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- Delivery of housing, infrastructure and environmental commitments improved through greater efficiencies.
- Court a key commitment in the Government’s Housing for All Strategy.
- New division will enable more efficient management of cases dealing with planning and environmental matters, in particular judicial reviews.
Yesterday the establishment of a new division of the High Court which had been operating on an administrative basis for a number of months and dedicated to daling with Planning and Environmental cases was seen as a major step forward and the fulfilment of a key commitment in the Government’s present ‘Housing for All Strategy’. A ceremonial first sitting yesterday morning, marked its full establishment as a High Court Division
This new division of the High Court will help to improve the delivery of housing by reducing planning delays, and will remain a key commitment in the Housing for All strategy, thus introducing much needed reforms. It will also allow for greater efficiency and specialism in the handling of litigation relating to planning and environmental matters, particularly judicial reviews.
Dealing with such cases in an effective and efficient manner is key to enabling the State’s delivery of housing and infrastructure, while also protecting the environment.
Yesterday marked the culmination of extensive engagement and consultation between the Courts Service and a number of other Government Departments; in particular the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.
The new High Court division is to become fully operational following the assignment of a third additional High Court judge and the publication by the President of the High Court of ‘Practice Direction HC 124’, which took effect from yesterday, December 11th 2023.
This also follows the appointment by the Government of 24 additional judges in February last, to increase resources in the Courts and ensure greater access to justice.
The total assignment of three judges to the Planning and Environment Court is crucial to support increased capacity and flexibility.
The Supreme Court’s judgment that the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022 is constitutional has been welcomed. This decision of the Supreme Court means that the Bill will now be signed by President Michael D. Higgins and will become law.
The Bill will ensure that anyone who wishes to be considered for appointment to judicial office, including serving judges, will apply to the Commission and undergo the same application and interview processes. It will also ensure that the selection of nominees for judicial office will be through fair and open competition from the widest range of possible candidates.
The Bill will reform the system of judicial appointment in Ireland. It will establish a new, independent Judicial Appointments Commission to select and recommend persons for judicial office in Ireland and in the EU and international courts.
The Bill provides that recommendations of persons for judicial office shall be based on merit. The Bill also makes provision, in relation to the courts in the State, for the objectives of equal numbers of men and women, reflecting the diversity of the population of the State and proficiency in the Irish language.
The decision of the Supreme Court was pronounced in open court this morning in accordance with Article 26 of the Constitution. This ruling follows the decision by the President, after consultation with the Council of State, to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court to decide on the question as to whether specified provisions of the Bill are repugnant to the Constitution.
The procedure set out in Article 26 of the Constitution to test the constitutionality of the Bill is an important part of the constitutional architecture of the State. Following the decision of the Supreme Court, Article 34.3.3 of the Constitution precludes the possibility of any further legal challenge to the constitutionality of the legislation.
The system for judicial appointment in Ireland is a crucial mechanism to achieve the goal of judicial independence which is a central element of the constitutional framework of Ireland.
The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022 was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 4 October 2023 and it was subsequently presented to the President in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. On 13th October 2023, after consultation with the Council of State, the President had decided to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court.
A young man has been arrested following the seizure in Nenagh, Co Tipperary of approximately €100,000 worth of cocaine.
The search was undertaken as part of ‘Operation Thor’ by Gardaí from the Divisional Task Force, who were assisted by the Divisional Drugs Unit, the Garda Dog Unit and Gardaí from within the Nenagh District.
Operation Thor actively targets organised crime gangs and repeat offenders through co-ordinated crime prevention and enforcement activity, based on intelligence and the latest burglary trends.
The man arrested in connection with the search is understood to be aged in his 20s, and remains currently detained at a Garda station in the Tipperary area; held under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996.
The drugs will now be forwarded for analysis t be undertaken by Forensic Science Ireland.
Garda investigations surrounding the drugs seizure are continuing.
Clare Independent TD, Mr Michael McNamara, has described Senator Garret Ahearn’s criticism of Independent TDs, who on Tuesday last, (December 5th, 2023) voted ‘No Confidence’ in Justice Minister, Mrs Helen McEntee as “facetious”* and “surprising”. [*Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour”].
Deputy McNamara has responded by suggesting that the Tipperary-based Senator is “opting to ignore the depletion in numbers of Gardaí in Tipperary merely for advancement within his own party.”
“The Garda numbers in the Clare/Tipperary Division have fallen considerably during Mrs Helen McEntee’s term of office and I am surprised that Senator Ahearn has no issue with the resultant increase in antisocial behaviour in towns like Clonmel and Ennis,” added Deputy McNamara.
Figures released by the Department of Justice in response to a Parliamentary Question by Deputy McNamara reveal that the number of serving Gardaí in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division dropped from 727 in November 2020 to 674 in November 2023, while numbers nationally decreased by almost 4,000 to 13,940 in the three years to November 2023.
“Senator Ahearn’s comments are facetious and bely the situation faced by communities across rural Ireland that have witnessed the closure of Garda stations and an overall decrease in the number of serving Gardaí,” explained Deputy McNamara. “It comes as a great surprise to me that any politician, aspiring to represent Tipperary, would be happy with the depleted numbers of Gardaí serving in the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division.”
Speaking during yesterday’s ‘Motion of No Confidence’ in Mrs Helen McEntee, Deputy McNamara said, “There is much about personalities and criticism of people’s personalities on both sides of this House. For me, this is not about personalities at all, for what it is worth. The Minister is a fine person and a relatively competent politician. There must, though, be political accountability in this House, in this democracy. This must be the case for health services and security services. Unfortunately, there are fewer Gardaí in the State now. The total is a little under 14,000 now, while there was a little under 18,000 at the start of this Dáil term.”
“Of those gardaí, they are spending more time behind computers. That is annoying them, and they are losing confidence in their Garda management,” he continued. “We might ask what that has to do with the Minister. It is the role of the Government to put management in place in the health service or An Garda Síochána that is able and resourced to do the job. It is very clear from the views, responses and votes of rank and file Gardaí, with regard to the GRA, that they do not have confidence. The problem is resources or Garda management. Either way, that becomes the Minister’s problem because she is the one who is accountable to the House for that.”
Deputy McNamara added, “I regret not being able to express confidence in the Minister. I hope she will recruit a lot more gardaí and develop systems whereby they have more time on the beat and are not tied up as much behind their desks. All I can go on is what I am seeing and hearing in my constituency. The lack of Gardaí on the beat is resulting in increasing antisocial behaviour not just on the streets of Dublin, but on the streets of Ennis. That is a problem because people now expect Gardaí to be transferred from rural towns to Dublin. There is not the capacity for that.”
“There is a real problem with policing in this State and there has to be political accountability. It is not that I take any pleasure in not voting confidence in the Minister, but there has to be political accountability and on that basis I regret that I cannot express confidence in the Government on this issue,” concluded Deputy McNamara.
- Ms Elaine Byrne will take over as Chair of the Policing Authority in January 2024.
- Policing Authority will continue important oversight of An Garda Síochána until the establishment of the Policing and Community Safety Authority.
The Government has agreed to reappoint Ms Elaine Byrne, Mr Donal de Buitleir, Mr Anthony Harbinson, Dr Jane Mulcahy, Mr Paul Mageean and Dr Deborah Donnelly, as members of the Policing Authority.
Ms Elaine Byrne has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Policing Authority, taking effect from January 1st 2024.
Dr Byrne has served as a member of the Authority since March 2021. She is a practising barrister with a specialisation in Regulatory Law and Employment Law. She has acted as a consultant on governance matters for the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank. She has served as a member of the Hamilton Review Group on Economic Crime and Corruption, and the Seanad Working Group on Reform.
The new Policing Security and Community Safety Bill will complete its journey through the Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as possible and it will provide for a new governance and oversight framework for policing and provide for the establishment of a new independent oversight body replacing the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Inspectorate. This body will be known as the Policing and Community Safety Authority.
In the meantime, there remains a need for the Policing Authority to remain fully functional and therefore it is necessary to reappoint members of the Policing Authority to ensure continuity of its functions until the new Policing and Community Safety Authority is established.
As such, Mr Paul Mageean and Dr Deborah Donnelly are reappointed as members of the Policing Authority with effect from January 1st 2024 until December 31st 2024 or until the dissolution of the Policing Authority, whichever takes place first.
Similarly, Ms Elaine Byrne, Mr Donal de Buitleir, Mr Anthony Harbinson and Dr Jane Mulcahy are reappointed as members of the Policing Authority with effect from March 9th 2024 until December 31st 2024 or until the dissolution of the Policing Authority, again whichever is the sooner.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee said: “I welcome the reappointments announced today and I want to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Policing Authority for their commitment up until now and for continuing the important work of the Authority.
The introduction of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill has been a priority for me and it will see the introduction of the new Policing and Community Safety Authority. I’m happy to say the Bill is progressing very well and we hope to see it completed very soon indeed.
I wish the esteemed members of the Policing Authority continued success in their respective roles and I want to thank Elaine Byrne for taking over as Chair of the Authority. I also want to sincerely commend Bob Collins, whose term as Chair of the Authority will end at the end of December, for his dedication to the role, and to thank Dr Moling Ryan and Valerie Judge for their work as members of the Authority for the past eight years.”
The new Authority will combine the broad-ranging oversight function of the Policing Authority and the complementary inspection function of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate. It will be exclusively focused on providing robust independent oversight of the performance of An Garda Síochána in relation to policing services.
Meanwhile, separately the Government has won a Dáil confidence vote, tonight, in the Minister for Justice Mrs Helen McEntee, by a clear majority of 83 votes to 63.
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