Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions she has taken arising from the disturbances on 23 November 2023 in Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38234/24]

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste confirmed to Newstalk that he felt a number of prosecutions in relation to the Dublin riots were not proceeding fast enough. What are the Minister's views on this?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the unbelievable work of the members of An Garda Síochána and those from the many other emergency support services who responded to the appalling scenes last November after the tragic event earlier in the day. There are ongoing investigations into this matter. In the days, weeks and months since those events, 51 people have been arrested. There have been a number of convictions and there are a serious number of people before the courts at the moment.

I do not think it would be appropriate to get into the cases, but there are two important elements. The first is that gardaí have what they need to respond should something like this ever happen again - and we hope it will not - or if there is a recurrence of what happened in recent times in Newtownmountkennedy and Coolock. The second element is that the court system is working efficiently and effectively. There is an amount of work happening in that regard.

In the early days and weeks following the events in question, I met regularly with the Garda Commissioner, senior management in An Garda Síochána and gardaí on the ground, including those from the public order unit, and assured them of our full support in providing the equipment and resources they need. Since then, a number of steps have been taken, including: the expansion of public order unit capability through the provision of increased training; the provision of stronger incapacitant spray to all gardaí, and we saw the significance of that in the recent Coolock incident; the development of a business case for the procurement of two water cannons, which is continuing; and the provision of smaller round shields, restraints and additional body armour to public order units. In fact, over €3 million has been spent since then, while there has also been investment in the expansion of the public order fleet and the purchase of hand-held cameras.

The enactment of the digital recording legislation in the interim has an important role in the prosecutions. In other jurisdictions where such incidents have happened, police have had much quicker access to evidence through body cameras, drone footage and CCTV footage. Very soon after the Dublin riots, I had the digital recording legislation enacted and, working with the Garda Commissioner, rolled out body-worn cameras.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. If there are deficiencies, we all want them dealt with. We accept that major work is being done by gardaí and many others.

To come back to where I began with this, I was struck by the Tánaiste's claim that the justice system is not functioning well enough. That is a strange statement, given his own role in facilitating Fine Gael's 13-year tenure in the justice Ministry, including the Minister's term of office. We have overcrowded prisons, delays in court and a crisis in the context of numbers. We all know the morale issues affecting An Garda Síochána. The Tánaiste has voted and expressed confidence in Fine Gael justice Ministers. He is now attempting to distance himself from the consequence of his party's role in the operation of the justice system.

I wish to pose a number of questions about a matter I raised previously. Will the Minister address the issue RTÉ raised concerning the use of fraudulent peace commissioner signature stamps? When did she become aware of this issue? What did she do about it? These are simple questions.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Tánaiste's comments relate to the difference between the British and Irish systems subsequent to days of riots in multiple cities across the UK. I am saying clearly that the difference between the United Kingdom and Ireland is that police over there had access to evidence and information which allowed them to obtain early guilty pleas when bringing people before the courts and to achieve earlier prosecutions. What I am doing to rectify the situation here is introducing body cameras. These are now in operation across three areas. They are already being used. The first prosecution took place in recent weeks. These cameras will ensure that gardaí have access to footage. The introduction of facial recognition technology means that, instead of months being spent trawling through CCTV, similar to the UK, we would be able to access that information and identify individuals within hours. Other legislation is being brought forward to ensure that individuals cannot wear masks in scenarios such as those we are discussing, which means that they would be more easily identifiable. All this work will allow gardaí to bring prosecutions more quickly and ensure that the necessary evidence is available.

Separate from that is the fact that my appointment of 24 plus six judges, including judges for the High Court, in the past two years has given rise to a reduction in waiting times in our courts. I intend to appoint 20 more judges. There is a huge amount of work under way to make sure that our system is efficient and effective and that, where gardaí do their job, prosecutions can take place as quickly as possible.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. At the next opportunity, will answer my questions? We are worried about the possibility of overturning a number of convictions after the major work done by gardaí and many others. We all support providing the Garda with the capacity it needs. We need to see more of that happening and it needs to happen faster.

We have said we need to ensure that even more non-core duties should be removed from the tasks gardaí are obliged to perform. We need to implement our housing plan and create a retention and recruitment task force to report back urgently. We also need to explore the possibility of a second Garda training centre to achieve the increase in numbers required as a result of population increases. I acknowledge the work done in respect of the courts and the prisons, but we need to explore extra sitting days for courts and invest in restorative justice measures and other practices.

The Tánaiste is fooling no one in the run-up to the election. The message is clear: it is time for change. He is saying he is not enamoured of how the justice system is operating at this point.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy asked a number of questions. In the past four years, the Garda budget has increased by 25%. It now stands at €2.35 billion. We have 14,100-plus Garda members and 3,200 Garda staff. The Garda Reserve has been established, and 1,800 applications were received as part of the first recruitment campaign. Every garda on the beat has a hand-held device. This means that they can remain on the beat and do not have to return to their stations. There has been significant investment in ICT, with €155 million being spent this year and a capital budget of €346 million being spent up to 2027. There has been huge investment in gardaí and in strengthening legislation. Measures relating to the latter include: introducing body-worn cameras; making it easier for people to roll-out CCTV in communities across the country; and giving gardaí tools like facial recognition to access information more quickly. We have also put in place measures to support and protect gardaí in difficult, challenging and changing times. These include an increase in penalty for any person who assaults a member of An Garda Síochána. The courts have seen significant investment, with the addition of 30 judges and 20 more to come, while rolling out a modernisation programme that will make sure it works in the most efficient and effective manner.