Written Answers Nos. 129 - 135
130. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide a breakdown in tabular form of the number of juvenile liaison officers allocated to each district in the Dublin Metropolitan Region in the years 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014. [17036/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel 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. I have however been informed by the Garda Commissioner that Juvenile Liaison Officers are allocated by Division not District. The number of Juvenile Liaison Officers allocated to each Garda Division in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (D.M.R.) on 31 December 2012 and 2013 and on 28 February 2014, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was as set out in the table below:
|
Division |
31/12/12 |
31/12/13 |
28/02/14 |
|
D.M.R.South Central |
5 |
6 |
5 |
|
D.M.R.North Central |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
D.M.R.North |
11 |
12 |
12 |
|
D.M.R.East |
4 |
6 |
6 |
|
D.M.R.South |
8 |
10 |
10 |
|
D.M.R.West |
11 |
11 |
11 |
131. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in view of the inquest in 2011 into the death of a person (details supplied) who was murdered in 1975 and in view of the autopsy information which was not produced at the trial, if he will initiate a reinvestigation of the circumstances of their murder. [17050/14]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that I do not have a role in the investigation of criminal cases or the conduct of inquests. I am, however, informed by the Garda authorities that the death of the person referred to was fully investigated by An Garda Síochána resulting in a person being charged with murder. I am further informed that following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in December 1975 the jury returned a verdict of guilty but insane.
132. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is a delay in the appointment of members to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal; if he will outline its full membership, its role and if there is a backlog of work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17139/14]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that I issued a press release yesterday seeking expressions of interest from suitably-qualified persons who wish to be considered for appointment as members to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. Full details are available on the web site of the Department of Justice and Equality and can be accessed via the link http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR14000100.
Closing date for receipt of expressions of interest is 29 April and I expect to make appointments to the Tribunal as soon as possible after consideration of the expressions of interest received.
The Tribunal administers both the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted and the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted on Prison Officers and considers applications from people who suffer a personal injury or death as a result of a crime of violence. The Tribunal consists of a Chairperson and six ordinary Members. The Chairperson and each Member must be either a practising barrister or a practising solicitor. As the Deputy may be aware I recently appointed a Tribunal Chairperson, Mr. John Cheatle, B.L who can, under the terms of the Scheme, determine applications and is entirely independent in that regard. I understand from the Tribunal that there are at present 51 applications awaiting an appeal hearing.
133. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2010; if his Department will publish a new amended Bill; if he can identify the general aspects to the Bill that will be amended or confirm if the new Bill's main aspects will be similar to that of the 2010 legislation; if the publication of a new Bill will mean a delay in the enactment of the legislation; if so, if he will ensure the new amended Bill will be carried out in a timely manner so as to achieve maximum potential reform in the area of immigration law as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17166/14]
View answerA firm commitment has been made, under the Programme for Government, to "introduce comprehensive reforms of the immigration, residency and asylum systems, which will include a statutory appeals system and set out rights and obligations in a transparent way". This commitment will be delivered in the form of a new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill which I intend to publish later this year. Of particular note, the Bill will provide for the introduction of a single application procedure for the investigation of all grounds for protection and any other grounds presented by applicants seeking to remain in the State. This will provide protection applicants with a final decision on their application in a more ‘straight forward’ and timely fashion.
As I have outlined previously to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence, several hundred amendments to the Bill are anticipated, the majority of a technical nature. In light of this and other considerations, I have decided that, instead of engaging in an extremely cumbersome process of tabling hundreds of amendments to the text of the Bill published by the last Government in 2010, it would be much more efficient to publish a new and enhanced text. This proposition has been broadly welcomed by the Joint Committee. Such an approach can take account of current Government policy and intervening developments while incorporating the many technical and other amendments anticipated. It also provides an opportunity to address the key policy issues, including those which remain of concern to Members and other stake-holders in the Bill.
Work on the Bill continues, therefore, on that basis, including in cooperation with the Offices of Parliamentary Counsel and of the Attorney General while also taking account of any relevant rulings by the Courts and any further submissions received. I can confirm that there are ongoing and very detailed consultations with Advisory Counsel on a number of specific aspects of the Bill which need to be addressed in preparation for its publication later this year. At the same time, the main components of the Bill will continue to reflect those of the 2010 version.
The Deputy may be aware that I made new Regulations last year governing the investigation and determination of applications for subsidiary protection in the State. The European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013, which came into effect on 14 November 2013, were made to address certain matters which arose from the judgment of the High Court in January 2013 in the MM case. Under the new Regulations, responsibility for the processing of applications for subsidiary protection now rests with the Refugee Applications Commissioner with appeals to be dealt with by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Both of these bodies are independent in the exercise of their statutory functions and they have substantial experience in the area of asylum investigations and appeals, respectively. Once the new arrangements have bedded down, my aim is for subsidiary protection applications currently on hand to be processed to finality by the statutory bodies concerned in the shortest possible time-frame consistent with quality and fair assessment of all cases and of course, subject to the cooperation of applicants and no further legal impediments arising. In those circumstances I would anticipate very significant inroads to be made on the caseload by the end of 2014.
134. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which the present visiting committee structure in the prison service is due for reform or is being reformed; the extent to which enhanced rehabilitation and training within the prison service is likely to become available in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17169/14]
View answerThere are fourteen Visiting Committees in existence – one for each institution. Each Visiting Committee now comprises no more than six members, and only suitable people with a genuine interest in prison issues are appointed.
As previously stated, the current legislation relating to Visiting Committees dates from 1925 and as part of my plans to streamline the current inspections regime, I intend replacing this old law with a number of new provisions to be included in the proposed Inspections of Places of Detention Bill. These provisions will make Visiting Committees more effective, while they continue their role of visiting prisons, meeting with prisoners and liaising on their behalf with prison authorities. A link will be established between the Visiting Committees and the Inspector of Prisons. Under the proposed new arrangements, it is my intention that Visiting Committees will report regularly to the Inspector and will be able to report any urgent or major matter to the Inspector at any time. I believe this will make them more effective and improve the independent oversight of our prisons. Subject to competing legislative priorities, I expect that work on the General Scheme will be completed later this year.
In terms of enhanced rehabilitation and training in prisons, the Prison Service provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes which include education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, counselling, welfare and spiritual services. All prisoners are eligible to use these programmes which are available in all prisons. On committal, all prisoners are interviewed by the Governor and informed of the services available in the prison. At this point prisoners may be referred to services or they can self refer at a later date. Where a Governor considers, on the information available, that a prisoner needs a particular intervention he/she will initiate a referral.
The number of accredited vocational courses and opportunities available in Work Training has also been expanded in recent years. Enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies and the centralising of coordination and quality assurance arrangements have enabled the Prison Service to extend the number of available courses and activities with certification. An Integrated Sentence Management (ISM) system has been introduced which involves a new orientation in the delivery of services and an emphasis on prisoners taking greater personal responsibility for their own development through active engagement with both specialist and non-specialist services in the prisons. The end result is a prisoner centred multidisciplinary approach to working with prisoners with provision for initial assessment, goal setting and periodic review to measure progress.
The development of prisoner programmes forms a central part of the Prison Service Three Year Strategic Plan 2012 - 2015. There is a clear commitment in the Strategy to enhance sentence planning including ISM and the delivery of prison based rehabilitative programmes such as education, work training and resettlement programmes.
135. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding naturalisation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17183/14]
View answerThere is no record of an application for naturalisation from the person mentioned by the Deputy. The person is the subject of a Deportation Order. However, as there are ongoing legal proceedings in this matter which have yet to be finalised I cannot comment any further.
