Written Answers Nos. 26-32
26. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Law Reform Commission will publish its consultation paper relating to whether stalking should be specifically provided for in legislation. [39747/13]
View answerAs an independent body under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975, the time taken for the completion and delivery of individual Law Reform Commission reports and recommendations is a matter for the Commission itself. However, I can inform the Deputy that the Commission published an Issues Paper in relation to the matter towards the end of July with a closing date for submissions on the 16th of August.
27. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress made in overcoming the difficulties which have been experienced by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, in working with the Garda; the steps that have been taken and will be taken to deal with delays and non-cooperation from gardaí. [39782/13]
View answer54. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will consider strengthening the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, in order to increase their capacity to hold An Garda Síochána to account. [39813/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 54 together.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to provide independent oversight of complaints made against members of the Garda Síochána. The Garda Ombudsman Commission has a hugely important role in ensuring that public confidence in the Garda Síochána is safeguarded, and has extensive powers under the 2005 Act to enable it to carry out its responsibilities. The 2005 Act also provides for protocols on the sharing of information between the Garda Síochána and the Garda Ombudsman Commission. Protocols were agreed in 2007 and set down time limits for the provision of information by the Garda Síochána to the Garda Ombudsman Commission.
The Garda Ombudsman Commission, however, raised concerns in their 2012 Annual Report regarding delays in concluding their investigations, and in particular delays in receiving requested information from the Garda Síochána. Concerns regarding Garda response times were also raised by the Garda Ombudsman Commission in the context of their later public interest report which dealt with the handling of covert human intelligence sources by the Garda Síochána. In response to these concerns I convened a meeting with the Garda Commissioner and the Chairperson of the Garda Ombudsman Commission on 23 July last to discuss the need for enhanced co-operation between the two bodies so as to ensure the effective and efficient investigation of allegations of Garda misconduct.
Both the Commissioner and the Chairperson agreed on the need for the highest possible level of co-operation between the two organisations, and emphasised that the protocols which deal with the sharing of information and time frames for responses were at that point under review. I am pleased to confirm that revised protocols have now been agreed and were signed by the Chairperson of the Garda Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Commissioner on the 23rd September 2013. These revised protocols put in place clear procedures for the timely sharing of information and more generally for enhanced co-operation, and I look forward to their implementation.
I should also say that, to facilitate early engagement in relation to any future emerging issues, I have established a committee chaired by a senior official in my Department, with senior representatives from the Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Síochána, to act as a forum where any such issues can be identified and appropriately addressed. As regards the case for additional powers, the Ombudsman as I say already has extensive powers, including full police powers of investigation. I am, however, currently examining suggestions by the Ombudsman Commission for changes to the 2005 Act aimed at enhancing the process of investigating complaints, and I will bring forward proposals for any change which I believe is necessary.
28. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has considered introducing legislation with the objective of establishing a sentencing council that would issue sentencing guidelines to the Judiciary. [39760/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will no doubt appreciate, judges are independent in the matter of sentencing, as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. In accordance with this principle, the role of the Oireachtas has been to specify in law a maximum penalty and a court, having considered all the circumstances of the case, to impose an appropriate penalty up to that maximum. The court is required to impose a sentence which is proportionate not only to the crime but to the individual offender, in that process identifying where on the sentencing range the particular case should lie and then applying any mitigating factors which may be present. An important safeguard rests in the power of the Director of Public Prosecutions to apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal to review a sentence she regards as unduly lenient.
The Superior Courts have developed a substantial body of case law setting out general principles of sentencing. Sentencing practice is also being developed by a steering committee of the judiciary which developed the Irish Sentencing Information System (ISIS) website, a pilot initiative designed to gather information about the range of sentences and other penalties that have been imposed for particular types of offences across court jurisdictions. ISIS is being developed as a valuable tool not only for members of the judiciary but also for lawyers, researchers and those concerned with the needs of victims and their families, and I very much welcomed the initiative led by the Judiciary through the Judicial Research Office in undertaking the detailed work of gathering and providing information via the website. The Deputy may be aware that the ISIS committee are providing information on sentencing in relation to specific issues and a number of seminars have also been held.
The Deputy may also be aware that I have established a Penal Policy Review Group to carry out a review which will examine all aspects of penal policy including prevention, sentencing policies and alternatives to custody. I expect the Group to report later this year and I intend to publish that report.
29. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce legislation providing for recognition of Traveller ethnicity in this Dáil session. [39755/13]
View answerI would like to inform the Deputy that serious consideration is being given to this issue which remains ongoing, with a view to ensuring that full analysis of all aspects of the granting of ethnic status to Travellers is available to Government when coming to a decision on the matter. I would like to remind the house that Travellers in Ireland have the same civil and political rights as other citizens under the Constitution. The key anti-discrimination measures, the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989, the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977, the Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts specifically identify Travellers by name as a group protected. The Equality Act 2004, which transposed the EU Racial Equality Directive, applied all the protections of that Directive across all of the nine grounds contained in the legislation, including the Traveller community ground. All the protections afforded to ethnic minorities in EU directives and international conventions apply to Travellers because the Irish legislation giving effect to those international instruments explicitly protects Travellers.
32. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the planned timeframe for the intended phasing out of the charitable lotteries scheme; his plans to increase the prize limit applicable to private lotteries by regulation under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 in order to assist charitable organisations operating private lottery schemes who are directly affected by the winding up of the charitable lotteries scheme. [39613/13]
View answerBeneficiaries of the Charitable Lotteries Scheme were advised in October 2012 that the Scheme would be phased out over a 3 year period beginning in late 2013. This is necessitated by the urgent need to make savings in Government expenditure across many programmes. The Scheme is being phased out on this gradual basis in order to give affected organisations as much time as possible to adjust to the change and to consider alternative methods of charitable fundraising. The planned timeframe for winding down the Scheme is as follows. In 2012, the total amount of assistance disbursed under the Scheme was €6 million. In 2013 this will reduce to €4 million, in 2014 to €2 million, and in 2015 - the final year of the Scheme - to €1 million.
All payments under the Scheme are of course subject in the usual way to availability of funding on an annual basis, receipt of satisfactory applications from eligible organisations, and compliance by beneficiaries with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. Provision for an increase in the prize fund limits applicable to private charitable lotteries is included in the National Lottery Act 2013 which is the responsibility of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. It is the intention of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to commence this provision shortly. This will update the total prize fund limit for lotteries held under section 27 of the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act from £3,000, where it has stood since 1987, to €5,000. For lotteries held under section 28 of the 1956 Act, the limit will increase from €20,000 (set in 2002) to €30,000.
Separately, in July 2013, the Government approved the General Scheme of a Gambling Control Bill, which will update our laws on gambling, and will involve the repeal of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. This legislation will cover lotteries, but will exclude the National Lottery. The General Scheme, which is available on my Department's website, sets out the proposed increases in prize fund limits for lotteries that fall within the remit of this proposed legislation. The General Scheme has been referred to the Attorney General's Office for formal legal drafting. It is anticipated that this will be a lengthy process, given the complexities of the issues involved.
