Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she has established a working group to implement the recommendations of the Courts' Security Review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26066/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, this matter is one of the objectives under Goal One of Justice Plan 2022 which is to tackle crime, enhance national security and transform policing. 

Specifically, objective eight contains a commitment to implement recommendations arising from a review of Courts Security. As part of that commitment, a High Level Working Group has now been established and the first meeting is scheduled to take place on 23 June 2022.

The group will be chaired by the Deputy Secretary in charge of the Criminal Justice Pillar in my Department and will consist of senior management from our policy function, from within the Courts Service, as well as An Garda Síochána.  

Officials are currently working on developing the Terms of Reference in advance of the first meeting of the group. These will focus on and explore how the review can be implemented in terms of the serving of summonses and the role of An Garda Síochána in Courts Security. 

The next phase of this work involves the agreement of recommendations of the group by Q3 and the commencement of implementation by the end of the year.