Written Answers Nos. 175-183
175. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total numbers of families and persons awaiting rehousing in each of the county and city borough local authority housing lists; the same numbers on local authority homeless lists; and the numbers on local authority transfer lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53239/12]
View answerMy Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authorities’ waiting lists. This figure continuously fluctuates as households are allocated housing and new households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need, carried out in March 2011 and including a breakdown by housing authority is available on my Department’s website – www.environ.ie - or on the Housing Agency’s website at www.housing.ie .
176. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of Government special advisers employed in his Department; the total cost of employing these advisers and the cost of employing these advisers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53311/12]
View answerIn line with the Instructions on Ministerial Appointments for the 31st Dáil, I have appointed two Special Advisers. In accordance with Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act 1997, and in line with the Instructions on Ministerial Appointments, Ministers of State who regularly attend Cabinet are permitted to appoint two Special Advisers. In this regard, my colleague Minister of State Jan O’Sullivan, has appointed one Special Adviser and is making arrangements for the appointment of a second. The total salary costs of all Special Advisers employed at my Department, including employers PRSI, is €373,571 per annum.
177. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the safe guards that have been put in place to protect children who are housed in direct provision centres whilst they and or their parent or legal guardian await their refugee application to be processed especially as many children in said centres are forced to share rooms with adults who are not known to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53101/12]
View answerThere are currently 4,836 persons seeking international protection residing in 35 Direct Provision accommodation centres across 17 counties under contract to the Reception & Integration Agency (RIA), an operational unit of the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department. 1,825 of these residents - 38% - are children under the age of 18.
RIA takes its child protection role seriously. This role is critical notwithstanding that children living in the Direct Provision system are not in the care of the State. All children live in a family context and their parents/guardians have primary responsibility for their care and welfare. It should also be noted that RIA does not accommodate unaccompanied minors: they are in the care of the HSE.
In the Direct Provision system, children are protected in a number of ways - primarily through RIA's Child Protection policy; its House Rules; its requirement that all centre staff are Garda vetted; and through the coordination role of a dedicated unit in RIA.
RIA's Child Protection Policy is based on the HSE's “Children First - National Guidelines for the protection and welfare of children”. This policy requires, inter alia, that children must be supervised by their parents/guardians at all times and that children are not permitted to be left alone overnight. It also provides that each centre has a designated Child Protection liaison officer who is responsible for following a referral procedure should he or she suspect that a child welfare incident has occurred. Management of accommodation centres are obliged to ensure that all staff working in the centre are aware of, and adhere to, RIA's Child Protection Policy. The HSE has provided 'Keeping Safe' child protection training to each centre's designated officers and other staff members.
The RIA House Rules set out information for residents and staff in respect of child protection and the responsibilities of all parties. A copy of these Rules, as well as its Child Protection Policy, is available on RIA's website - www.ria.gov.ie
Staff of centres under contract to RIA are Garda vetted. This is in furtherance of RIA's policy which has as its principal aim the minimisation of risk to children and vulnerable adults residing in its centres.
There is a specific unit in RIA called the Child and Family Services Unit, which is fully staffed and whose role is to manage, deliver, coordinate, monitor and plan all matters relating to child and family services for all asylum seekers residing in the direct provision system. It also acts as a conduit between RIA and the HSE, the latter having statutory functions in this area.
It should be acknowledged that the system of Direct Provision allows for a level of non-intrusive supervision of residents which would not be found in other living arrangements in the community. Other residents, centre staff, designated liaison officers, Public Health Nurses, General Practitioners, Community and Ethnic Liaison Gardaí etc. are alert to child welfare issues in centres.
In relation to the specific issue raised of children in centres sharing bedrooms with adults who are not known to them, there are a number of points to be made. There is only one instance where children share bedrooms with an unrelated adult. This occurs in the Eglington centre in Galway where, in each of three very large en-suite rooms, a female lone parent with infant children shares with another female lone parent with infant children. This must be seen in the context of there being 646 lone parent families, 314 of whom involving only one child, in the overall profile of residents in the RIA system. Under RIA policy, children aged 10 years or more should not share a bedroom with a family member of the opposite gender. Where this circumstance arises, RIA offers alternative accommodation elsewhere in its portfolio but, in a number of cases, such offers are declined.
RIA acknowledges that child protection is on ongoing and evolving responsibility and that it must constantly adapt to legislative and policy changes. In this respect, RIA is liaising with the HSE to update its Child Protection Policy in line with the recent revisions to the HSE's “Children First” published in 2011. This will involve the re-training of the designated Child Protection liaison officers across all its centres. RIA is also pro-actively engaging, internally and externally, in relation to, for example, putting Children First on a legislative basis as well as other associated child protection measures.
178. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the turnaround time for the processing of Section 49 applications at the Land Registry; the efforts he is making to minimise this period; if he will expedite the application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53377/12]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that the matters raised in the question are operational matters for the Property Registration Authority. Under the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, the Property Registration Authority (PRA) was established on 4 November 2006. The PRA replaces the Registrar of Deeds and Titles as the registering authority in relation to property registration in Ireland and, subject to the above Act, is independent in the performance of its functions.
I am advised by the Authority that applications under Section 49 are based upon adverse possession and such applications are governed by a detailed and relatively complex area of land law and the circumstances of each case dictate the nature and the processing time of each individual application. Any party who may have an interest in the property is notified that a Section 49 application has been lodged. There will routinely be ongoing and detailed correspondence between the Property Registration Authority and other parties. Such applications, of necessity, may take a long time to process and it is therefore not possible to give an average turnaround time for these types of cases. However, every effort is made to ensure that unnecessary delay is avoided.
The Deputy will be aware of the service to T.D.s and Senators which provides information on the current status of applications, such as the subject of this question, which was introduced in May 2006. The service provides a speedier, more efficient and more cost effective alternative to submitting Parliamentary Questions. It is operated by the PRA and is available all year round. I can further inform the Deputy that his query in relation to a specific case has been forwarded to the PRA for attention and direct reply via the above mentioned service.
179. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the categories of people who may be granted a licence by the Private Security Authority to install CCTV and access control security systems; if he has considered widening these categories to other professionals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53098/12]
View answerThe Private Security Authority (PSA), an independent agency under the remit of my Department, is the regulatory body with responsibility for regulating and licensing the private security industry in the State. The Private Security Services Act 2004 (as amended) sets out the activities in the private security industry which are, or will be, subject to licensing. The licensing of installers of security equipment encompassing intruder alarm, CCTV and access control systems is one such activity covered by the 2004 legislation.
Licensing of contractors working in the intruder alarm sector commenced some years back and since the 1 October 2012, contractors providing security services in the access control and CCTV sectors also require a licence from the PSA. Any contractor who wishes to provide a security service in these sectors and who meets the licensing requirements may apply to the PSA for a licence. A contractor can be a sole trader, partnership or body corporate.
I am informed by the Authority that contractors seeking a licence are required to provide a valid tax clearance certificate, evidence of having obtained a standard endorsed by the Authority and in the case of a body corporate, a certificate of incorporation. In addition, all sole traders, partners, company directors and shareholders with a holding of 5% or more are vetted by An Garda Síochána before a licence issues.
180. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there has been any movement in changing the way in which pending refugee applicants are being housed in Direct Provision Centres, which are often over crowded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53102/12]
View answerThere are currently 4,836 persons seeking international protection residing in 35 asylum Direct Provision accommodation centres across 17 counties under contract to the Reception & Integration Agency (RIA), an operational unit of the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department.
In relation to the issue of space generally, including the sharing of bedrooms and toilet facilities, there are a number of things to be said. Firstly, in sourcing accommodation RIA must ensure that the basic legal conditions, in terms of capacity and toilet and bathroom facilities, are met. Secondly, in relation to room sharing, where it comes to RIA's attention that accommodation is not suitable for a family where, for example, its size has increased, alternative accommodation in another centre is offered. In some cases, this offer is not accepted and families prefer to stay in a centre. Thirdly, in relation to families having to share bathrooms, a majority of families living in the system have sole access to their own bathroom and toilet facilities. Whilst the nature of Direct Provision is such that en suite facilities are not guaranteed, RIA will continue to seek over time to increase the percentage of families having access to non-shared bathroom/toilet facilities.
The policy of direct provision and dispersal is one of the central features of the State’s asylum system. I have recounted in previous responses to Dáil Questions how the direct provision system was a necessary response to the increasing number of asylum seekers arriving into the State given the incapacity of the structures dealing with homelessness to cope with the crisis.
A comprehensive Value for Money review on the operation of the asylum seeker accommodation programme was carried out in 2010 which found that alternatives to the existing direct provision structures would be significantly more expensive than Direct Provision. The Report is available on RIA's website www.ria.gov.ie . Copies are also available in the Oireachtas library.
In relation to the broader asylum issue, particularly the complexity and length of the associated processes, my efforts are concentrated on speeding up the processing of applications, primarily by redeploying staff from the refugee determination bodies. The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, 2010 which I intend to republish early in 2013 provides for the introduction of a single procedure to determine applications for protection and other reasons to remain in the State. This should substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements. This reorganisation of the protection application processing framework will remove the current multi-layered processes and provide applicants with a final decision on their applications in a more straightforward and timely fashion.
181. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a citizenship application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53139/12]
View answerI am advised by the Citizenship Division of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy in June, 2008.
The application is currently being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible. While good progress continues to be made in reducing the large volume of cases on hands, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that for a broad range of reasons some cases will take longer than others to process. It is a statutory requirement that, inter alia, applicants for naturalisation be of good character. In some instances that can be established relatively quickly and in other cases completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time. I can, however, inform the Deputy that enormous progress has been made in dealing with the backlog and steps are being taken to process all outstanding applications as quickly as possible.
The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.
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.
182. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a certificate to renew a passport in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 1. [53144/12]
View answerAn application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person concerned was received in the Citizenship Section of my Department in February, 2010. I considered the application in October, 2012 and decided to defer making a final decision in this case until October 2013. The person concerned was notified of this decision and the reason for it in a letter issued on 22 October, 2012.
The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.
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.
183. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when he expects the recently established Personal Insolvency Service to issue guidelines on what reasonable household expenses and the house income threshold will be in relation to those citizens who access various mechanisms as outlined in the Personal Insolvency Bill. [53160/12]
View answerIt is my intention to bring forward amendments to the Personal Insolvency Bill 2012, during its passage through the Seanad, which will empower the Insolvency Service, once it is established, to draw up guidelines on reasonable living expenses for debtors for use in the context of the debt settlement mechanisms contained in the Bill. It will be a matter for the Director of the new Insolvency Service to issue the guidelines following any necessary consultations. However, I would expect that guidelines will be available during the first quarter of 2013.
