Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and members. I am very pleased to be here to seek the committee's approval for the Revised and Further Revised Estimates for the justice Vote group. The Chairman will be aware that investment across all the areas of justice, home affairs and migration is significant. It reflects the commitment the Government set out in the programme for Government and what my colleagues, the Ministers of State, Deputies Niall Collins and Colm Brophy, and I seek to do to ensure we have a modern, efficient justice system that works for the citizen and reflects the fundamental need of all people to feel safe and secure in their homes and communities. That is something we take for granted. There is a significant value on that to which we sometimes do not allocate recognition.

As the Chair has indicated, I am here this afternoon to seek the committee's approval for the Revised Estimates for the following Votes: Vote 20, An Garda; Vote 21, Irish Prison Service; Vote 22, the Courts Service; and Vote 44, the Data Protection Commission.

On Vote 24, concerning the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, the Revised Estimate has already been approved, in April, and the purpose today is to agree the Further Revised Estimate which reflects the transfer of responsibility for cybersecurity policy and the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, from Vote 29, which is under the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. This transfer to my Department takes effect from 1 June, increasing the Department's funding by €22.9 million in gross terms and €22.6 million in net terms.

Together, these Estimates provide for gross expenditure across the five Votes in my Department and the justice sector of €5.958 billion, €5.625 billion of which relates to current expenditure and €360 million of which relates to capital expenditure. In addition, capital moneys totalling €16.6 million have been carried over to 2024, bringing the total capital allocation available this year to €376.6 million.

The two remaining Votes in the justice Vote group, namely Vote 41, Policing and Community Safety Authority, and Vote 46, Fiosrú, were set up as two new Votes and brought before the Dáil on 1 April.

I will set out in some detail the key developments in the Revised Estimates Volume for 2025 in respect of each of the individual Votes. As members present will agree, a core focus of this funding is building stronger, safer communities. To achieve that, we have to have a strong Garda Síochána and security service. The Ministers of State in my Department and I are committed to this.

The funding I am seeking approval for today will also facilitate Cuan, the new statutory agency that supports victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. That is an important part of my work.

I was going to go through each Vote.