Written Answers Nos. 152-160
152. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will outline the steps available to a person who is dissatisfied with the response they receive from the Property Service Regulatory Authority upon making a complaint. [43939/12]
View answerThe Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, which established the Property Services Regulatory Authority, provides at section 63, that any person may make a complaint in writing to the Authority alleging that improper conduct by a licensee has occurred or is occurring. Where the Authority receives such a complaint it shall cause it to be investigated unless it is satisfied that the complaint is;
- not made in good faith,
- frivolous or vexatious or without substance or foundation, or
- likely to be resolved by mediation or other informal means between the parties concerned.
Section 74 of the 2011 Act provides for the establishment of the Property Services Appeal Board, to hear and determine appeals against certain decisions of the Property Services Regulatory Authority. The Government appointed a Chairperson and five ordinary members of the Property Services Appeal Board in July 2012.
Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Authority to;
- decline to have an investigation carried out into the complaint,
- impose a “minor sanction” on a property services provider the subject of the complaint, or
- dismiss the complaint against the property services provider may, within 30 days from the date of receipt of notice of the decision, appeal to the Property Services Appeal Board against the decision.
153. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will outline in tabular form, the amount of money allocated by his Department and agencies within his Department to Ballina, Castlebar and Westport Town Council between 1997 and 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43951/12]
View answerRecords in relation to payments prior to 2003 are not readily available due to the implementation of new financial systems in 2003. Payments made to the Town Councils in question over the period 2003 to 2012 were as follows:
|
Period |
Ballina Town Council |
Castlebar Town Council |
Westport Town Council |
Total |
|
- |
€ |
€ |
€ |
€ |
|
2003-2012 |
0 |
3,298 |
0 |
3,298 |
These payments were primarily in respect of water rates, waste disposal and parking permit charges.
We are awaiting additional information from other agencies and will revert to the Deputy when this information becomes available.
154. Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in view of the fact that members of the Garda Reserve receive a P60 and the taxable allowance paid is recorded on a Revenue balancing statement as an income from the Department of Justice, if this means that Garda Reserve members are employees of the Department of Justice. [44003/12]
View answerThe Garda Síochána Acts provide that a member of the Garda Reserve is a volunteer and does not perform his or her functions under a contract of employment.
Members of the Garda Reserve receive an allowance of €1,000, to contribute towards expenses incurred, if they complete 208 hours of duty in a twelve month period and the administrative function of paying the allowance has been transferred by the Garda Commissioner, as the Accounting Officer of An Garda Síochána, to the Financial Shared Services Division of the Department of Justice and Equality.
155. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána as of the 1 January 2012; if he will provide the numbers in the force for each of the previous ten years [44006/12]
View answerI am informed by the Garda authorities that the personnel strength of An Garda Síochána at the end of each year from 31 December 2000 to 31 December 2011 was as set out in the following table:
The Deputy will appreciate that these figures are compiled on an end of month basis.
|
Year |
Strength |
|
2001 |
11,815 |
|
2002 |
11,895 |
|
2003 |
12,017 |
|
2004 |
12,209 |
|
2005 |
12,264 |
|
2006 |
12,954 |
|
2007 |
13,755 |
|
2008 |
14,412 |
|
2009 |
14,547 |
|
2010 |
14,377 |
|
2011 |
13,984 |
156. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44038/12]
View answerI refer the deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 184 of 4 October, 2012 which is set out below.
The person concerned was granted temporary permission to remain in the State in 2002, under the arrangements then applicable to the non-EEA parents of Irish born children. This permission was renewed on a regular basis by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and is valid currently valid until 28 January, 2014.
I am advised by the Citizenship Division of INIS that there is no record of an application for a certification of naturalisation having been received from the person referred to in the Deputy's question.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
157. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Defence when the review of the Reserve Defence forces will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43856/12]
View answerThe Steering Committee undertaking the Value for Money Review of the Reserve Defence Force have completed their deliberations and I understand that their report will be submitted to me and to the Secretary General in the next day or two. I look forward to receiving the report and considering its recommendations. In line with the process outlined in the guidelines for the conduct of Value for Money Reviews, the report will be published on the Department’s web-site in due course.
158. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Defence the extent to which members of the Air Corps have participated in overseas missions; if he is committed to providing opportunities to members of the Air Corps to take part in overseas missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43857/12]
View answerIn the context of the production of the first White Paper on Defence (2000), the issue of deploying the Air Corps assets on peace support operations was considered. It was decided at that time that, given the resources of the Air Corps and the demands on their services at home, that the Air Corps would not be deployed on overseas operations. However, that decision did not preclude individual members of the Air Corps being deployed on overseas peace support operations. During the past five years (01 October 2007 to 30 September 2012) a total of 160 deployments of Air Corps personnel to overseas missions occurred (see table below). It is my intention that Air Corps personnel will continue to be offered the opportunity of overseas service. In that regard, the Deputy may wish to note that as part of the new agreement on NCO promotions, a provision was inserted which is designed to deliver increased opportunities for Air Corps personnel to serve overseas as part of Defence Forces contingents.
|
MISSION |
OFFICERS |
ENLISTED PERS |
TOTAL |
|
EUFOR (EU-led Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
EUFOR TCHAD/RCA (EU-led Operation in CHAD and the Central African Republic) |
|
52 |
52 |
|
EU Military Staff (Brussels) |
|
1 |
1 |
|
EUTM Somalia (EU-led Training Mission in Uganda) |
|
1 |
1 |
|
ISAF (International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan) |
3 |
3 |
6 |
|
KFOR (International Security Presence in Kosovo) |
|
34 |
34 |
|
MINURCAT (United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad) |
|
46 |
46 |
|
MONUC (United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo) |
1 |
|
1 |
|
OSCE Mission to Bosnia & Herzegovina |
1 |
|
1 |
|
UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) |
1 |
13 |
14 |
|
UNOCI (United Nations Mission in Ivory Coast) |
1 |
|
1 |
|
UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation) – Israel, Syria and Lebanon |
1 |
|
1 |
|
TOTAL |
9 |
151 |
160 |
159. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Defence if applicants for Defence Forces Cadetships are entitled to receive a reason from the Defence Forces or from his Department on the reason their applications are rejected; if he or his Department received complaints in relation to this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43873/12]
View answerIt is a matter for the Military Authorities to select candidates based on specific criteria and in accordance with the Defence Force Regulations for positions in the Defence Forces. In relation to Cadetships in the Defence Forces, applications may be rejected for the following reasons:
- A candidate may be outside of the established age parameters.
- A candidate may not meet the established educational criteria.
- A candidate may not meet the residency conditions, as laid down by the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
- A candidate may be unsuccessful at the physical fitness assessment stage.
- A candidate may not score sufficiently high at the psychometric testing stage in order to progress to the next stage.
- A candidate may not score sufficiently high at the group assessment stage in order to progress to the interview stage.
- A candidate may not score sufficiently high at the final interview stage.
- A candidate may be found unsuitable on medical grounds.
If a candidate fails to meet any of the eligibility criteria, or are unsuccessful at a particular stage of the competition, they are advised of the reasons why their application has been unsuccessful.
Candidates who progress to the final stages of the Cadet Competition are subject to the Garda Síochána vetting procedure.
The Military Authorities have made provision for applicants for the Defence Forces Cadet Competition to receive feedback. On completion of a Cadet Competition, candidates can contact recruitment@defenceforces.ie to request information on their application.
In addition, a candidate may make an application under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 – 2003. At present, the Defence Forces are dealing with one Freedom of Information request in respect of one unsuccessful applicant for a Cadetship. Other than this single request, the Defence Forces have not received any complaints in relation to the process.
160. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on army personnel living on the northside of Dublin being transferred out of the city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43921/12]
View answerThe implementation of the reorganisation of the Defence Forces is currently in the early stages and, as such, the extent to which it will be necessary for personnel to move from their current geographic locations is not yet fully apparent.
As part of the implementation process, personnel have been given the opportunity to indicate their preferred options in relation to relocation and these will be taken into account in the implementation of the reorganisation plan. In addition, a review system has been put in place whereby personnel who are unhappy with a proposed relocation can seek a review of a decision in this regard. While the maintenance of Defence Forces operational requirements must be prioritised within the reorganisation implementation process, within that context, all practical alternatives, including redeployment within an individual’s existing location will be explored to minimise the requirement for geographic relocation. Opportunities will also be given for personnel to retrain and re-skill so as to be able to fill vacancies in their current locations, and this is being incorporated into the Defence Forces Training directive for 2013. However, it must be accepted that there is no painless way to fundamentally reorganise the Defence Forces whilst maintaining essential military capabilities and, undoubtedly, it will be necessary to mandatorily move some personnel whose units are being disbanded or relocated and who cannot be accommodated in their current location.
This is a difficult process for many serving members of the Defence Forces, officers and enlisted personnel, who are being required to make decisions under the current reorganisation which they would not otherwise make or in different times have had to consider. However, this is the reality of the public service today and of the reforms taking place across the public service.
