Written Answers Nos. 171-78
171. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the measures being taken to reduce current queues and waiting times at the Garda National Immigration Bureau on Burgh Quay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25046/14]
View answer172. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to increased waiting times and queues at the Garda National Immigration Bureau on Burgh Quay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25047/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 172 together.
I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) provides registration functions for all Non-EEA persons who intend to reside in the State for longer than 90 days. These functions are provided from the Burgh Quay offices in respect of the Dublin Metropolitan Region. The offices also provides a range of other immigration related services with in the region of 130,000 per annum attending.
The nature of the services provided is such that it is demand led and accordingly, there are peaks and valleys in the numbers of callers at different times of the year. The Burgh Quay offices are open for registrations from 8am to 9pm Monday – Thursday and 8am – 6pm on Fridays. Whilst this requires significant staff resources, the long opening hours are aimed at catering for applicants who may be studying or working and find it more convenient to come to the office outside of office hours. Specific times are set aside for certain categories of persons such as students.
In common with the operation of immigration functions in other States, immigrants are required to present in person at our offices. This is necessary and unavoidable for establishment of identity and as an anti-fraud measure and is the practice of immigration services worldwide. My Department’s customer service charter encompasses INIS and the organisation is continually seeking to improve the quality of services provided to customers. A major overhaul of the public reception facilities in Burgh Quay with expanded, dedicated areas for dealing with the public has recently been completed. In addition, the immigration service is planning to introduce an on-line booking system for appointments which is part of a wider plan to transfer the registration function from the Garda National Immigration Bureau to INIS. The aim of the booking system is to give certainty to customers that they will be dealt with within a stated time window and at the same time enabling the immigration service to match its staff resources to meet demand at any particular time. The new reception facilities have been designed to cater for such a system.
Finally, I might add that this office is probably one of the busiest Public Offices with some of the longest opening times in the State. As I indicated earlier, around 130,000 persons attend the Burgh Quay office each year, which I am sure the Deputy will appreciate presents ongoing logistical challenges. While I am advised that over the past 18 months there has been no unmanageable issues with queues taking into account the scale of the operation involved, I nevertheless and anxious that queuing be reduced to the absolute minimum at the earliest possible opportunity. I am confident that the measures outlined above will further improve the services provided to its customers calling to this office.
173. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will introduce clear, transparent and accessible determination procedures to allow the swift identification of stateless persons, as sought by the 50 member organisations of the European Network on Statelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25048/14]
View answerIn the interests of accuracy I want to correct any erroneous impression that might be arrived at from the Deputy's question that some 50 organisations have come together to highlight the lack of a statelessness determination process in Ireland. The European Network on Statelessness is a voluntary civil society coalition that campaigns on this issue and it has called for "All European states without a functioning statelessness determination procedure to make a clear commitment during 2014 to take necessary steps to introduce one by the end 2016".
As the Deputy may be aware, based on looking at the situation in other jurisdictions, Ireland is not unusual in so far as it does not have a specific procedure for determining statelessness claims. Of the nearly eighty countries to have ratified the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons only a small fraction (including only four EU countries - Spain, Latvia, Hungary and UK) have put in place specific determination procedures for non-protection statelessness claims.
While the position adopted by other jurisdictions clearly does not determine the actions that Ireland might take in this area, some caution is nonetheless necessary to avoid a situation where Ireland, as a small country, could become a destination for stateless persons seeking access to a determination process. I have no immediate plans to introduce a formal determination procedure but will keep the matter under review, having regard also to developments in other jurisdictions and the nature of their determination procedures.
174. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to legislate in order to ensure there is passport-free travel for qualifying persons travelling within the common travel area; her views on a Bill regarding this issue (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25066/14]
View answerI have no plans to introduce legislation of the nature proposed by the Deputy and I consider that such legislation is not necessary at this time.
175. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the laws that prevent a member of the public who is of a different political persuasion from videoing, following and harassing a public representative who is out in a housing estate canvassing and calling door to door to meet members of the public and to listen to their complaints and problems; the penalties and remedies for those subject to this type of bullying and harassment by professional protestors; her plans to improve the law in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25075/14]
View answerWhile I can not speculate as to what, if any, legislative provision is applicable to the circumstances of any particular incident, I would note that there are provisions of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 which may be relevant to the general issue which the Deputy raises. In particular, section 5 of the 1994 Act provides for the offence of disorderly conduct in public place and section 10 of the 1997 Act provides for the offence of harassment.
If a person is being subjected to disorderly conduct or harassment, he or she should, of course, report it to the Garda Síochána who can take the appropriate action to address such behaviour. Consideration can also be given to consulting one's solicitor to explore whether appropriate civil remedies, including, perhaps, injunctive reliefs, might be appropriate in the circumstances of a given case.
Moreover, since the activity referred to does not appear to fall within the ‘household’ exemption under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003, i.e. the provision whereby personal data kept by an individual and concerned only with the management of his or her personal, family or household affairs or kept only for recreational purposes are exempt from the Acts, the recording of such personal data appears to come within the scope of data protection law. This means that the person responsible for such recording is a ‘data controller’ for the purposes of the Acts and any individual who is filmed may invoke the remedies provided under the Acts, including a right to establish the existence of personal data, a right of access to the data and a right to its erasure. Enforcement of data protection law in this jurisdiction is a matter for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. The statutory functions of the Office include the investigation of alleged infringements of the Acts.
176. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to update legislation dealing with criminal justice public order offences and the fines given; if she will outline those changes, if applicable; if she will advise as to whether the Law Reform Commission has done any work in this area regarding updating legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25076/14]
View answerI am advised that An Garda Síochána makes regular and effective use of existing public order legislation in the course of meeting the policing needs of our communities. While these provisions are kept under ongoing review, there are no plans for their revision at present, nor am I aware of any recommendations from the Law Reform Commission in this regard.
177. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a detailed list in tabular form of all staff vacancies, within her Department and in each agency under her Department's remit, at principal officer grade or above, including the title of the vacant post and the functional area to which it belongs; the length of time the post has been vacant; the salary attached to the post in question; in respect of agencies where Civil Service grades do not apply, if she will include vacancies where the post attracts a salary equivalent to or greater than a principal officer grade; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25126/14]
View answerSince the end of 2008, respecting the need to bring order to the public finances, the Department of Justice and Equality has only sought sanctions to fill vacant posts in the very minimum of cases. Notwithstanding the above, the following table sets out current staff vacancies within the Department and agencies under its remit.
|
Dept/ Agency |
Title of the vacant post |
Length of time the post has been vacant |
The salary attached to the vacant post |
|
Department of Justice & Equality |
Assistant Deputy State Pathologist |
6 1/2 months* |
€141,638 |
|
Garda |
3 x Chief Superintendent Assistant Commissioner Deputy Commissioner Commissioner |
12 months |
€84,455 - €101,085 €128,288 €143,744 €168,350 |
|
Legal Aid Board |
Managing Solicitor Grade 1 |
9 months |
€79,401 (PPC) |
* Post advertised through Public Appointments Service and selection of replacement is expected shortly.
Post of Executive Director HR in An Garda Síochána was recently advertised by the Public Appointment Service, with a closing date of 12 June 2014. This post is remunerated at Assistant Secretary level - €125,761 - €143,535 (PPC).
It should also be noted that sanction has been received for the posts of Director and Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. Recruitment for a Chief Commissioner is underway and the recruitment process for a Director is imminent.
