Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
169. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the work being done in his Department in preparation for Ireland taking over the EU presidency later this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6077/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am committed to my Department playing its full part in delivering a successful Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Over the past year I have been a regular participant at Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Council meetings as have Ministers of State Colm Brophy and Niall Collins as appropriate.
In preparation for the significant undertaking the Presidency represents, my Department established a Presidency Planning Group which has met every six weeks since late 2023, with the frequency of meetings recently increasing to monthly. This internal engagement has been supplemented by high-level bilateral meetings with An Garda Síochána, and regular engagement with colleagues across Government through the Interdepartmental Groups on Presidency Policy Priorities and Operation Planning, hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
My Department's Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) team seconded to Ireland's Permanent Representation to the EU will increase, with the first tranche of additional staff assigned last year, and further team members to join early next month.
In addition, the European Affairs Division in the Department is also being increased in order to support and coordinate the work of the Presidency, including the preparation and running of the Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Council and feeding into relevant aspects of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council. Officials will also support the work of the Horizontal Working Party on Cyber with regard to the cybersecurity agenda during our Presidency.
They will also assist with the preparation for Ireland, as Presidency, to represent the EU at a range of external dialogues taking place in the latter half of 2026, including the EU-Western Balkan Ministerial Meeting, the EU-US Ministerial meeting, and the EU-CLASI (Latin American) Ministerial meeting.
Over the past year, a body of work has been underway to identify the Chairs, vice-Chairs and support teams for approximately 20 Council Working Groups my Department will be chairing during our Presidency, and to arrange for their participation in the relevant training provided by the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC). Alongside this, officials have run a series of in-house training seminars about the Presidency.
In order to ensure we direct our resources in the most effective way, staff are working to map the progress of EU proposals that have been, or are expected to be, tabled and under discussion during our Presidency and are engaging regularly with EU officials and with the two preceding Presidencies in this regard. This has included a number of high-level meetings by relevant members of my Department's senior management with their counterparts in the EU Institutions, and both Minister Brophy and I have travelled to Strasbourg and Brussels respectively to meet with members of the European Parliament who sit on the relevant JHA committees.
In addition, work continues within my Department on our national Presidency priorities. This has been informed by the work referenced above, as well as by engagements with other Member States both at Ministerial and official level, and via input from stakeholders. I expect Ireland's Presidency priorities to be published, following approval by Government, in June.
Finally, officials from my Department are regularly engaging with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office of Public Works to put in place the necessary arrangements for the JHA meetings and events which will be hosted in Ireland during our Presidency.
