Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the ongoing contact she or her Department has with the Northern Ireland Justice Department on matters of North-South interest; when she last met the Minister of Justice in that jurisdiction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35994/22]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I would ask the Minister about the interaction between her Department and the authorities in Northern Ireland. As she knows, I have worked for a long time quietly in the background trying to promote dialogue and discussion and trying to persuade people that the way forward for us all on this island is through that dialogue and political activism. I would like an update from the Minister on the dialogue between North and South, particularly in that context.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I fully support the Deputy's sentiments. There needs to be continuous engagement between governments in general on these matters but also between individual Departments and Ministries. I am pleased there is ongoing contact between myself and my colleague, Naomi Long, who is the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, as well as excellent ongoing cross-Border co-operation between our respective Departments on a range of issues. There is also engagement between An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, and other agencies within our competencies and their counterparts.

As the Deputy will be aware, the intergovernmental agreement on co-operation on criminal justice, IGA, is the main formal stream of ongoing joint work with the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Under the IGA, justice ministers from the two jurisdictions meet regularly to discuss criminal justice matters of mutual interest or concern and to develop plans to achieve more effective co-operation and co-ordination on criminal justice matters. The last IGA ministerial meeting was held virtually in February, at which Ms Long and I agreed a new plan of work to run until the end of 2023. The next ministerial meeting under the IGA is being planned for the autumn. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the most recent number of meetings and with Covid figures, they have all been online so we have not had a chance to meet in person through that format. The Garda Commissioner and his equivalent in the North, as well as a number of representative organisations, are also on those calls. We plan to host the next meeting in the autumn and, hopefully, that will be in person. I would be delighted to welcome the Ms Long, if she is still in that position, at that stage.

Under the IGA, a senior officials working group oversees co-operation in a number of criminal justice areas, including forensic science, public protection, victim support and youth justice matters. This group last met in March and includes senior policymakers from all the relevant areas from both jurisdictions. Outside of the formal framework of the IGA, there is regular North-South co-operation. Ms Long and I recently engaged on victims' issues and we issued a joint statement on the topic of consent to mark International Women’s Day. We have regularly discussed how we can work collectively to progress our laws and policies, particularly in the areas of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Stalking legislation has been introduced in the North, which is something we are now introducing and hope to have enacted later this year.

I note that my Secretary General, Oonagh McPhillips, met her counterpart recently. There is ongoing contact at senior official level too.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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There is a slightly wider road to this, because this State is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. I do not know if the Minister is aware that there are people in Northern Ireland who have been awaiting trial for up to eight years. They have been held on remand and incredibly strict bail conditions for that period. This is contrary to basic human rights. A fundamental tenet of the law has to be that everybody is not only entitled to justice but to justice in good time. There are also much longer remands in Northern Ireland than in most states. Has the Minister raised concerns or is she willing to raise concerns about these incredibly long periods of remand and bail? If the Minister wants, I can provide further details of the cases. A document has been prepared that outlines the serious human rights concerns involved. Would the Minister be willing to raise this with her counterpart? Justice has to go two ways. The justice system must act in a fair and just manner.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that we all have a role to play in upholding and maintaining the Good Friday Agreement and on how the relationship on this island has developed. From my engagement with the Minister, Ms Naomi Long, and the Department's engagement, a significant way in which we can uphold the Good Friday Agreement is by maintaining peace and making sure that those who seek to disrupt that peace are brought to justice. That is why the work of the IGA, which I mentioned previously, is so vital in this regard. Some of the areas we have worked on in recent years include drug, rural, financial, trafficking and human crime, which includes the trafficking of children and women, often for sexual reasons. Other areas include excise fraud and organised immigration crime. Many of the behaviours of paramilitary groups in the North have crossed over to these types of crime. It is important for us to be able to uphold and maintain that peace and for that work to continue at a ministerial level, as well as between police services and different Departments. I am not aware of the cases the Deputy mentioned, but I would be happy to talk to him afterwards about those.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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One group the Minister alluded to has had a ceasefire since January 2018. I understand that is accepted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. However, its members have, in some cases, been on bail for a long period. People who were associated with that organisation are often stopped and searched. This is of great concern. The level of stopping and searching in republican and nationalist communities is totally disproportionate. As the Minister knows, prisoners serve half of a sentence in prison and the other half outside prison. At Easter, a prisoner who was out on licence informed MARAP, the multi-agency risk assessment panel which is the overseeing body, that he intended to attend an Easter parade. It was not a strange request for a republican. This parade had official permission from the Parades Commission and the authorities. He was asked a number of questions to reply to through his solicitor. He attended the parade and his licence was revoked as a consequence. If I provide details of this case, will the Minister take it up with her Northern counterpart? Justice is a two-way system and the State has to act with justice as well as our demand that all people act within the law.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Without knowing the details of the case, I will be happy to talk to the Deputy outside the Chamber. As he rightly pointed out and as we all know, agreements and arrangements are in place which were reached following a ceasefire, particularly relating to prisoners in the North and the South. We adhere to those arrangements. It is important that we do so and that we ensure we maintain that peace. It is important to acknowledge that there are some who wish to disrupt that and continue to engage in criminal activity and behaviour. We need to ensure that resources are in place and that engagement continues between the police services in the North and South to try to disrupt that as much as possible. I will be happy to engage with the Deputy afterwards.