Written Answers Nos. 19-25
19. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 587 of 12 January 2011, the progress made to date on the provision of information to parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39609/13]
View answerThe Deputy's question concerns the disclosure, to parents, of information relating to persons on the sex offenders' register.
In exceptional circumstances, the provision of appropriate information to the public is already possible. This includes the disclosure of such information to parents. Currently, this is done on an administrative basis but, subject to Government approval, I intend to put these arrangements on a statutory footing.
Our primary objective has to be to minimise the risk posed to the public. The High Level Group which produced and published a discussion document on sex offenders was of the view that, if the Gardai have reason to believe a particular high risk sex offender poses a real and immediate danger, they should be free to tell individuals who need to know. Disclosure in such circumstances is perfectly reasonable.
However, giving the general public unrestricted access to names and addresses on the sex offenders' register would be likely to be counter-productive. That kind of access would drive offenders underground and make it more difficult to monitor and supervise them. This was the universal view of those who responded to the discussion document and participated in the public forum on the management of sex offenders.
General access to the register would also raise issues concerning the rights of persons who have completed their sentences and pose no future threat to society.
My Department has been conducting a wide-ranging examination of the law on sexual offences. Arising from the review, l expect to seek Government approval for legislative proposals, including amendments to the Sex Offenders Act 2001 to provide a statutory basis for necessary disclosure, shortly.
20. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to roll out electronic tagging; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39606/13]
View answerThe Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce a series of post-imprisonment restraint orders for violent and sexual offenders to include electronic monitoring and other restrictions, which may be imposed at the time of sentencing.
Arising from a recently conducted review of the Sex Offenders Act, 2001, I expect to seek Government approval for legislative proposals including a number of amendments to the 2001 Act shortly. Legislative proposals being considered include measures for the electronic monitoring of sex offenders in specific circumstances.
Part 10 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 provides for the introduction of electronic monitoring and the relevant order commencing the provisions in the context of a restriction of movement condition applying to the granting of temporary release was made in 2010. Currently, the Irish Prison Service has a contract with a service provider for the provision of electronic monitoring. This is used mainly for the monitoring of hospital in-patients who have been granted temporary release from prison and allows for a significant reduction in staffing costs for hospital escorts.
I have no further plans for the introduction of electronic monitoring at this time. However, electronic monitoring is being examined by the working group conducting an all encompassing strategic review of penal policy. I expect the group to report later this year.
21. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the criteria for selecting eligibility for funding via the ERF and EIF funding mechanism. [39753/13]
View answer33. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of the ERF and EIF funding allocated to Ireland that has been spent and the amount remaining. [39752/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 33 together.
The European Refugee Fund (ERF) and the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (EIF) operate on the basis of annual programmes submitted by Member States and approved by the European Commission. The eligibility period for an annual programme extends for a year and a half after the end of the year in question.
For the programme years 2008 to 2010 (which is the latest for which final figures have been compiled), Ireland was allocated €4,855,918 under the ERF, of which €3,012,960 was spent. Under the EIF, for the programme years 2007 to 2010 - the EIF started a year earlier than the other Fund, we were allocated €3,829,055, of which €2,232,706 was spent. The remainder of the allocations was unspent due to an insufficiency of suitable projects with the required level of matching funding. In line with what is stated in the preceding paragraph, the eligibility periods for those programme years have expired.
Our allocations for the 2011 programme year were €2,010,662 in respect of the ERF and €1,344,054 for the EIF. Under the relevant rules, the final report for 2011 is due to be submitted to the Commission next March and work is under way on this.
The allocations for the 2012 and 2013 programme years total €2,400,158 for the ERF and €3,071,831 for the EIF. Pobal, on behalf of my Department, conducted a call for applications under both Funds with a closing date of 20 September last. Projects selected under this call will be charged to these allocations as, in the case of the 2012 programme year, will some expenditure of projects selected following a call for applications in late 2009 / early 2010.
I should caution, however, that expenditure in any given calendar year will depend on the amount in the relevant subhead of my Department's Vote, in accordance with the normal method of implementing EU funding here. Also, regard must be had to the desirability of commencing the new Asylum and Migration Fund, which will succeed the ERF and EIF, at an early date when all the necessary arrangements are in place.
The selection criteria in respect of both Funds in the recent call for applications are, in brief: capacity of the applicant; need for the project; outcomes for the target group; strategic fit; and value for money. Further information is in the Programme Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions documents on www.pobal.ie.
22. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the revised procedures for the determination of applications to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service for subsidiary protection have been approved; and if these procedures have not yet been approved, when it is expected that the new system will be in place to allow INIS to process such applications. [39614/13]
View answer30. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce an effective unified procedure as part of the planned changes to the assessment of subsidiary protection claims. [39769/13]
View answer31. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider introducing legislation for a single procedure for the assessment of subsidiary protection that is separate to the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill in order to improve this process without further delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39857/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 30 and 31 together.
The legislative provisions to underpin the new system for determining applications for subsidiary protection are currently being finalised in my Department in cooperation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government. When these legislative provisions are settled, the intention is to bring the new applications processing arrangements into operation as soon as possible thereafter.
The new arrangements will introduce significant changes in the area of subsidiary protection applications processing, involving as they do, the transfer from my Department to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner of responsibility for processing such applications at first instance, with the availability of an appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in respect of negative first instance decisions. As the Deputy is probably aware, both of these bodies are independent in the exercise of their statutory functions.
In contrast with the current system which is entirely paper based, the new arrangements will, among other things, provide for personal interviews at first instance with the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the right to an oral appeal to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. These new arrangements will apply to cases currently on hand and to new subsidiary protection applications. All applicants will be notified of the new procedures and the arrangements for the processing of their applications. The Deputy will appreciate that the extent of the changes proposed, involving as they do, jurisdictional changes for the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, require detailed planning, human resources redistribution and training, if there is to be an effective and efficient implementation of the new arrangements.
Following on from the introduction of the new subsidiary protection system, the possibility of introducing a single protection procedure in advance of that proposed under the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill will be kept under review.
23. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will have the case of the murder of Garda Richard Fallon on 3 April 1970 independently reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39610/13]
View answerThe murder of Garda Richard Fallon was a terrible tragedy for his family and I want to, again, express my deepest sympathy to them. On top of that personal tragedy, his murder was also an event that can only be described as a heinous crime carried out by ruthless individuals.
I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that the Serious Review Crime Team met with members of the Fallon family on 23 April 2013 to apprise them of developments in the ongoing review of their father's case. Since then ongoing contact has been maintained with the family by the Senior Investigating Officer from the Serious Crime Review Team. I am conscious that this is a matter of great concern to the family but I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would be best to await the outcome of the Garda review.
24. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons in the direct provision system; the total cost to the Exchequer of the current system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39608/13]
View answerThe Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) is a functional unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department and is responsible for the accommodation of asylum seekers while their application for protection is being processed.
The following are the details of expenditure by RIA and centre occupancy in recent years:
|
Year |
Expenditure outturn |
Occupancy at year end |
|
2010 |
€79.1 million |
6,107 |
|
2011 |
€69.5 million |
5,423 |
|
2012 |
€62.3 million |
4,841 |
|
2013 (estimate) |
Full year estimate is €57.5 million |
4,414 (at 15 September) |
A breakdown of this expenditure is available in the RIA Annual Reports for the years up to 2012 and these can be found on the RIA website at www.ria.gov.ie.
The above expenditure does not include the cost of welfare, educational or medical provision to asylum seekers. The latest figures that are available in that regard show that in the five years to the end of 2011, the total amount spent across the whole of Government on asylum seekers was in the region of €1 billion of which just over €400 million was spent on the direct provision system.
25. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of meetings that he has had with the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive. [39762/13]
View answerI meet very regularly with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice, David Ford, and we have developed a close working relationship. Indeed, we frequently discuss matters of mutual interest by phone as and when they arise. One of my first actions as Minister was to travel to Belfast to meet with Minister Ford and I have since met him on numerous occasions.
I have met with Minister Ford four times in the context of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation on Criminal Justice Matters, which provides for structured co-operation between my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, and the related criminal justice agencies North and South. We are due to meet again in this framework in the coming weeks. In addition to these regular meetings under the Intergovermental Agreement, we also meet frequently in the context of other initiatives and events. For example, I met with Minister Ford when we addressed the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes Conference which was held in Dublin in May 2012. I also invited Minister Ford to attend the informal meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers which I hosted in Dublin in January this year during Ireland's successful EU Presidency. Minister Ford and I have also met twice at the North South Probation Services' annual seminars and twice also at the Cross Border Seminars on Organised Crime. We also met with the Scottish Justice Secretary at Stormont in February 2012 and later that same month I invited Minister Ford to visit Portlaoise Prison. Minister Ford and I also met in the context of the meeting of the North South Ministerial Council which was held at Farmleigh in June 2012.
I would add for the sake of completeness that I have also had the opportunity to meet with Minister Ford in a more informal context at a number of international sporting events in Dublin and that we remain in regular telephone contact.
It will be clear that I meet very regularly with Minister Ford. We are scheduled to meet on at least three further occasions before the year's end. We have a positive working relationship which is of mutual benefit in addressing shared policing and criminal justice challenges.
