James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators who contributed to the debate. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I have noted the points made. It is very evident that we need to proceed quickly with the enactment of the Bill. As I highlighted at the outset, the discussion on this Bill cuts across a number of areas of society and will have a real impact on people's lives.

At this point, it is useful to consider the main provisions of the Bill. It will enable a committee of inquiry to begin its work on examining the effectiveness of a complaints procedure. It will increase carrier liability fines as part of ongoing efforts to reduce irregular migration. It will make changes to the Judicial Council Act 2019 to address issues with personal injury guidelines.This is imperative so as to keep the cost of insurance down. Amendments are also being pursued to increase the maximum penalty for a number of serious knife-related offences, and I think we can all agree this is a necessary step to keep people safe. Finally, the Bill will provide uniformed public servants with options to work for an extra number of years.

I want to address a number of the issues that have been raised. Senator Currie rightly raised the increased funding with regard to anti-social behaviour. Senator Warfield made a somewhat bizarre comment that there has been a decimation of youth diversion projects in this country. In 2019, the funding was €15.9 million. In 2024, it was €32.9 million. As Senator Currie pointed out, this is well over a doubling in only a number of years so I ask Senator Warfield to maybe inform himself a little better in that respect. On knife crime, Senator Warfield mentioned a number of concerns but did not actually say whether he was for or against the increase in knife crime sentencing. It would be helpful to know Sinn Féin's actual position on something like that, in particular.

With regard to other issues, in response to Senator Wall, the McManus report recommended two tranches of increases of judicial numbers. The Government appointed 24 additional judges in tranche 1, and expects to consider the second tranche later this year once there has been an assessment of how the initial 24 have been put to use and have worked.

Senator Gerry Horkan asked what is being done to assist carriers in identifying people with inadequate documentation. All measures to deter irregular migration and maintain the integrity of our immigration system are currently being considered. The board of management unit of the Department and the Garda National Immigration Bureau are working closely with the airlines on a range of measures to ensure passengers have such documentation when boarding. This includes delivering in-person training to the relevant airline ground handling staff on immigration requirements and false travel documentation. The BMU officials are also available 24-7 to assist airlines with immigration inquiries.

Senator McDowell raised the issue around the fines. I can tell the Senator that in 2017, there was €1,003,470 worth of fines. In 2023, there was €1,476,000 in fines, and these fines have increased recently. There was a 59% increase in carrier liability payment notices in 2023 compared to 2019. In 2023, the Garda National Immigration Bureau issued 1,003 carrier liability notices and €1.476 million has been paid to An Garda Síochána, which represents a 47% increase on the 2019 receipts.

Senator Ward raised the issue around mandatory retirement age. Some of these amendments will allow regulations under this Bill, and therefore more flexibility under it into the future. On Senator Ward's point about people arriving without documentation, it is just one element of an overall go at reducing the numbers of people presenting at ports of entry without appropriate travel documentation. Other steps are being taken as well.

I thank all Senators for their contributions. We will obviously have a further opportunity on Committee Stage to consider some of these issues in more depth. I think that these provisions are important across the board.