Written Answers Nos. 231 - 243
231. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the action he is taking to deal with the increase in violent deaths over the past 12 days; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2021/14]
View answerI share the Deputy's concern about the recent violent deaths and wish to express my sincere sympathies with the families and friends of all the deceased. I know the Gardaí are investigating these crimes with all the necessary resources and charges and arrests have already been made in relation to a number of the deaths. In these circumstances I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any of these particular incidents.
The incidence of these crimes over a short period of time is of course a concern, but the Deputy will be aware that the underlying rate of murder and manslaughter decreased in the most recent recorded crime statistics available from the Central Statistics Office, as did the incidence of most other types of violent crime.
The Deputy will also be aware that the circumstances surrounding homicide cases can vary considerably, from carefully planned killings carried out by organised criminals, to unpredictable incidents often associated with abuse of alcohol or drugs. Accordingly, An Garda Síochána has in place policing strategies to combat these varying circumstances to the greatest extent possible, including measures to tackle and dismantle organised crime groups as well as the proactive targeting of public disorder and anti-social behaviour. While we should not underestimate the policing challenges presented by this type of crime, I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána are determined to respond effectively and to bring people to justice whenever possible, and they have my full confidence and support in that regard.
232. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to update the insolvency laws in view of recent problems with its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2028/14]
View answerContrary to some recent media reports, I can confirm that there is no intention to amend the law on personal insolvency, though of course I am keeping the operation of the legislation under close ongoing review.
The enactment of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, and the establishment of the Insolvency Service of Ireland in March 2013, already constitute a far-reaching, substantial and comprehensive reform of our insolvency and bankruptcy law.
Operational issues which may arise will be addressed by the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI). The ISI has rapidly established the necessary infrastructure of trained and accredited insolvency practitioners and intermediaries, and began accepting applications for personal insolvency solutions last September. A number of these cases have already been referred to the courts for protection orders or final approval, and the ISI expects the volume of such cases to increase significantly in the coming weeks and months. So while huge progress has been made, we are still in the early stages of implementation, and the legislation should be allowed time to bed down.
There have been media references to a proposed insolvency protocol. However, this is a purely operational matter, which does not require any amendment to the existing legislation. Such a protocol is simply a working template for insolvency or debt agreements, agreed with stakeholder consultation, to facilitate and streamline insolvency applications. Developing such a protocol is a long-standing initiative of the ISI, based on best practice in other jurisdictions.
233. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to reform free legal aid to ensure that burglars and those who are repeat offenders do not avail of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2045/14]
View answerThe Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 provides that free legal aid may be granted in certain circumstances for the defence of persons of insufficient means in criminal proceedings. Under the 1962 Act, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. An applicant must establish to the satisfaction of the court that his/her means are insufficient to enable him/her to pay for legal representation him/herself. The court must also be satisfied that, by reason of the "gravity of the charge" or "exceptional circumstances", it is essential in the interests of justice that the applicant should have legal aid. An applicant's previous convictions are not a criterion for access to legal aid under the Act. I have no function in these matters which are determined by the judiciary.
The Deputy will appreciate that an accused person who faces serious charges is entitled to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence and if they cannot afford to pay for legal representation, there is a right to legal aid. Under the Constitution, the State is obliged to provide an accused person with the means to obtain appropriate legal representation. Moreover, the European Convention on Human Rights provides that every person charged with a criminal offence is entitled to defend him/herself in person or through legal assistance of his/her own choosing or, if he/she has insufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require. The Deputy will also appreciate that the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme must operate with due regard to these rights and that any unreasonable block on legal aid could give a convicted defendant an avenue for appeal or prohibition of the prosecution. The overriding concern is to ensure that no risk arises in relation to the prosecution of persons charged with criminal offences before the courts.
234. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to reform the criminal laws to ensure that murderers serve a life sentence when they take a life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2046/14]
View answerThe mandatory sentence for murder is life imprisonment, as provided by section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1990. A sentence of life imprisonment means that the prisoner is subject to that sentence for the rest of his or her life. Such a prisoner has no right to be released early at any stage. If granted temporary release, the prisoner remains subject to the life sentence and can be recalled to prison at any stage.
In the recent case of Vinter v. United Kingdom , the European Court of Human Rights held that for a life sentence to remain compatible with Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights, there must be both a prospect of release and a possibility of review. Accordingly, it would not be possible to provide in our law that a person convicted of murder must be detained for the rest of his or her life without any prospect of release.
235. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to further recruit more gardaí in view of public concerns about their safety; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2047/14]
View answerRecruitment has commenced and new Garda trainees will enter the Garda College in the middle of this year, for the first time since 2009. Approximately 25,000 applications were received by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) through their website www.publicjobs.ie by the deadline of midnight 9th January.
My objective is to maintain current Garda strength at 13,000. The level of recruitment to the Garda Síochána will be determined, in consultation with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, by the target strength of the Garda Síochána and the rate of departures from the Force.
The situation in each area of the country is monitored on an ongoing basis by local Garda Management in the context of crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies to ensure optimum use is made of Garda resources and the best possible Garda service is provided to the public.
236. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to review the bail laws in view of abuse at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2048/14]
View answerA decision to grant bail in a particular case is a matter for the court, which is, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of its judicial functions. There is a constitutional presumption in favour of bail, since, in the eyes of the law, a person is innocent until proven guilty. The provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights also restrict the extent to which the right to bail can be limited.
Prior to the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution, bail could be refused essentially only on the grounds that a person would be likely to abscond or interfere with witnesses. Section 2 of the Bail Act 1997, which gave effect to the terms of the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution, provides for the refusal of bail to a person charged with a serious offence where it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. Section 2(2)(d) provides that in exercising its jurisdiction under that section, a court shall take into account and may receive evidence or submissions concerning any conviction of the accused person for an offence committed while he or she was on bail.
In addition, section 6 of that Act, as amended by section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, provides that every bail recognisance is subject to the condition that the accused person shall not commit an offence while on bail.
The criminal law takes a serious view of offences committed by persons on bail. Section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 provides that any sentence of imprisonment passed on a person for an offence committed while on bail must be consecutive on any sentence passed on him or her for a previous offence, or on the sentence last due to expire, if more than one is being served. It also provides that the fact that an offence was committed while on bail must be treated as an aggravating factor at sentencing and that the court shall impose a sentence that is greater than that which would have been imposed otherwise, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
I am conscious of public concern about the extent to which offences continue to be committed by persons on bail. I share that concern and believe that bail law must be continually reviewed to ensure that all possible avenues are taken to protect the public against the commission of crime, particularly serious crime, by persons on bail.
Accordingly, my Department has been engaged in work to consolidate and update bail law with a view to presenting a clear, accessible and modern statement of the law. In the context of that modernisation of the law, I will be seeking to restructure the law so that it has a focus on the protection of the individual and of the public. The intention is that the new proposals will provide better guidance to the courts on how such protection might be provided. I intend to bring proposals to Government on the matter as soon as possible, having regard to other legislative priorities.
237. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown of the number of community gardaí; the areas they cover in the constituencies of Dublin North East and Dublin North Central; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2049/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel, including Community Gardaí, among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of these resources.
The Deputy will be aware that all Gardaí have responsibility, inter alia, to deal with Community Policing issues as and when they arise. I have however, been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the number of dedicated Community Gardaí, in each Garda Station in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) North and North Central Divisions, on 30 November 2013, the latest date for which figures are readily available, is set out in the table:
|
DMR North - Stations |
30/11/2013 |
|
Santry |
11 |
|
Ballymun |
11 |
|
Raheny |
5 |
|
Clontarf |
4 |
|
Howth |
4 |
|
Coolock |
15 |
|
Swords |
13 |
|
Malahide |
6 |
|
Balbriggan |
2 |
|
Skerries |
1 |
|
Total |
72 |
|
DMR North Central Stations |
|
|
Store Street |
70 |
|
Bridewell |
39 |
|
Mountjoy |
46 |
|
Total |
155 |
238. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures he is taking to improve the time it takes to finalise a Garda vetting application; if additional gardaí are needed in this section; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2071/14]
View answerThe Deputy may wish to note that the number of vetting applications received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) each year has risen from 187,864 in 2007 to 381,082 in 2013.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that the current average processing time for applications is now approximately 6 weeks from date of receipt. Processing times fluctuate upwards and downwards depending on seasonal demands and volumes received, and depending on whether further enquiries have to be conducted with external Garda Stations or other agencies. However, this is a considerable improvement on July last year when processing times had reached 14 weeks.
I am committed to ensuring that An Garda Siochána has the resources to perform this most essential of tasks. In that regard, the Garda Commissioner has confirmed to me that there are now 174 whole-time equivalent staff (170 civilians and 4 members of An Garda Síochána) assigned to the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). To put this in perspective, this represents an 87% increase on the staffing level at the end of December 2012 when 93 staff were assigned to the GCVU. A number of these new staff are still undergoing training and when this training has been completed I expect there will be a further positive effect on vetting times.
The Deputy may also wish to note that the development of an e-Vetting solution is well underway. This will facilitate the processing of applications in an e-format, thus removing the time-consuming current process of manually managing applications received. In streamlining the overall vetting process in this jurisdiction, the new system will further contribute to reductions in processing times for all vetting applications.
239. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current position regarding an application for family reunification in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2083/14]
View answer262. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the application of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2150/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 262 together.
The visa application referred to by the Deputy was received in the Visa Office Abuja on 19 December 2013. Following full consideration, the Visa Officer decided to refuse the grant of the visa on 13 January 2014. The specific reasons for the application being refused are contained in the refusal letter, which has issued to the person concerned.
Queries in relation to general immigration matters 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.
240. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide details of each allocation from his Department’s expenditure budget to registered charities in each of the past three years. [2105/14]
View answerThe allocation from my Department’s expenditure budget to registered charities, as part of the Charitable Lotteries Scheme, in each of the past three years is as follows:
|
Charity |
2011 Funding (€) |
2012 Funding (€) |
2013 Funding (€) |
|
Rehab Group |
3,905,661.42 |
3,923,659.43 |
2,581,293.36 |
|
Gael Linn |
436,262.33 |
454,274.93 |
319,194.87 |
|
Asthma Society of Ireland |
364,236.16 |
371,277.42 |
240,229.03 |
|
Irish Cancer Society |
209,728.93 |
189,774.86 |
124,891.05 |
|
Polio Fellowship of Ireland Ltd. |
209,728.93 |
189,774.86 |
124,891.05 |
|
The Hanly Centre |
169,393.23 |
176,194.59 |
127,866.16 |
|
Ataxia Ireland |
109,212.02 |
94,449.01 |
58,300.07 |
|
Irish Lung Foundation |
104,135.45 |
101,458.34 |
72,777.51 |
|
ISPCC |
69,427.13 |
64,560.25 |
29,067.71 |
|
West of Ireland Alzheimer Foundation |
94,298.22 |
95,624.29 |
66,188.27 |
|
Drogheda Community Services Trust |
76,512.53 |
78,107.81 |
59,551.34 |
|
Irish M.E. Trust |
64,633.59 |
63,795.57 |
50,355.20 |
|
ATK Community Centre |
61,900.03 |
66,759.33 |
48,856.22 |
|
Longford Cathedral Circle |
39,552.21 |
39,943.77 |
30,604.55 |
|
Associated Charities Trust |
25,905.21 |
27,067.76 |
18,523.79 |
|
Lyreacrompane Commmunity Development Ltd |
18,885.88 |
18,295.34 |
13,252.57 |
|
Mulranny Day Centre Housing Co. Ltd. |
18,182.60 |
19,578.59 |
12,505.33 |
|
Sliabh-Ardagh Rural Development Ltd. |
12,401.26 |
13,378.73 |
10,934.26 |
|
Cappoquin Community Development Co. Ltd. |
9,942.85 |
12,025.13 |
10,717.66 |
|
Totals: |
5,999,999.98 |
6,000,000.01 |
4,000,000.00 |
It is not possible in the time available, to identify the charitable status of other bodies to whom payments have been made, for the provision of services.
241. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current position in regard to eligibility for update of stamp 4 renewal and potential eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 10; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2129/14]
View answerThe person concerned has had his permission to remain in the State renewed for a further three year period, until 9th January, 2017. This decision was conveyed in writing to the person concerned by letter dated 14th January, 2014.
It will be open to the person concerned to apply to the Citizenship Division of my Department for a Certificate of Naturalisation when he is in a position to meet the lawful residency criteria applicable to the lodgement of such applications. Details on the criteria to be met by persons lodging such applications are available from my Department's Website (www.justice.ie).
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS of my Department 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
242. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency position in respect of eligibility for stamp 4 and potential eligibility for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2130/14]
View answerI am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned is the subject of a Deportation Order following a comprehensive and thorough examination of her asylum claim. The effect of the Deportation Order is that the person concerned must leave the State and remain thereafter out of the State.
Representations were received from the person's legal representative asking that her Deportation Order be revoked, in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(11) of the Immigration Act, 1999 (as amended). This application is under consideration at present. When a decision has been made on that application the outcome of that decision will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by Email 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
243. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current and expected residency position in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Meath; if they and their child have an entitlement to long-term residency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2131/14]
View answerThe person concerned is a failed asylum applicant. Arising from the refusal of her asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 21st August, 2006, that the then Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. She was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making written representations to the then Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against her. Written representations have been received from, and on behalf of, the person concerned.
The position in the State of the person concerned will now be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a final decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.
The minor daughter of the person concerned is the subject of a separate asylum application. However, given that that particular asylum application is the subject of ongoing judicial review proceedings before the High Court, it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment about that case at this time.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS of my Department 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
