Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reassure the Deputy that there is an absolute commitment to bring about these changes. There are a number of different strands to the process. In terms of the changes to immigration, we have a pathway that is being worked on to expand on the changes seen in Dublin Airport which have been very successful.

A body of work is being done on prosecutions, which the Deputy mentioned. I intend to bring the report of the group and proposed next steps to Government. A high-level group is examining the role of An Garda Síochána in prosecutions, as the Deputy said, something that was recommended in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.

The 2020 Act has already allowed us to see changes in the number of gardaí required for various prison transfers. On top of that, a body of work has been done between An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service to identify where, on any given day, there might be 20 members of the force acting as security rather than dealing with cases before the courts. Freeing those numbers would be very positive and allow for a much greater Garda presence on the ground. Various strands of work are all coming to a point where we will start to see greater progress and can start to implement these changes. As always, it has taken a bit longer than we would like. Covid has interrupted a lot of work that has been done, but there is an impetus here and this is a priority for me.

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