Séamus McGrath
Ceist:1. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Housing will meet next. [64344/26]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
Ryan O'Meara
Ceist:2. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Housing will next meet. [64294/26]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:3. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Housing will next meet. [64265/26]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:4. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Housing will next meet. [64827/26]
Paul Lawless
Ceist:5. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Housing will next meet. [64905/26]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:6. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [65085/26]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Monday, 14 September. The committee will next meet on Thursday, 22 October. The committee works to ensure a cross-government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with recent home completions data showing almost 17,000 new homes built in the first half of 2026. This is a rise of 11% on the same period in 2025 and the highest number of half-year completions since the series began 15 years ago. We are also seeing the highest number of people buying their first home in well over a decade, with almost 12,600 first-time buyer mortgages drawn down in the first half of this year. Many of these households were supported by Government-backed measures, such as the first home and help-to-buy schemes.
Clearly, the measures we have implemented, backed by unprecedented State investment, are working. The housing activation office is now established. A core team of civil servants and experts seconded from Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the local government sector have been brought together to progress the work of the office. It is headed by a deputy secretary general for housing activation. The office actively engages with key stakeholders, including all 31 local authorities, utility and infrastructure providers, industry and others to ensure that barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects required to enable housing development are addressed in a co-ordinated way.
The Government has made available the highest ever commitment of Exchequer funding for housing of €28 billion up to 2030, along with additional funding through State vehicles including the Land Development Agency, LDA, the Housing Finance Agency, Home Building Finance Ireland, the first home scheme and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund.
Under the national housing plan, the role and remit of the LDA has been expanded. This includes a wider geographical remit and a focus on starter homes, mixed tenure of more social and private housing delivery, and infrastructure-led delivery. Through various delivery channels, the LDA has delivered almost 3,000 homes and is working on a pipeline of a further 25,000 homes on over 40 sites, with projects at every stage from design through to construction.
All 31 local authorities across the country have been tasked with ensuring that more than enough land is zoned to meet the needs of our citizens. The process is well under way, with the majority of local authorities having either fully or partially concluded the process.
To ensure that this land is activated for housing quickly, we are co-ordinating wider infrastructure investment through the housing activation office, which is now managing a multi-annual €1 billion housing investment fund. This is the largest ever investment in housing-enabling infrastructure. Over 80 infrastructure projects have been funded under the programme to directly enable the delivery of 86,000 new homes and provide the potential for a further 113,000 homes.
Our commitment to large-scale projects, such as MetroLink, has housing delivery as a core priority. Earlier today, we approved the next phase of work on this generational project, with main tendering due to kick off shortly. This project will enable tens of thousands of extra homes along its route.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Government's response to the viability challenge in Delivering Homes, Building Communities is multifaceted. It involves measures to decrease the delivery costs, such as the VAT reduction on the sale of new apartments and introducing greater flexibility to the size and mix of apartment developments through the ongoing development of new design standards for apartments. It involves the new rent framework which will help to boost investment in the supply of homes for rent and provide greater certainty to the wider residential market. The actions to support the delivery of apartments in Delivering Homes, Building Communities have the potential to result in significant cost savings in the range of €88,000 to €160,000 per apartment.
Last July, reforms to planning exemptions regulations took effect, giving homeowners the freedom to adapt their homes to changing needs and make decisions in relation to their own living space. We now have the highest social housing build per annum on record and have also allocated over €370 million to the second-hand social housing acquisition programme, which includes much-needed funding to support households to exit long-term homeless accommodation.
We are working to reform our housing system so that it delivers sustainably over the long term. This means effective State investment across a broad range of schemes and agencies, alongside large-scale private sector investment. Only by getting this balance right will we be able to deliver at the scale and ambition needed. Private investment alongside public investment is the only way to deliver the scale of housing needed. It is, therefore, critical that Ireland achieves a stable and predictable policy environment to attract and retain private capital, in line with the programme for Government commitment, including from international sources. Our plan is working and we are seeing the results. I am confident that we can build on our success to date by continuing to focus on delivery, making sure it is both scaled and sustainable into the future.
There are only six Deputies, so I will propose at least two minutes each for the response. Deputy Paul Murphy wishes to come in. It has been precluded but only where the number of Members who have asked the questions would not be allowed in. I think Deputy Murphy will be allowed in today. I may not be in the Chair when that happens.
I thank the Taoiseach for the update on the progress made on housing. I will raise one specific issue relating to the qualifying income limits for social housing. It is the intention of the Government to increase these limits. I want to raise the issue to ensure that happens as quickly as possible. As the Taoiseach knows, the limits were last changed in 2023, which was three years ago. There are currently three bands ranging from €30,000, €35,000 and €40,000 in terms of qualifying limits. In the past three years, wage growth has increased cumulatively by 15%. Even if we were to stand still, we need to increase those limits by 15%. I would strongly argue that we need to be more decisive than that. We need a seismic shift to help to narrow the gap between those who fall just outside the social housing limits and those who are in a position to afford accommodation in their own right. That gap is growing. One of the measures available to the Government is to increase the qualifying limits for social housing. We must ensure that social housing is available to working people on modest incomes. At present, that is not necessarily the case. The Government must ensure that happens. We cannot have a situation whereby the qualifying limits act as a disincentive to work, as is the situation at present. Each Member of this House is aware of discussions he or she has had with constituents, who spoke about cutting back their working hours in order to keep their incomes under the limits. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure this happens quickly. It is important. We need to narrow the gap in terms of the affordability of housing for individuals and families across the country.
I raise the concerns and annoyance of the thousands of people whom I represent in Newport, Ballina and Birdhill and who faced a disastrous summer in the context of water quality, a lack of drinking water and boil water notices as a result of Uisce Éireann's ill-handling of communications and a lack of clarity from Uisce Éireann on exactly what was happening. We are talking about thousands of households, or customers, as Uisce Éireann calls them. These are thousands of people whom I represent. On numerous occasions, the water was cut off and stopped in two large towns and a village. There has been boil water notice after boil water notice. The most recent update I got from Uisce Éireann was that the last boil water notice was because of heavy rainfall. As we go into winter in Ireland, I am worried if that is what Uisce Éireann thinks is causing a boil water notice for thousands of people.
My main criticism and critique is of the communication and the information provided. All of us in this House struggle to get accurate information from Uisce Éireann. I cannot advise my constituents or even keep them safe under boil water notices if the accurate information is not coming from Uisce Éireann. What are the Government's plans to make Uisce Éireann more accountable to this House and more accountable to us, as public representatives, when we ask it direct questions to ensure we get answers that are accurate in a timely manner? Uisce Éireann will get more than €12 billion from this Government between now and 2030 for infrastructure investment. The very least that we deserve from that, outside of an adequate water and wastewater network, are proper responses, timely updates and accurate information.
For years, Aontú has been in this Chamber arguing about the fact that Ireland has the slowest planning, procurement, licensing, tendering and judicial review processes in the whole of Europe. This housing crisis has dragged on for nearly ten years at this stage. One of the main contributing factors has been that what the Government controlled was absolutely dysfunctional and was not working. We were singular in making that critique of the Government.
The Central Bank today issued a report which confirms the concerns that we in Aontú have raised repeatedly in this Chamber. The time it takes to build a house in this country has doubled in ten years. It used to take two years to build a house in this country but it now takes four years. It stands to reason that that action alone reduces the capacity of the Government and the country to build houses. How come this Government has tied up the whole process in red tape and bureaucracy, with the effect of making it more difficult to build homes in those periods? Why has the Government allowed the situation to become so dysfunctional? It is so frustrating. The aspect of building homes that the Government controls has been made more difficult and longer to achieve by the Government itself. That has led to people being homeless. It has led to people not being able to buy homes. It has led to increases in the prices of those homes. Will the Government go further to ensure that we again reduce the length of time it takes to build a home in this country by making its end of the responsibility more efficient?
I was very saddened this morning to hear of the very sad and untimely passing of Eamonn Langton. Eamonn was a very successful businessman, a staunch Kilkenny man and a passionate GAA supporter. The Langton name and the Langton establishment are synonymous with everything that is good about Kilkenny. Recently he was made a freeman of the city. It was such a fitting tribute that he was able to be there with all his family and friends. A great Gael passed away this morning. We are thinking of him and all his family at this very sad time. I acknowledge that the Taoiseach wrote him a letter after he was made a freeman of the city. That was the last time I spoke to him and he was so appreciative of that formal acknowledgement of his contribution from the Taoiseach and leader of the country.
I will raise the issue of the vacant and derelict property grant. It is a very successful grant, which provides between €50,000 and €70,000 every year. There have been 20,000 applications nationally, with about €346 million paid out, so it is a really effective scheme we have going. About €3 million has been paid out in full in Carlow for 184 applications and for about 440 applications in Kilkenny with €9 million paid out. I have two asks here, which would be great. When it was originally introduced in 2022, the scheme paid €30,000 for a vacant property and €50,000 for a derelict one. This was increased in 2023 to €50,000 for a vacant property and €70,000 for a derelict property. Will the Government consider increasing that in the upcoming budget to significantly higher levels, considering the increased expenses and costs in construction at the moment? Also, is it possible from a technical perspective to introduce a partial drawdown stage? At the moment, people can only draw down the funding once the works are completed in full. Given the amount of funding involved, it would be appropriate if, for example, there were a possibility halfway through that people could draw down a certain portion of the funding to ease the challenges that many families and individuals are facing when availing of these grants.
I have asked the Taoiseach repeatedly about the social housing income thresholds. We have had promise after promise that something is going to be done about them. Every single week, pretty much, people are coming to me who find that they have been on a housing list for five, ten or 15 years, all that time waiting, and then because their pay marginally increases, they go over the threshold and all the time is gone. They are left in limbo but their income is not enough to be able to get cost-rental or affordable housing. It is so unfair. At the beginning of 2023, when the Government last raised the limits - it had to be pushed on that as well - the average industrial wage allowed a person to qualify for social housing. Now, with the average industrial wage, a person is over the threshold. It is absolutely unfair. It looks to me like a strategy to get people off the list and maybe even to do away with social housing as we know it and replace it with a higher rent scheme. If it is not, let us see the Government raise the limits. Will it be done before the budget? When will it be done? By how much will it be raised? What will the Government do about the time lost by people who have been thrown off the list over the past three years and have been left in limbo? I would like the Taoiseach to answer those questions.
I would also like to ask the Taoiseach about the three- and four-bedroom issue in social housing developments. One of the major reasons family homelessness and child homelessness are rising, which is absolutely unacceptable, child homelessness in particular, even though there is an uptick in social housing delivery - mostly, it has to be said, through private developers, not through direct construction - is because local authorities are not building three- and four-bedroom houses. In my area, there are no four-bedroom houses planned in future developments over the next number of years and the percentage of three-bedroom houses is abysmal. Something has to be done about delivering three- and four-bedroom local authority houses in order to address child and family homelessness.
At this very moment, council tenants from Mac Uilliam are outside South Dublin County Council offices, together with activists from the local Community Action Tenants Union, CATU, branch, protesting because they are at their wits' end about the maintenance issues and the serious problems of disrepair in their homes. They do not want to be at this point. They have tried everything in terms of engaging with the council, including individually doing representations. I have been inside their homes and the conditions are utterly unacceptable for anyone to have to live in 2026. We are talking about massive amounts of mould and damp and kids being brought up in this scenario. We are talking about windows and doors being broken all over the place, which obviously creates an inconvenience for people but also a serious fire hazard for people being able to get out in the event of a fire. We are talking about lighting inside and outside the blocks being broken and heating being a repeated problem. We are talking about a big problem with rats, in terms of public health, and in certain areas of the estate there are big problems with a smell of sewage coming from the ground, which is an ongoing problem that we have been raising for years. They are now outside the council offices, forced to protest because they have been let down and have not even been given clear timelines by the council about when these issues will be repaired.
Does the Taoiseach think it is acceptable that council tenants who are now being asked to pay a big increase in rent have accommodation like this in 2026? Does he agree that the council needs to have meaningful engagement with these tenants and needs to provide a clear, short timeline to repair all the key issues they are raising?
When I last raised the issue of Carrignavar the Ceann Comhairle was in the Chair as well, so I do appreciate the time. Like Deputy O'Meara, I want to talk about Irish Water and its inability to deliver infrastructure at the rate that is needed. I point consistently to Glenville, Carrignavar and Knockraha in my constituency. The story is kind of the same. We are providing record investment in Irish Water and we are seeing very little return. Of the 37 projects identified by Cork County Council, about four years ago at this stage, six were allocated funding. The vast majority of them have not even been initiated and, as I said, this malaise continues.
I got excited when I found out that we were reintroducing developer-led infrastructure. I said, "Jesus, we might have a chance at getting a house in Carrignavar some time in the next decade." Unfortunately, like the announcement about Glenville a couple of weeks ago, the only thing that is happening is that because the existing plants are so deficient, and in the case of Carrignavar three times overloaded, the plan is to introduce a modular wastewater treatment plant, which will essentially make them compliant with the existing waste they are treating at the moment. From what I have been told, it will not, in all likelihood, allow for any expansion.
These communities, which are small villages within ten minutes of the city centre, are facing being locked out of development at any meaningful level for next decade. Irish Water is telling us it takes on average seven years to deliver a new treatment plant by the time it goes through all the necessary procurement, environmental assessments and so on. We need to get real with ourselves and have a reality check. We need to ask ourselves whether that is acceptable in this day and age. I have not even got on to Knockraha because I am out of time but I would appreciate some glimmer of hope that those villages will be able to progress and develop in the future.
In the first instance, Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of qualifying income thresholds for social housing. To make the point more generally, we built 9,000 social houses last year and we will go higher this year. Deputy Boyd Barrett suggests that we want to get rid of social housing but we are building record levels of it. We are building more per annum now than we have done since the State was founded. Let us at least accept that. You can give out about the methodology if you want all-State construction, but we are getting it done. In any event, I would say to Deputy McGrath that one of the issues is that, legislatively, eligibility for social housing has been coupled with the housing assistance payment, HAP. That is an issue but we can deal with that too. I believe we need to increase the income thresholds. There are many working people who cannot avail of social housing right now, who should be able to. The gap between a certain cohort and those who can afford to get mortgages to buy is significant. There is a cohort of people who should have the option of being entitled to social housing.
Deputy O'Meara referred to the wastewater treatment plants in Newport, Birdhill and Ballina and the issue of boil water notices and poor quality water.
We had Irish Water in. We said to it, at a Cabinet subcommittee, that Deputies in the House are not happy with the level of communication. It said it created a unit within its structure, allegedly, to deal with Oireachtas Members and public representatives. We will go back to Irish Water again following today's session but we made it very clear to it that, up to now, it has not been what is required. It is a fundamental duty of Irish Water to communicate proactively with people with regard to shortages, boil water notices and so on. It has established a unit for communications. I will go back to it in respect of what the Deputy said to me.
In regard to Deputy Tóibín's comment about the Central Bank report, I will make the point that Ireland's homebuilding is the fastest in Europe. We have 7.2 completions per 1,000 people, whereas the European average sits at just three. The United Kingdom is behind that again at 2.4 per 1,000 people. Housing completions rose by 40% between 2022 and 2026 and we are one of only five European countries where building rose, while in the rest of the Continent it declined. Ireland has the highest direct spending in Europe on housing by a wide margin when scaled for GDP or GNI. Some €9 billion in capital funding is committed to finance social and affordable homes. Twenty-one thousand mortgages were drawn down in the first half of 2026, up 5% on the same period last year. Nine thousand new-build social homes were completed, the highest number in any given year since the foundation of the State. Employment in the residential construction sector is up 14%. Notices of termination are down 49% from quarter 1 of 2026. Registered tenancies have increased. I could go on.
Notwithstanding the Central Bank report, I will say to everyone in the House that we would appreciate their support. Deputy Tóibín may have supported the rural planning guidelines that we introduced to reduce the planning burden; others did not. The apartment guidelines were amended. Lots in the House opposed that, and the exemptions to back gardens and so on to facilitate the building of modular units. That is all designed to deal with what the Central Bank has reported. Accelerated delivery of infrastructure by the Minister, Deputy Jack Chambers, and the critical infrastructure legislation are all designed to prioritise the delivery of infrastructure that can lead to house completions. We want to accelerate planning. We have maybe not doubled but substantially increased resources to An Coimisiún Pleanála and other regulatory bodies to get decisions faster. We will continue to do that.
I join with Deputy 'Chap' Cleere, first of all, in extending sympathies on the death of Eamonn Langton. It is particularly sad news. He was a freeman of the Deputy's city. I know the Deputy and he were very close. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. On the Deputy's ambitions for the budget, I will say two things. We had a substantial increase to grants at that time, as the Deputy said, from €30,000 to €50,000 and €50,000 to €70,000, in respect of vacancy and dereliction.
Thank you, Taoiseach.
I take the Deputy's point about the partial drawdown of the grant and I will go back to the Minister in respect of that. I will take on board what the Deputy is saying in regard to the budget more generally.
Can I deal with the others?
There is Deputy Boyd Barrett. I dealt with that, I think, with regard to social housing.
When? Can the Taoiseach tell us when?
When what?
When is the Government going to bring up the limits?
I just dealt with it.
The Taoiseach did not tell us a date.
The Minister is working on it. It is not that simple.
We got that answer the last time.
The Deputy did not acknowledge that we built 9,000 houses and we are building-----
The Minister is not working very hard at it.
In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, again, I do not have the full background to that issue. It is obviously a matter for South Dublin County Council and those conditions are not satisfactory. The council should deal with it.
In respect of Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's point about Uisce Éireann, I will again engage with it in respect of Carrignavar and Glenville. The developer-led initiative is meant to be new schemes as well, in certain towns around the country. It is initially on nature-based solutions but we are pushing to get not just nature-based but other provision as well. That has to happen. Uisce Éireann has got a lot of resources and it has to deliver.
I will refrain from abusing my position to appeal to the Taoiseach to work on Carrignavar.
Cabinet Committees
Albert Dolan
Ceist:7. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will meet next. [64288/26]
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Ceist:8. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will meet next. [64345/26]
Tom Brabazon
Ceist:9. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [64291/26]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:10. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [64266/26]
Darren O'Rourke
Ceist:11. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [64814/26]
Louis O'Hara
Ceist:12. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will meet next. [64832/26]
Mark Ward
Ceist:13. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [65610/26]
With the agreement of the House, I propose that each Member be allocated two minutes each. Is that agreed?
Can I get in as well?
Yes. We can have 1 minute, 45 seconds each.
We are very tolerant people here.
I am a regular.
We are very generous.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 13, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that are in relation to matters under those areas. It covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, policing and justice reform, migration and initiatives tackling local-area disadvantage.
Getting more gardaí on our streets to prevent and detect crime is the Government's first priority, and the Government has allocated over €2.74 billion to the Garda Vote this year, the largest allocation ever. The Government welcomes the progress made by An Garda Síochána with respect to recruitment in recent years. It is expected that the number of gardaí will soon exceed the previous record high of 14,758 in March 2020 and the number of gardai will reach 15,000 in the near future. Recruitment into An Garda Síochána is continuing apace. Groups of around 200 new gardai are now regularly entering and attesting from the Garda College approximately every three months. Five hundred and sixty-six probationer gardaí have been assigned to stations around the country already in 2026, with two more attestations due to take place before the end of the year.
The 2025 programme for Government contains a commitment to continue to implement a firmer migration system that, among other things, protects the integrity of our immigration framework. Last November, the Government approved a package of policy and legislative reforms to strengthen Ireland’s migration and asylum system, ensuring it is rules-based, efficient and more closely aligned with those of other EU member states.
The Cabinet committee was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. Its first meeting was on 10 April 2025 and it met most recently on Monday, 14 September. The next meeting will be scheduled in due course. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.
A huge amount of work has been done by An Garda Síochána to recruit new members. Understandably, after each attestation, the gardaí are allocated to different stations right across the country. My huge problem with that is that in the last three attestations, Galway received, in total across the over 700 gardaí that were allocated, only four gardaí. That is not four gardaí for one town in Galway or one small village; that is for the entirety of County Galway, the city and Connemara. It is a huge area that received only four gardaí.
I wrote to the Commissioner on 24 July to highlight this matter because I was really frustrated by it. What it worked out at was that in Galway, we were receiving one garda per 64,000 of population. That was our allocation. I welcome the recent reallocation of 28 additional gardaí to the high-visibility policing efforts now taking place in Galway city. From speaking to the community gardaí in Galway city centre, they are seeing hugely positive results from this high-visibility policing. It is working in Galway city.
Galway needs to be focused on and given a greater allocation moving forward. That means that stations in Athenry, Gort, Loughrea, Headford, Portumna and Tuam would see an increased allocation, that we would start to see that flow not just into Galway city but throughout the county, and that people would see higher visibility from the gardaí in the county because there would be the resources to do so. What consideration will be given to the fact that Galway has had such an underallocation of gardaí from recent attestations?
I raise an issue in relation to migration, our deportation process and how it works. I have been in here six and a half years. I have never once objected to an international protection accommodation service, IPAS, centre. I have never once come in here and spoken about migration, if the truth be told. I feel obliged to say that before I make my suggestion or criticism.
At present, when somebody is given a deportation order to leave the country - 4,700 were given in 2025 and approximately 434 of those were enforced - the vast majority of those people in this country who are issued such a notice are expected to voluntarily return themselves.
To be fair, I would say that happens in the majority of the cases I have come across and it is what gardaí and people involved with migration are telling me. However, there is a third cohort of people who are termed "otherwise confirmed". Essentially, those people volunteer the information to the authorities before they leave. However, from speaking with gardaí, a number of people go unaccounted for and a vast amount of the State's time is spent looking for those people. We do not know if they have actually left. My observation is that the Garda's powers and resources are better utilised enforcing the deportation orders and the laws we have, rather than finding out whether somebody has left the country. Gardaí find themselves seeking out people who might have left six months previously as they have no way of tracing that. Next week, at our policy meeting with the Minister for Justice, who has done a good job since taking over, I will raise with him the issue of traceability and what we are going to do to ensure the people who are served with notices are actually leaving. I would love to say they will leave of their own volition, but in cases where they are not how are we going to trace that in future?
Yesterday, the Garda Representative Association told the justice committee that gardaí need greater clarity on the pursuit policy, proper pursuit training, stronger legal protections and adequate roads policing resources. My constituents certainly want to see our gardaí supported in order that they can carry out their duty. I have previously raised the introduction of a separate driving licence for gardaí and a statutory indemnity for gardaí carrying out their role reasonably. What measures will the Government introduce to address these concerns and ensure gardaí are properly equipped and protected when carrying out their duties?
Everyone has the right to be safe and to feel safe in their homes and communities. Across the country, communities are dealing with the scourge of crime and antisocial behaviour. The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and significant funding has been put into resourcing An Garda Síochána. There has been an additional €500 million over the last five years. As the Taoiseach said, by the end of this year, for the first time ever, we will have about 15,000 gardaí serving the State. It will be the highest figure since the foundation of the State. I want to see a greater geographical spread of the new resources that are coming on board. Two attestations will take place towards the end of the year. While I welcome the additional gardaí who have been stationed in Cork, Dublin and Limerick, I would like to see a greater geographical spread around the country, in particular, in my constituency. People who live in rural Ireland want to feel safe every bit as much as people living in the cities. I look at stations in places like Graiguenamanagh, Goresbridge, Thomastown, across to Bennetsbridge, down to Callan and Mooncoin and over to Borris and Bagenalstown. We need additional gardaí in all these places because people are telling me they want to see gardaí with their boots on, on the street, on the beat and engaging with the community. We have put fantastic resources into the Garda but we just need a greater geographical spread. I implore the Taoiseach to use his influence to try to get a greater rural spread with the additional gardaí.
I too raise Garda numbers. Only four of 566 new Garda recruits this year have been allocated to Galway and all four went to Galway city. In recent weeks, there was an announcement of 28 new gardaí for Galway city and Salthill but none for stations in county towns like Athenry, Loughrea, Gort and Tuam. These are stations that have not seen any meaningful increase in Garda numbers in years. Assurances have been given that rural towns and villages will see an increased allocation but it has not happened. Across County Galway, there are ongoing issues with rural crime and antisocial and criminal behaviour in towns and villages. This is causing an awful lot of misery for people and I am being contacted regularly by residents about serious issues and by people who do not feel safe because of the lack of a Garda presence in our areas. Athenry, which is a growing town of 5,000 people, does not even have a full-time Garda station or Garda presence. It is totally unacceptable. When are stations in rural east Galway going to see increased allocations to ensure we have an adequate Garda presence in our communities?
Yesterday at the justice committee, we heard that not one garda in the State is trained in pursuit driving. We heard this from the AGSI, the GRA and Garda management. In 2026, I find this absolutely shocking. From speaking to members of the public after yesterday’s meeting, they also find it absolutely shocking. During the meeting, one of the Garda representatives pulled out a policy document from 1988 which stated Garda members were to get pursuit training. Since Ray Houghton put the ball in the England net that year, we have not seen one garda trained in pursuit in this country. The Government said it was going to prioritise pursuit training after the M9 tragedy but we heard yesterday that by the end of this year, only six gardaí in the State will have completed pursuit training. How did we get to a situation where, in 2026, not one garda in the State is trained to pursue a vehicle that is fleeing or refusing to stop for gardaí? It is a simple question and the public want to know the answer to it.
Last year, 122 students from Palestine, many of them coming from the horror of Gaza, were accepted into universities and colleges here to study and were given the visas to do that. Only 22 of those visa applications were refused. This year, 39 were granted and 103 refused. It is clear from the testimony of the colleges, universities, student unions and so on that something has changed, which is quite incredible, in the refusal of visas to people fleeing the most horrific conditions in Gaza. These students have been accepted by the third level institutions and in most cases the fees are not an issue, meaning there is no real cost for the State at all. They come through either sanctuary programmes or sponsors. I was talking to a young Palestinian woman whose two siblings were refused. They have an American sponsor paying the fees, so there is no cost but they are still being refused. This looks like a sort of performative cruelty by the Department of justice. It is asking questions like whether the students can provide bank statements from the last couple of years from Gaza. Gaza has been bombed to bits and subjected to a genocide. The Department has asked the students whether they can prove they are going to return to Gaza. The people of Palestine and Gaza want to go home. Their problem is they are being bombed to bits by Israel and the world allows it to happen. When they are coming here to study, having been accepted by third level institutions, and given their numbers are tiny, could we show a bit of humanity and decency by allowing them to come here to study and giving them visas?
Hear, hear.
Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to do that?
I also raise Garda numbers in towns and villages, this time in Kerry. I am referring not just to Killarney and Tralee but to Castleisland, Dingle, Kenmare, Killorglin and Cahersiveen. In one particular area, Portmagee, there was always a garda until a few years ago. I have made representations on that.
The other issue I wish to raise is drink spiking. It is becoming very common across the world, but also here, including in the Taoiseach's county. I am aware of cases there. I was approached recently by a prominent businessman in Killarney whose daughter had her drink spiked. He said only for the fact that he was working in the town, he would not have got to her in time. These incidents are leading to sexual assaults in most cases. Deputy Séamus McGrath and I will sit down shortly with the Minister for justice in regard to a Private Members' Bill. I hope the Taoiseach, the Government and our colleagues will support it.
I thank the Deputies for the range of questions that has been asked. We began with Deputy Dolan and there was another question later about Galway. Deputy Dolan made a very strong case for Galway county, particularly east Galway. As I said, Garda numbers have increased dramatically since Covid. There are 200 gardaí being attested every three months now. It seems the Commissioner has concentrated on getting big cities done first, and Dublin was the first of these. It got a very significant tranche for the high-visibility policing initiative. There was also Cork and Limerick.
I will speak to the Minister and Commissioner in respect of Galway. It is an operational issue for the Garda, first and foremost. He understands the desire of the Government for wide coverage and so forth. That seems a low number. In reference to the figure of 28 mentioned by the Deputy, did that relate to Galway?
They were repatriated outside Galway.
That is an extra 28 for Galway.
For the city.
It was four for the county and 28 for the city. That is good. I take the Deputy's point. The towns he mentioned are large, including Athenry, Gort and so on. Deputy Cleere gave us a strong sense of the towns in Kilkenny. I take the point. Rural Ireland has its unique crime issues and people feel vulnerable if there is a sense that there is not a sufficient Garda presence. It is a budget priority to continue the momentum in terms of Garda recruitment for 2027.
Deputy O'Sullivan made an interesting point on the migration question. He essentially said there should be better follow-up in terms of deportations. In 2025, about 4,700 deportation orders were signed, an increase of 96% compared to 2024. Up to 24 July, 2,650 deportation orders had been signed this year. The number of deportation orders signed to 4 September 2026 has increased by 12% on 2025. In 2025, 2,111 people departed from the State under various mechanisms.
I will speak to the Minister in respect of the voluntary return issue. It is a more effective and efficient way of doing it because deportations are significant in themselves. There has been an increase of about 80% in the number of deportations that have occurred compared to 2024. The Deputy's fundamental point is that we know the figures. People have nothing to live on if they hang around, and therefore there is an incentive to move on. I will speak to the Minister about tightening up the number of voluntary deportations. There has been a sea-change in the number of deportation orders that have been signed and planes have taken off with people on them.
We have to have a firm and fair migration system and people have to know that the rules are enforced. There is a faster application process. We are speeding up the appeals process. The asylum pact is working. Migration numbers generally are down about 40% this year across Europe. A lot of Deputies opposite voted against the European Union asylum and migration pact. It is working and is effective, in particular in terms of returns.
In response to Deputy Brabazon, the Minister indicated a commitment to changing legislation in respect of gardaí so that they would not lose their driving licence in the course of doing their duties or have their lives undermined by being dragged before the courts in the line of duty. That is a significant issue that the Minister is pursuing. Pursuit is dangerous and that is why gardaí need training. I acknowledge we need far more training than is in place. It is not today or yesterday that gardaí have been aware of these issues in terms of pursuing people. It is very dangerous because it can lead to further accidents and deaths. The training will happen. Further protocols are required.
Deputy Shane Moynihan referred on Leaders' Questions to technology being deployed effectively. That is also very important. The Minister is considering a change in the law in respect of what Deputy Brabazon said in respect of protecting gardaí.
I dealt with Deputy Cleere's issue in terms of better geographic spread around the country. Kilkenny is keen-----
And Carlow.
Tuigim, tuigim, tuigim. I have dealt with the issues in respect of Galway city.
Deputy Mark Ward referred to pursuit training. It was a very good goal by Houghton in 1988. I take the Deputy's point. We must also be mindful of the fact that a lot has happened in the past four or five years in An Garda Síochána, in terms of recruitment activities and so on. There needs to be more focused training and so on, and there will be. Work is already under way with senior gardaí in colleges in the UK who are endeavouring to share expertise with UK police in terms of training and pursuit operations.
Deputy Cahill provided a long list of Kerry towns that could do with gardaí. I will take on board what he said about Portmagee.
The spiking of drinks is a horrendous and heinous crime and the Deputy is correct that there can be horrific consequences in terms of sexual assault. We would be supportive of a Private Members' Bill in that respect. The Deputy is pursuing that with Deputy McGrath. I will engage with the Minister.