Limerick has put a lot of work into that in Limerick city centre. I am told it is bearing results.”
“I can point to my own constituency where, in the town of Newcastle West, the sod was turned recently on the construction of a new, fantastic Garda station. It will be a substantial Garda station to serve the west Limerick community. I note Senator Dee Ryan has raised and campaigned on the much-needed issue of a new Garda station on the east side of Limerick city, with the rapidly expanding population in the Castletroy-Monaleen area. It is badly needed and we will support it in government. The OPW has been tasked with finding, identifying and acquiring a suitable site to do it, and progressing it. I will mention a few of the other issues. I do not know what to say to my colleague, Senator Rabbitte, about the drug dog for Galway. Perhaps she should have a word with the chief and ask him where that is going.”
“I know it myself from sitting on the joint policing committee in Limerick, where there would be the data analyst from the Garda division making a presentation to us, as she used to do. Statistics and data are very important in affording and allowing members of An Garda Síochána to develop and devise their policing strategies and policing plans. I know paperwork can be the enemy, but it also can be your friend, and, unfortunately, it is quite necessary. Much has been said about Garda stations. About ten years ago, there were huge debates in both Houses of the Oireachtas on rural Garda stations because the closure of Garda stations was the Government policy at the time. Many people, including me, did not agree with that. However, much investment is now going into new Garda stations.”
“We are really lucky that there is a fantastic working relationship between the vast majority of the people of Ireland and An Garda Síochána. Long may that last. The Senator mentioned something I have heard a number of times, that is, paperwork and administration in the Garda. I hear the Senator when he says that but in the era we are living in, if proper records are not kept, it becomes an issue. I often say that when people are giving out about hospital management and saying that the hospitals are stacked with middle management, pen pushers and paper pushers. If someone goes into an organisation and there is no record of the person or of an event relating to that person, it raises questions about why there is no such record.”
“As Senator Fitzpatrick mentioned, they will rightly have public representatives on them, but there will also be people from the HSE, Tusla and other State agencies, such as the Probation Service. These are people who have front-line experience and a lot to offer. Community groups will also play a major part, and offering them an opportunity be part of those forums is important. Each of the local authorities is conducting an exercise to seek expressions of interest from people to act as the chairperson of those new committees. I am stuck on names because we are all new here. Senator Scahill mentioned policing by consent. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has rightly mentioned that in many of his early interviews since taking up the role of Minister for Justice.”
“It is about intervening with young people, teenagers in particular, who are identified as potentially going down the wrong path in life and working with them to steer them back onto the right path and take them away from criminality. I will visit such a programme in my own constituency on Thursday. There are many more of them around the country and they do fabulous work. There will be a budget of approximately €33 million for youth diversion this year. That is a significant amount of money. Regarding JPCs, most people in the House would have sat on one as a local authority member, as I did, or even as an Oireachtas Member. These are now being superseded by community safety committees, which will have an expanded role and membership.”
“I will pick up on some other matters that were mentioned. All of the contributions are being watched in the back offices of the Department of Justice. People will take note of everything that was said, feeding into the work we do. The programme for Government has a number of sections on the modernisation and improvement of our Courts Service. That is a continuous job of work. I refer particularly to our family law courts. Many Senators mentioned family law issues, delays in that regard and how they impact on families, particularly women. It is right that issues like the inability to enforce court-ordered maintenance payments, which has a severe impact on people, are mentioned in some of the strategies. The youth justice strategy and youth diversion programmes do important work.”
“It is a fact that the vast majority of the recruits that have been coming out of Templemore from the past number of batches have been coming to the greater Dublin area and the wider east coast, which is where the greater population is. However, this is not to say that other areas have not seen an increase. They have. In my own area of Limerick, there were 554 gardaí in 2015. At the end of 2024, there were 582. The number of vehicles in the Limerick Garda division in 2015 was 92. That number is now 132, which is a significant increase. There have been significant increases in my own division. I do not have the numbers for each of the divisions around the country, but Senators will be aware that the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána account for some of the largest budget subheads in the State.”
“We are pushing recruitment. As Senators are aware, a recruitment campaign is ongoing. I encourage all public representatives in the Houses to share that on their social media profiles. The closing date is Thursday of this week. People can apply online. It is a fantastic career. I encourage people who are interested to look at it. Regarding the recruits coming out of the Garda Training College at Templemore, everyone is advocating for more of them to come to each of our respective Garda divisions. I am conscious that some of the Senators who have spoken are rural while others are urban, living on the east coast or in Dublin in particular.”
“At the end of the day, it is up to the Commissioner to try to do his job to the best of his ability, but it is fair to say that he will take on board the view that was expressed. This leads on to recruitment. We have 14,100 gardaí. It is stated definitively within the programme for Government that we want to recruit an additional 5,000 over the lifetime of this Government. If we can get to that, it will be a great measure of success. There is a substantial job of work to do to get to that point. We have challenges. There is the challenge of people who decide they want to change careers, which many do. Some people do not look at careers as being life-long now. We have pushed the entry age up to 49 years, so a 49-year-old can now apply to An Garda Síochána. We have also pushed the retirement age up to 62. That could go further again.”
“While we all want more members of An Garda Síochána in our own divisions and districts and we all rightly advocate for that, we do not sit over in Government Buildings and tell the Garda Commissioner where to put gardaí. That is his job. Obviously, I did not hear the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, speak when he was in the Chamber, as I have come to relieve him. As he has stated publicly, though, we agreed when we were appointed to this Department that we wanted to see more Garda visibility in our communities and on our streets up and down the country. We want to see gardaí in every type of community setting, whether urban or rural. The Minister has impressed his desire and view upon the Garda Commissioner.”
“The point I am making is that we have an independent Policing Authority that is at arm's length from the Government and other public representatives. Of course, we all deal with local members of An Garda Síochána through our JPCs, which are now to be called community safety partnerships and will have public representatives on them, but the independent operation of An Garda Síochána is solely the function of the Garda Commissioner and his team. They have independence in how they apply Garda resources. We give them laws, powers, money and resources, and it is then up to them. They produce an annual policing plan. Each local Garda division also produces an annual policing plan. It all feeds into that.”
“One of the outcomes that came out of that period was the establishment of the independent Policing Authority. To the best of my knowledge, that was supported by pretty much everybody across the Houses of the Oireachtas. The independent Policing Authority was set up on a statutory basis and put An Garda Síochána at arm's length from the Government. Prior to that, when people were promoted to the rank of superintendent - I am not sure if this also applied to the rank of inspector - the decision had to go before the Cabinet. The view was that the Government of the day was too close to the Garda Commissioner of the day and that they were not as detached as they should be and as was seen in successful policing models elsewhere.”
“We are all right in advocating for our own communities and seeking more resources and public services for them. That is our job as public representatives. With regard to policing, in particular, about seven or eight years ago the Houses of the Oireachtas were convulsed for a number of years – some Senators may recall it – regarding various very challenging issues within An Garda Síochána. You could call them scandals or issues. There were several of them and many of them were raised on the floors of the Seanad and the Dáil. They took up a lot of the time of the Oireachtas and of the then Government. One of the criticisms at the time was that there was political policing in Ireland and that the Government was too close to An Garda Síochána.”
“I thank all the Senators for their input this evening. It was very interesting to listen to the contributions. All of us, being practising public representatives, citizens and people living in our own communities, have a vested interest in ensuring community safety is key and paramount. We need only look at the programme for Government for the next five years, which has been agreed to and published and is available for everybody to read, to see very extensive sections on justice, policing, crime, rehabilitation and prisons. They refer to the whole range of functions right across the Department of justice, home affairs and migration, which is also a huge issue and means a huge undertaking within the Department. Let me put this matter into context. I have said we are all public representatives.”
“They support schools to develop a whole-school, positive approach to behaviours, with particular emphasis on prevention, early intervention and de-escalation. The guidelines have been developed to take account of national and international legislative requirements, school governance structures and duty-of-care considerations directly related to supporting the well-being and safety of students and staff. The guidelines place a strong focus on prevention and on early intervention and de-escalation strategies for the management of crisis situations. Physical intervention may be employed only as the last part of a comprehensive, positive, planned behavioural approach by the school. It is intended the guidelines will be a live document and, as such, will be subject to review and updated from time to time.”
“There is an established and agreed process to amend all circulars. Once discussions have concluded with the education partners and the Department of public expenditure, we will amend the necessary circulars to reflect the required changes. The Department of Education developed new guidelines and published them on 12 December 2024. They are entitled "Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations Guidelines for Schools in Supporting Students". The Department established a working group to develop these guidelines for schools on the prevention and management of behaviours of concern where such behaviours pose imminent danger of serious physical harm to self or others in the school environment. The guidelines have been the subject of extensive consultation with education stakeholders and advocacy groups.”
“Supportive resources may include up to six sessions of short-term counselling. If the EAS recommends additional short-term counselling sessions with the teacher, the Department can facilitate this request. It should be noted that, in accordance with section 14 of the Education Act 1998, it is the duty of the patron to appoint, where practicable, a board of management. The board of management is the body of persons, or the person, appointed by the patron to manage the school on his or her behalf, including issues surrounding health and safety. While the Department of Education has statutory functions in the setting of terms and conditions for teachers and SNAs, the Department of Education is not the direct employer.”
“The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform determines the terms and conditions of the leave schemes for public servants, which include teachers and SNAs. In this regard, the leave limits noted in the assault leave circular for teachers and SNAs were agreed with the education partners, consisting of the relevant unions, school management bodies and the Department, in conjunction with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. It is intended that the terms and conditions of the scheme will be reviewed in consultation with the education partners in 2025. The employee assistance service, which is currently provided by Spectrum.Life, is also available as a supportive resource for teachers and SNAs following physical injury. The freefone confidential helpline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
“The leave available under the scheme for leave of absence following assault is three months, or 92 days, at full pay in a rolling four-year period. In exceptional cases, such as where a significant period of hospitalisation is required or in situations of a second or subsequent incident of assault, the leave may be extended for a further period not exceeding three months, or 91 days, at full pay, subject to an overall limit of six months, or 183 days, at full pay in a rolling four-year period. A teacher or SNA who has exhausted the maximum period of paid leave under the scheme for leave of absence following assault and who is still medically unfit to resume duty may avail of sick leave under the sick leave scheme, subject to the normal rules of that scheme.”
“I thank Senator Harmon for raising this important matter of leave of absence following assault for teachers and SNAs. Where a teacher or an SNA is injured as a result of physical contact from a third party causing physical injury in the course of their duties, and during approved school activities, they may apply for leave under the leave of absence following assault scheme. The provisions of this scheme are contained in the Department's Circular 0061/17 for teachers and Circular 0062/17 for SNAs. It provides for special leave with pay, subject to specified limits, for teachers or SNAs who are unable to perform their duties due to a physical injury following physical contact from a third party which happened in the course of their duties or during approved school activities.”
“If we have a national development plan, as we have, and we want to see our projects delivered, we want to have them delivered in a timely manner. Our communities and the teachers and students who are going to those schools deserve better. Everybody needs to work harder. I thank all Senators for raising this issue.”
“I thank the Senator for raising a project that is very important for her constituency. It is not acceptable to me or, I think, anybody else in Seanad Éireann or Dáil Éireann that this project should take so long. I will be communicating with the Department on foot of what I have heard here today. It beggars belief that so many projects in the Department's school building unit take so long. I have come to this House on many occasions to answer Commencement matters on issues rightly raised by the Senator and others across the House regarding the inordinate length of time some of our building projects take. It is simply not acceptable. It raises alarming issues in terms of value for money and delivery.”
“The updated tender documents will include the updated mechanical and electrical requirements in accordance with decarbonisation measures and compliance with any statutory requirements. The due diligence by the Department of Education is a critical part of the overall completion of the stage three process and is critical to ensuring quality and value for money and that projects are progressed within overall programme parameters. The large-scale capital project remains a priority for delivery and Department of Education officials will keep the school authority updated as stage three progresses.”
“The project is at architectural planning stage three - tender action and award. A tender report was received from the design team in 2023 and was reviewed by the Department of Education. During the course of this review, it was noted that the planning permission was due to expire in December 2023 and a new planning permission application would be required. Given the passage of time since tenders were returned and the requirement for a new planning application, the design team was authorised in July 2024 to collapse the former tender procedure and proceed with the new planning application. This planning application will include decarbonisation measures in accordance with technical design guidance. The design team has liaised with Fingal County Council accordingly.”
“I thank the Senator for raising this matter on a number of occasions and again today. The large-scale capital project for Rush National School is included in the Department of Education’s construction programme, which will be delivered under the national development plan as part of the Project Ireland 2040 framework. The project brief for Rush National School includes the construction of a new two-storey, 32-classroom school with two classrooms for children with special educational needs, a general purpose hall and ancillary accommodation. External works include the demolition of the existing single-storey school building, the removal of existing temporary accommodation, a new boundary treatment, landscaping, staff car parking area, ball courts, play areas and ancillary works.”
“It will provide for, among other things, 400 new special classes, 300 new special school places and will also increase special educational posts by 768 special education teachers and 1,600 special needs assistant, SNA, posts nationwide. The NCSE continues to access what additional provision is required at local areas and what schools have capacity to accommodate the required provision. As the NCSE progresses the sanctioning of new classes over the coming weeks, it will advise parents in turn on the location of new special classes for the 2025-2026 school year.”
“In conclusion, it is a priority for this Government to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to all our schools to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs are met. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. To support children with more complex needs, special classes in mainstream schools and special schools are provided. More than €2.9 billion will be spent in 2025 supporting children with special educational needs. This figure builds on previous years and represents more than a quarter of the total education budget.”
“SENOs play an important role in ensuring there is adequate special educational provision within local areas and support families to secure placements for children. I assure the Senator that both the Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor and review the need for further new special classes and schools or the expansion of existing special schools over the coming months and years.”
“The NCSE has to date sanctioned 209 new special classes - 138 at primary and 71 at post-primary level - for opening in the coming school year 2025-26. Four of these new classes are in County Cavan - one at primary level and three at post-primary. These will be added to the existing 59 classes currently in operation, which comprise 46 at primary level and 13 at post-primary level. The NCSE is engaging intensively with more schools and school patron bodies to confirm further new special classes in the coming period. It has recruited additional special education needs organisers, SENOs, advisers and team managers. A total of 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, almost double the number we had previously. Cavan now has two SENOs dedicated solely to supporting schools and parents in the county.”
“In October 2022, the Department wrote to all post-primary schools, requesting that each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary learning. Last October, the Department issued a circular to all schools, setting out new measures to support the forward-planning of special education provision. As a result of this forward planning, five new special schools will open for the 2025-26 school year, including one in County Monaghan. This is the first special school in County Monaghan, which up to now was serviced by the special school in Cootehill, County Cavan. This should ease the pressure in terms of application to the special school in County Cavan. Capacity has also been expanded in a number of other special schools around the country.”
“I thank Senator Tully for raising this important matter. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. The Department of Education and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream special classes and special school places. We know demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates, and the Department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders regarding the provision of special classes.”
“Consequently, Department of Finance officials intend to engage with the HSE to establish whether any changes have arisen on its side as regards the provision of employer-provided vehicles and-or the application of the benefit-in-kind charge in the context of pooled vehicles taken home at night by the aforementioned National Ambulance Service staff.”
“I will convey to the Minister for Finance the Deputy's request to be kept up to date. As I indicated in my opening remarks, there has been no change in the legislation, or Revenue's interpretation of same, relating to the benefit-in-kind charge that is applicable on employer-provided vehicles or the exemption relating to the pooling of cars or vans. However, the nature of this Topical Issue and the number of parliamentary questions that have been received on the issue suggest that there has been a change in how such matters are being treated by the HSE.”
“In addition to the engagement with the HSE, the Deputy should note that the Minister for Finance has asked his officials to examine this matter in conjunction with the Revenue Commissioners.”
“In addition to the exemption provided for in section 121(7), Revenue has indicated that there is a long-standing published Revenue practice that allows a vehicle provided to an officer of the State, including an officer of a statutory body, to be deemed to be included in a vehicle pool, thus not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge if: it is scheduled and verifiable that the officer is obliged to be on call outside of his or her normal working hours to respond to situations giving rise to possible contravention of law; the officer is provided with a vehicle for this purpose during the periods concerned and keeps the vehicle overnight at his or her home; and the vehicle would, but for the on-call obligation noted above, be a pool vehicle.”
“The Minister for Finance has asked his officials to engage with the HSE to establish whether there has been any change in policy by it in how it implements this measure. The HSE has also been asked to establish the number of people impacted by the issue.”
“Section 121(7) provides that a vehicle which is included in a car or van pool for the use of employees of one or more employers is treated as not available for the private use of employees, that is, not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge, if, in the tax year, all of the following conditions are met: that the vehicle is available to, and actually used by, more than one of the employees concerned; in the case of each employee, the vehicle is made available to him or her by reason of his or her employment; the vehicle is not ordinarily used by any one employee to the exclusion of the others; in the case of each of the employees concerned, any private use of the vehicle by him or her is merely incidental to his or her business use; and the vehicle is not normally kept overnight at or in the vicinity of any of the employees’ homes.”
“Where such a benefit is provided, the employer is required to include that notional payment as part of the employee’s emoluments and to deduct tax through the PAYE system accordingly. An employer makes a vehicle available to an employee through the provision of the use of a vehicle, and covering any vehicle running costs, such as insurance and petrol, on behalf of the employee.”
“I also congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his election. I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, who has engaged with the Revenue Commissioners on this matter. He has been informed by Revenue that there has been no change in the legislation nor in Revenue’s interpretation of the existing legislation relating to the benefit-in-kind charge which is applicable on employer-provided vehicles or the exemption relating to the pooling of cars or vans. Sections 121 and 121A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provide that where a car or a van is made available to an employee by his or her employer for the employee’s private use, then the employee is chargeable to benefit-in-kind.”