Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said there are “no facts” to suggest an increase in migration has led to increased crime rates. 

Speaking on The Anton Savage Show today, Ms McEntee said there is a “perception” that “people are coming in with criminal backgrounds that we don't know about”. 

“There are simply no facts to back that up,” she said. “None whatsoever. 

“In fact, if you look at if you look at statistics, it is under-representative in terms of the population of people who are not born in this country. 

“There is certainly not an increase under certainly not a correlation between the increasing numbers that we've seen in the last two years and an increase in crime.” 

McEntee on addressing crime

Ms McEntee noted the international protection application process includes background checks and anyone who is not eligible, including criminals, is “removed”. 

“We have to move away from this perception that because somebody comes here seeking protection that we're automatically going to assume the worst,” she said. 

“This could be anybody's brother, anybody's family that's fleeing war, that fleeing persecution.” 

Domestic violence

Ms McEntee also discussed Cuan, a new agency dedicated to tackling and reducing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. 

The Justice Minister said the new body will do “so much more” than just distribute funds to charities and organisations. 

“It will look at, ‘Where are the gaps? Where do we need to expand services? Where do we need more funding? And how do we work with the sector to do that?’,” she said. 

“We have some levels of research, to really get a clearer picture of what's going on. 

“We need to make sure that we understand the facts and to date, the facts are absolutely frightening.” 

Ms McEntee noted children are being impacted by domestic violence “in a way that we never knew before”. 

“The more of this type of information and data that we can gather, the better our laws,” she said. 

Garda Representative Association

Speaking on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’ snub from the Garda Representative Association (GRA) annual conference, Ms McEntee confirmed she has been invited. 

She said she “cannot say” if she will attend the conference and noted her “disappointment” that Mr Harris was not invited. 

Solicitor and former Garda Patrick Horan previously told Newstalk Breakfast the decision was "sad" but understandable.