The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a department of the

Government of Ireland The Government of Ireland () is the executive (government), executive authority of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet (government), cabinet – is composed of Mini ...

. It is led by the

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has overall responsi ...

. The department's mission is to maintain and enhance community security and to promote a fairer society in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Departmental team

Jim O'Callaghan Jim O'Callaghan (born 5 January 1968) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration since January 2025. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since the 2 ...

, TD **Minister of State for International law, law reform and youth justice:

Niall Collins Niall Collins (born 30 March 1973) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Minister for State since July 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Limerick County constituency since 2016, and from 2011 to 2016 for the Lime ...

, TD **Minister of State for Migration:

Colm Brophy Colm Brophy (born 22 June 1966) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West (Dáil constituency), Dublin South-West constituency since the 2016 Irish general election, 2016 general election. He se ...

, TD *Secretary General of the Department: Oonagh McPhillips

Overview

The mission of the Department of Justice is to maintain and enhance community security through the development of a range of policies and high-quality services which underpin: *The protection and assertion of human rights and fundamental freedoms consistent with the common good *The security of the State *An effective and balanced approach to tackling crime In July 2014 the department embarked on a comprehensive programme of change, including the recruitment of a new secretary-general following an independent review. The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are on

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

, Dublin.

Responsibilities

The department's main areas of responsibility include: *Implementing government policy on crime and protecting the security of the State (

National Security Committee A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

). *Providing policy advice in relation to the criminal justice system (

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

, the

Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts gene ...

Prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

and Probation and Welfare services) and supporting the operation of this system. *Continuing reform of criminal law and certain areas of civil law. *Playing a central part in the implementation of core elements in the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

. *Co-operating in relevant EU and international matters and promoting the Republic of Ireland's interests within the associated areas of responsibility. *Implementing the Government's asylum strategy and further developing national immigration policy.

Executive agencies

The department has

executive agencies An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

, which legally are integral parts of the department but which are managed separately: *

Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service Immigration Service Delivery is part of the civil service of the Republic of Ireland, civil service of Ireland. It serves as an :Government agencies of the Republic of Ireland, executive agency of the Department of Justice (Ireland), Department o ...

*Forensic Science Ireland *Probation Service * Irish Prison Service

Affiliated bodies

Among the state agencies and other bodies affiliated to the department in some way are: *

Courts Service The Courts Service is a statutory body that provides administration and support services to the Courts of the Republic of Ireland. It was established in 1999 by the ''Courts Service Act 1998''. Its head office is at Phoenix House, Smithfield, ...

Fiosrú – the Office of the Police Ombudsman Fiosrú – Office of the Police Ombudsman is an independent statutory body in Ireland charged with oversight of the Garda Síochána, the national police force. It was established in December 2005 as Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (known ...

*Legal Aid Board *

State Pathologist's Office The State Pathologist's Office () is a branch of the Department of Justice in the Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of ...

*National Disability Authority * Office of the Data Protection Commissioner *

Irish Film Classification Office The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) () is the organisation responsible for films, television programmes, and some video game classification and censorship within Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Where restrictions are placed by the IFCO, t ...

*International Protection Office *International Protection Appeals Tribunal *

Policing and Community Safety Authority The Policing and Community Safety Authority () is a statutory body in Ireland with certain powers of governance and oversight of the police and security service of the country, the Garda Síochána. It was established in 2025 as a successor to th ...

Private Security Authority The Private Security Authority (PSA) is the independent statutory body in Ireland that regulates private security services. It was established under the Private Security Services Act 2004. It is responsible for the protection of the public an ...

No state-sponsored bodies report to the department.

History

In the revolutionary period, the office was known as the Ministry of Home Affairs. The

Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 The Ministers and Secretaries Acts 1924 to 2020 is the legislation which governs the appointment of ministers to the Government of Ireland and the allocation of functions between departments of state. It is subject in particular to the provi ...

, passed soon after the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

in 1922, provided it with a statutory basis and renamed it as the Department of Justice. This act provided it with: The schedule assigned it with the following bodies: *All Courts of Justice and the Offices thereof save in so far as the same are reserved to the Executive Council or are excepted from the authority of the Executive Council or of an Executive Minister. *Police. *The General Prisons Board for Ireland and all Prisons. *The Registrar of District Court Clerks. *The Public Record Office. *The Registry of Deeds. *The Land Registry. *The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland.

Alteration of name and transfer of functions

The name and functions of the department have changed by means of statutory instruments.

References

External links

*
Structure of the DepartmentSpending by the Department
{{authority control

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Ireland, Justice 1919 establishments in Ireland