700. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the progress made over the past 12 months on each of his Department's Programme for Government commitments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71630/25]

741. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the progress made over the past 12 months on each of his Department’s Programme for Government commitments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72200/25]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 700 and 741 together.

Delivering on the commitments laid out in the Programme for Government is a priority for me as Minister, my Department and my colleagues, Ministers of State Colm Brophy and Niall Collins. Working with them, I want to ensure that our justice system is modern, efficient, and responsive to the needs of all of our people. To serve the fundamental need of all people to feel safe and secure in their homes and in their communities.

I was pleased to recently publish the new Statement of Strategy for my Department for 2025–2028. The Strategy aligns with the Programme for Government, sets out my Department’s strategic direction to 2028 and will further the work towards our shared vision of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland.

Some of my Department's achievements regarding commitments set out in the Programme for Government (PfG) since the formation of the Government are set out below.

Garda Recruitment

My first priority as Minister for Justice is to get more Gardaí out onto our streets preventing the commission of crime through high visibility patrols. Increased recruitment and appropriate civilianisation where possible are vital to achieving this as is modern technology and equipment and active management of Garda resources. The PfG commits to recruiting at least 5,000 Gardaí in the coming five years. As we strengthen An Garda Síochána, we will see more Gardaí visible in our communities tackling and preventing crime.

This year 794 new recruits have been welcomed into the Garda College in Templemore. This is the highest number recruited since 2018. This includes an intake of 223 trainees in November, the largest single intake in over a decade. Recruitment into An Garda Síochána is now gathering real momentum. New Garda recruits are already making an impact in their communities and the ongoing recruitment of new Gardaí will see further progress in increasing Garda numbers across the State.

Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024

On 2 April 2025, I was pleased to commence the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, in line with the PfG.

As a result, the following bodies were established:

• The new Garda Board

• The Policing and Community Safety Authority (replacing the existing Policing Authority and Garda Síochána Inspectorate)

• Fiosrú – the Office of the Police Ombudsman

• The Office of the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation

• The National Office for Community Safety

The Act strengthens and consolidates independent, external oversight of An Garda Síochána; makes community safety a whole of government and multi-agency responsibility and enhances the internal governance of An Garda Síochána by establishing a new non-executive board which is a corporate governance standard across the public and private sectors.

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

The Government’s focus on youth diversion and interventions is a keystone in the Youth Justice Strategy, which is a forward-thinking plan designed to address the unique challenges faced by young people in Ireland. At its core, the Strategy emphasises early intervention, prevention, family support, and community engagement. It includes key objectives aligned with PfG commitments, aimed at promoting positive behavioural change, and it is only by targeting this behaviour that we can break the cycle of offending by young people. YDPs work with young people at risk of crime and anti-social behaviour to divert them away from criminal behaviour and towards better life outcomes.

In November, I was pleased to announce with Minister of State Collins that the State’s network of Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) has been successfully rolled out nationwide, making these critical interventions available to young people at risk of engaging in criminal activity no matter where they live in Ireland.

Prisons and Penal Policy

A multi-year building programme is currently progressing at several key sites across the prison estate. To accelerate delivery, agreement has been secured for six major projects to bypass the first approval gate of the Infrastructure Guidelines. This decision is expected to bring forward delivery timelines on those six projects by 12 to 18 months. This acceleration reflects the priority placed by the PfG on strengthening the prison system’s resilience and supporting the Irish Prison Service to provide safe, secure and humane accommodation.

Electronic Monitoring

My Department is leading a cross-agency project to introduce electronic monitoring for specific categories of individuals, as committed to in the Programme for Government, and in line with existing legal provisions. Existing legislation, including the Bail Act 1997, as amended, the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended and the Sex Offender Act 2001, as amended, provide for electronic monitoring, in certain circumstances.

I had committed to the publication of a Request for Tender (RFT) for the provision of an electronic monitoring service provider by the end of 2025. This Request for Tender has now been published with a closing date of the 16 January 2026 at 5pm.

My Department is tendering for an electronic monitoring service provider for a 12-month pilot phase, which will focus on individuals on temporary release nationally and those admitted to bail in a pilot area. It is proposed to utilise 30 to 50 electronic tags during this phase. This is expected to provided capacity to electronically monitor between 90 and 150 people in a year, but exact numbers monitored will depend on a range of factors including individuals’ lengths of time on bail or on temporary release, and individuals’ personal circumstances, including ongoing suitability and compliance with conditions.

The pilot approach will allow for processes and procedures to be tested before a wider scale national rollout, while also supporting the agencies involved to build capability and knowledge of the electronic monitoring system. Insights from the pilot will inform any future national rollout and procurement. The pilot is expected to be operational in 2026.

A Modern Courts and Legal System

I am committed to enacting essential legislative reform to modernise and streamline our Courts and legal system including:

General Scheme of the Civil Reform Bill

I obtained Government approval to prepare a General Scheme of a Civil Reform Bill. The Civil Reform Bill is a key implementation measure of the Kelly Report of the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice. As part of the Bill, it is my intention to introduce provisions which will codify the existing law on judicial review by placing it on a statutory basis. The measures should achieve greater transparency in the law and lead to a more streamlined review process.

Key reforms should ensure that the system cannot be misused on purely technical grounds, that the public interest is placed at the heart of judicial review, costs are reduced where possible and litigants have sufficient standing to properly challenge decisions. Given the significant challenges currently facing our State in terms of housing shortages, energy deficits, inadequate water supplies and climate change, all of which are exacerbated by the demands of a rising population, we can no longer delay on reform of the judicial review system. I am confident that the Bill will remove weaknesses in the current law, eliminate impediments to progress and deliver reform for the public benefit. I am also confident that measures in the Bill preserve the right of the citizen to ensure that public bodies act lawfully and are accountable for their decisions.

General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025

In May, I secured Government approval to progress the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, which inter alia significantly expands the courts' powers to conduct criminal proceedings remotely, provides for the digitalisation of court documents in such proceedings, criminalises the exploitative practice of seeking sex in lieu of rent, amends the law on disclosure of counselling records in sexual offence trials, and empowers the Gardaí to direct the removal of face coverings in certain public order situations.

The Bill also incorporates legislative amendments to the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 and the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 to provide that the limit of community service hours be increased from 240 up to 480 hours. This action also includes the requirement for the judiciary to consider community service be mandatory where considering a custodial sentence of up to 2 years or less. It is anticipated that the Bill will be published this year.

I was pleased to receive Cabinet approval for the Bill today 16 December.

Family Law Reform

The ongoing reform of the Family Justice system, for the benefit of families and children, is another of my key priorities.

On 28 April, I hosted my first meeting of the Family Justice Development Forum, and I look forward to the next one planned for 19 January.

This was followed in May by the publication of the Review of the Operation of the In Camera Rule in Family Law Proceedings. The review, a key action in the Family Justice Strategy, was conducted by a team from University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin and is an important piece of research which details the perspectives of many stakeholders regarding the current understanding and operation of the in-camera rule in family law proceedings. Importantly, it includes the views of those who have been parties in such proceedings. Officials from my Department are currently engaging with a variety of stakeholders and working on a policy paper regarding how some of the recommendations made in the report could be implemented.

In August of this year, I published two tenders for the provision of new family law services aimed at making our system more transparent and better for children. The first is for a Private Family Law Reporting Project to provide transparency for the public and increase awareness and understanding of family law proceedings while ensuring that children’s and parents’ right to privacy is upheld. I am pleased to say that the Child Law Project has been contracted to deliver the three year project and work on it has commenced. The second is for a service to provide a new and innovative way to hear children’s voices in private family law proceedings. The Children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project will initially be established in Waterford and Clonmel, ensuring that all children to whom guardianship, custody or access applications relate can have the opportunity to be informed about the proceedings relating to them and have their voice heard without any cost to families.

In October this year I launched a social media campaign to promote a culture of paying child maintenance. This was a recommendation in the Review of the Enforcement of Child Maintenance Orders. Work on implementing the other recommendations in the review is ongoing with child maintenance guidelines and an accompanying calculator due to be launched in January.

In November I hosted a stakeholder event where the OECD and the World Justice Project released the preliminary findings of my Department’s first Legal Needs Survey. The survey forms part of a project Ireland is participating in to develop people-centred justice services to enhance access to justice, including in family justice. I look forward to the full findings being published in 2026.

Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence Strategy

Combatting all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) has been of central importance for me since taking office.

In June, I published the final implementation plan of the five-year ‘Zero Tolerance’ National DSGBV Strategy setting out the delivery targets and collective action to end 2026. The plan builds on the DSGBV commitments set out in the PfG and contains 95 specific actions across the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention. There is a strong emphasis on delivery, collective responsibility, and meaningful outcomes.

Amongst the key deliverables are actions already underway in respect of significant legislative reform commitments including:

• Prioritising the drafting of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill that will, in certain situations, allow for the removal of guardianship rights from individuals convicted of killing the other parent or guardian of their child;

• Limiting the disclosure of counselling records in rape and sexual assault cases;

• Banning sex for rent under the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025;

• Introducing the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences, Domestic Violence, and International Instruments) Bill 2025 which will introduce the Domestic Violence Register of Judgments - known as ‘Jennie’s Law’ - bringing greater transparency and accountability for serious offenders;

• Establishing the necessary legislative basis to provide for Operation Encompass, which will enable An Garda Síochána to share information with schools when a child has been exposed to domestic violence.

As part of the Zero Tolerance Strategy, Government committed to doubling domestic violence accommodation capacity in Ireland by the end of 2026 from 141 to 282 family units.

The following safe accommodation target was set earlier this year

• 52 new family refuge units by the end of 2026

• 45 new safe homes by the end of 2026

• 50 new units under construction by the end of 2026

Therefore, by the end of 2026 it is envisaged to have 94 safe homes and 193 refuge units completed, bringing total safe accommodation to 287, with 50 further refuge units under construction. I am continuing to work with Cuan, my Department and the Department of Housing to ensure we are exhausting all measures to increase the pace of delivery for this much needed additional capacity.

Immigration

My Department has taken action to significantly improve immigration enforcement measures and increase removals in line with commitments set out in the PfG. This includes the renewed use of chartered deportation flights. To date this year 4,454 deportation orders have been signed and 1,952 people have departed the State under various mechanisms.

In keeping with the PfG commitment to significantly enhance the delivery of public services digitally, phase one of my Department's Immigration Customer Service Portal, which enables applicants to check their immigration application status, book first-time registration appointments, and submit queries, has been operational since last October. To the end of Q3 2025, more than 195,000 customers have registered, with over 150,000 queries resolved and in excess of 88,000 registration appointments made.

In April I secured Government approval to draft the International Protection Bill, the most significant reform of Irish asylum laws in the history of the State in line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact. The Pact is a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum for the long-term. The overall objective of the Pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. These important changes include streamlining the decisions process, streamlining the returns process, a new ‘Border procedure’ with a three-month time limit for decisions, and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals.

State-Owned Accommodation

I am committed to reforming Ireland’s international protection system to ensure its efficiency and robustness. A stable and sustainable accommodation network is a central element of that reform and a key PfG commitment. State-owned centres are part of the Government’s long-term plan to reduce the reliance on private accommodation providers resulting in better value for money of public funds and a more efficient international protection system. The purchase of the Citywest Hotel in June was a significant step in achieving this.

The viability of other properties that could be utilised as state-owned accommodation is currently being accessed.

Integration

Work on the publication of a new national Migration and Integration Strategy is ongoing as referenced in the PfG.

The Minister of State for Migration, Colm Brophy, recently announced the 37 projects set to receive over €1.5m in funding under the Ireland Against Racism Fund 2025. This Fund enables non-government and community organisations to provide national and regional projects and local initiatives that combat racism and promote racial equality. The Fund is a key part of the National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) which was informed by the experiences of people who have been directly affected by racism.

This is in addition to the Integration Fund which combines two previously run funds – the International Protection Integration Fund (IPIF) and the Communities Integration Fund (CIF). Since their inception, these funds have provided close to €10m in funding to more than 1,000 projects across the country. This fund is for projects supporting migrant integration in areas such as sport, education, employment, and culture. Results of the 2025 Integration Fund were announced in November. 117 projects were awarded a total of €3.6m.

Transfers of Responsibilities

In line with PfG commitments, responsibility for integration, International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS), and the Ukraine Division transferred to my Department from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, and Equality on 1 May 2025. This transfer includes the transfer of all staff, approximately 340 people, alongside a substantial budget transfer of approximately €2.1 billion. As my Department had existing responsibility for immigration and migration and the processing of applications for international protection, this transfer underpins a more cohesive and strategic approach to migration and integration.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) also transferred to my Department from the Department of the Environment, Communications and Climate on 2 June 2025. The NCSC is the lead government agency on cyber security.

Responsibility for the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) transferred from my Department on 1 August to the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. This transfer was carried out in line with the Programme for Government and aligns the work of IFCO with the Department responsible for culture. Responsibility for the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA), as well as the Property Services Appeal Board, also transferred from my Department on 1 August to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.