Thursday, 9 May 2013

Written Answers Nos. 169-76

Prison Visiting Committees Issues

Questions (169)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

169. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 182 of 2 May 2013, if he intends to seek public expressions of interest for appointment, as part of the Governments commitment to openness and transparency, to the Visiting Committee of Shelton Abbey Prison under the Prisons (Visiting Committees) Act 1925 and Prisons (Visiting Committees) Order 1925, where there is currently two vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22091/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

While I have no plans to seek public expressions of interest, the Deputy can be assured that the vacancies in Shelton Abbey Prison will be filled shortly.

Appointments to State Boards

Questions (170)

Patrick Nulty

Question:

170. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to his announcement of 16 April 2013the names of 14 persons who are to serve as members of the board of the Equality Authority in the interim before the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is established; the names of the two persons appointed by him on the nomination of representatives of employees as required by section 44(1)(a) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2011; the names of the two persons appointed by him on the nomination of representatives of employers as required by section 44(1)(b) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2011; the organisation or organisations representing employees and representing employers that made those nominations;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22106/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

It is a fundamental requirement of the Paris Principles that the members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission be independent. This includes but is not limited to being independent of Government. The question of whether Commissioners should be nominated by any social partner organisation or be representative of any particular sector or NGO was expressly considered by the Working Group I set up to advise me on practical issues in relation to the establishment of the new Commission. The Group recommended that members of the new Commission be selected by a process independent of the Government, serving on appointment independently in their individual capacity and that their appointments should not be made on representative or nomination basis as heretofore was the case in relation to a number of positions on the Equality Authority board.

Members of the Working Group noted the historical development of the Equality Authority from a body purely focused on employment issues with representation from the employer and employee interests. The Working Group considered with the development of the wider remit of the new IHREC, representation of any corporate body or sectoral interest as of right on the new Commission is not appropriate. They went on to recommend that the new legislation should allow IHREC to establish subcommittees of the Commission to enable representatives of a wide range of interests to contribute in an advisory capacity. The Government accepted this recommendation (and indeed all the recommendations of the Working Group relating to the legislation) and this is reflected in the General Scheme of the Bill as published. I might mention that the selection procedure set out in the Heads was also endorsed by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, before whom I caused the General Scheme to be laid and whose advice I sought. In these circumstances, and as I anticipate that the legislation to establish IHREC will be published before too long, I do not regard it as appropriate to make any appointments as Commissioner designate outside of the independent selection process that has recently concluded with the recommendation of the 14 persons referred to in the question to be members of IHREC and of the existing bodies on an interim basis.

As already announced, (and detailed in the table below) these 14 persons were appointed by the Government as members of Human Rights Commission on 16 April 2013 under the Human Rights Commission Act 2000, pending the establishment of the IHREC. The issues in relation to the interim appointments to the board of the Equality Authority, also under the relevant existing legislation (the Employment Equality Act 1998) will be discussed when I meet the members designate shortly.

TABLE

Name	Current Position	Appointment Period
Professor Siobhán Mullally	Professor of Law UCC Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration The Hague, Member of the Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action Against Human Trafficking	5 Years
Ms Teresa Blake	Chairperson of Mental Health Tribunal, Barrister	5 years
Ms Orlagh O'Farrell	Lecturer in employment and equality law NUl Maynooth, Member of Community Legal Resource network. Director of Equality and Rights Alliance (ERA), Consultant on equality and discrimination issues	5 years
Ms Mary Murphy	Lecturer in Irish Politics and Society, NUl Maynooth	3 years
Ms Betty Purcell	Television Series Producer	3 years
Ms Heidi Foster Breslin	Director of Exchange House National Travellers Service, Non Executive Director of MABS, Trustee of Common Purpose Ireland.	3 years
Ms Sunniva McDonogh	Barrister ' Senior Counsel, Member of Property Services Appeals Board, Member of Penal Strategy Review Group	5 years
Professor Ray Murphy	Professor of Law, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway.  Member of Human Rights Institutes	5 years
Mr. Frank Conaty	Chartered Accountant, Former Chair and current member of National Parents and Siblings Alliance since 2002	3 years
Mr. David Joyce	Barrister, Lecturer TCD and former legal policy officer with the Irish Traveller Board	5 years
Mr. Fidele Muwarasibo	Integration Manager, Immigrant Council of Ireland	5 years
Mr. Mark Kelly	Director of Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)	3 years
Mr. Kieran Rose	Chairperson of GLEN, Senior with the Offices of International Relations and Research in Dublin City Council	3 years
Mr. Liam Herrick	Irish Penal Reform Trust	3 years

Garda Vetting Applications

Questions (171)

Jack Wall

Question:

171. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare has not received a Garda clearance certificate in view of the fact that they are not in a position to take two employment opportunities because of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22109/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

I am informed by the Garda authorities that a vetting application on behalf of the individual referred to by the Deputy was received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) on 5 February 2013. The application was processed and returned to the registered organisation concerned on 7 May 2013. This is the only vetting application received by the GCVU in respect of the individual concerned.

Defence Forces Recruitment

Questions (172)

Barry Cowen

Question:

172. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on when Army recruitment will commence in the coming year. [21900/13]

Written answers

Minister for Defence

The Government has decided to accept my recommendation that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force will be maintained at 9,500. I believe this is the optimum strength required to fulfil all roles assigned by Government. The Military Authorities have advised that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force, at 31 March 2013, the latest date for which details are available, was 9,189 comprising 7,375 Army, 781 Air Corps and 1,033 Naval Service personnel. Following on from the 2012 recruitment campaign, 539 General Service recruits were enlisted in the Permanent Defence Force. It is intended that further general service recruitment will take place from the existing competition panel during 2013. All recruitment will be achieved within the resource envelope allocated to Defence.

Ministerial Expenditure

Questions (173)

John McGuinness

Question:

173. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Defence the amount of travel and subsistence both foreign and domestic claimed by each junior Minister and Secretary General in his Department for the period 2007 to date in 2013; the number of staff appointed by each Minister and junior Minister in his Department or constituency office and their relevant cost including travel and subsistence in each case for the period 2007 to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22033/13]

Written answers

Minister for Defence

The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the tables. The cost to my Department of domestic travel and subsistence for each Minister of State and the Secretary General from 1 Jan 2007 to date is as follows:

Year	Mr. Tom Kitt T.D 29/04/04 to 06/05/08	Mr. Pat Carey T.D 7/05/08 to 22/03/10	Mr. John Curran T.D 23/03/10 to 23/01/11	Mr. Paul Kehoe T.D 9/03/11 to date	Secretary General Mr. Michael Howard
2007	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€1,505.44
2008	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€795.23
2009	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€1,327.20
2010	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€914.87
2011	Nil	Nil	Nil	€69	€1,385.85
2012	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€337.31
2013	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil

The cost to my Department of foreign travel and subsistence for each Minister of State and for the Secretary General from 1 January 2007 to date is as follows:

Year	Mr. Tom Kitt T.D 29/04/04 to 06/05/08	Mr. Pat Carey T.D 7/05/08 to 22/03/10	Mr. John Curran T.D 23/03/10 to 23/01/11	Mr. Paul Kehoe T.D 9/03/11 to date	Secretary General Mr. Michael Howard
2007	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€7,113.09
2008	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€4,445.43
2009	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€3,338.61
2010	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€1,289.84
2011	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	€1,639.25
2012	Nil	Nil	Nil	€1,419.24	€3,771.22
2013	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil

The foreign travel costs set out above include the costs of commercial flights undertaken by the Ministers of State and the Secretary General in the performance of their duties. The Ministerial Air Transport Service provided by the Air Corps was also occasionally availed of by Ministers of State during the period in question. Details regarding staff appointed by each Minister and Minister of State of the Department, including staff appointed to constituency offices, and their relevant cost including travel and subsistence for the period 2007 to date is set out as follows.

Costs relating to staff appointed by Minister Willie O’Dea T.D.

1 Jan 2007 to18 Feb 2010:

Year	No of Appointed Staff	Remuneration Costs	Employer PRSI	Travel & Subsistence Home	Travel & Subsistence Foreign
2007	4	€272,451.45	€28,994.37	€5,471.86	€1,875.33
2008	4	€280,565.59	€29,851.25	€2,842.70	€3,012.98
2009	4	€295,292.82	€29,472.37	€2,449.98	€1,040.35
2010	4	€233,901.02	€4,466.09	€129.49	Nil

Costs relating to staff appointed by Minister Tony Killeen T.D.

23 March 2010 to 19 Jan 2011:

Year	No of Appointed Staff	Remuneration Costs	Employer PRSI	Travel & Subsistence Home	Travel & Subsistence Foreign
2010	4	€189,638.70	€14,625.10	€781.94	€513.32
2011	5*	€109,271.26	€2,374.58	€326.97	€627.29

*Includes the appointment of a temporary Personal Assistant for 16 weeks.

Costs relating to staff appointed by Minister Alan Shatter T.D.

9 March 2011 to date:

Year	No of Appointed Staff	Remuneration Costs	Employer PRSI	Travel & Subsistence Home	Travel & Subsistence Foreign
2011	1	€21,947.64	€2,179.36	Nil	Nil
2012	1	€55,866.72	€5,593.12	Nil	Nil
2013	1	€21,487.20	€2151.20	Nil	Nil

Costs relating to staff appointed by Minister Paul Kehoe T.D.

9 March 2011 to date:

Year	No of Appointed Staff	Remuneration Costs	Employer PRSI	Travel & Subsistence Home	Travel & Subsistence Foreign
2011	2	€44,475.20	€4,499.21	€11,242.86	Nil
2012	2	€74,384.05	€7,738.75	€21,075.61	Nil
2013	2	€26,353	€2,687.12	€8,697.46	Nil

European Defence Agency

Questions (174)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

174. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Defence if he will outline Ireland's contribution financially to the European Defence Agency since its inception; if any staff from his Department or the Irish Defence Forces have been seconded to the EDA; if so, under what terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22090/13]

Written answers

Minister for Defence

The European Defence Agency was set up in 2004 during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU. On 6 July 2004, the Government approved Ireland’s participation in the framework of the EDA on the basis of a memorandum submitted by the Minister for Defence, in association with the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ireland contributes, on an annual basis, to the operational budget of the Agency. The financial commitment of participants to this budget is in accordance with EDA funding principles, based on gross national income (GNI) key. Ireland’s contribution to the budget of the EDA to date is:

Year	Amount
2013 (as at 07/05/13)	€136,940.00
2012	€354,205.78
2011	€284,036.55
2010	€315,760.00
2009	€584,807.00
2008	€571,850.00
2007	€459.100.00
2006	€226,530.00
2005	€224,000.00
2004	€21,733.00

These figures include Ireland’s contribution to (1) Joint Investment Programme on Force Protection of €230,000 per year from 2007 to 2010; (2) Joint Investment Programme on CBRN €30,000 per year over four years from 2012; and (3) Maritime Surveillance (MARSUR) Category B Ad Hoc Project €40,000 per year for three years from 2012. As part of the EDA’s annual work programme, Ireland participates in project teams and working groups engaged in the ongoing work in various capability development areas that will be of benefit to the Defence Forces. The four main initiatives that Ireland is involved in are: The Joint Investment Programme on Force Protection launched in 2007. The Maritime Surveillance Project launched in 2011. The Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear protection project launched in 2011. Pooling and Sharing Naval Training Initiative, in which Ireland is taking a lead role, launched in 2011.

In relation to Ireland’s involvement in the Pooling and Sharing Naval Training Initiative, the Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency requested Ireland to consider seconding a National Expert to the Agency to progress this initiative. Ireland agreed to second an Intern to the European Defence Agency, and a Naval Officer has taken up the internship for a six month period beginning on 2nd May 2013. During the next six months it is hoped that progress will be made in areas such as Hydrography and the use of Simulators for training purposes. The Agency will cover travel and other expenses and a daily allowance while the Department will pay the salary of the individual involved.

Agriculture Schemes Payments

Questions (175)

Brendan Smith

Question:

175. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to introduce an appropriate compensation scheme for farmers whose herds are affected with BVD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21917/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The cost of BVD to the farming industry is in excess of €100 million per annum. The provision of funding for compensation in the context of the compulsory phase of the BVD programme must be placed in the context of the economic benefits accruing to farmers arising from the eradication of this disease and, particularly, the short payback time involved for individual farmers as well as the scarce budgetary resources available to my Department. It has been estimated that the overall benefit for the eradication of this disease is beneficial to farmers. I should also emphasise that the strategy of my Department is to concentrate its scarce resources in continuing to support Animal Health Ireland in its ongoing work in establishing control.

Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments

Questions (176)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

176. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay in payment of an agri-environment scheme 1 application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; when payment will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21940/13]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person named was approved for participation in the 2011 Agri-Environment Options Scheme with effect from 1st September 2011 and has received full payment totalling €1,237.66 in respect of 2011. Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme, a comprehensive administrative check of all applications, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any payment can issue. Payments in respect of the 2012 Scheme year are subject to a similar administrative checking process which includes verification of capital investments through checks on receipts. During the checking process on the Capital Investment Claim issues were noted in relation to the Tree Planting Standard action. A letter regarding these issues, issued to the person named on 3rd May 2013. Upon receipt of a satisfactory response to these issues the application will be further processed with the intention of issuing payment for the 2012 scheme year as soon as possible.