Minister Brophy attends meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Copenhagen
- Published on: 23 July 2025
- Last updated on: 23 July 2025
Colm Brophy, Minister of State with special responsibility for Migration attended a meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Copenhagen today. Ministers discussed data protection, organised crime and violence against children.
On organised crime, Ministers were asked to focus on family-centred organised crime groups. The importance of working at an EU level to combat cross-border organised crime was emphasised. Speaking on this issue, Minister Brophy said:
“Tackling serious and organised crime in all its forms is a top priority for the Irish Government.
"The Irish Government has worked to strengthen cooperation with priority third countries to ensure significant and high-ranking members of criminal networks have no place to hide.
"This has resulted in the arrest and extradition of an alleged senior member of Ireland’s most threatening organised criminal group to face prosecution for serious offences.”
Ministers were also provided with the opportunity to discuss measures on combatting violence against children. Ministers were asked to look at the questions posed by the Presidency on corporal punishment, detecting violence against children, and support and protection within the justice system.
Minister Brophy said:
“In Ireland, all forms of corporal punishment of children have been definitively outlawed since the passing of the Children First Act 2015.
"Ireland is actively engaging at EU level on the negotiations on the proposed child sexual abuse regulation, which we believe is required to be agreed as a matter of urgency.”
Ministers also discussed data protection and potential simplification of the GDPR with a focus on balancing competitiveness and the right to the protection of personal data.
Speaking on this topic, the Minister said:
“It is important that the EU gets the balance right on AI, Data Protection and digital regulation in general, and we support an environment where fundamental rights are protected, and innovation can flourish.”