Written Answers Nos. 421-45
421. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda investigations into alleged human trafficking in 2013 and to date in 2014; the number of alleged victims; the number who are children; the number of these investigations that have been completed; the number of alleged victims who have been granted a recovery and reflection period since its introduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28178/14]
View answerIn the time available it has not been possible for the Garda authorities to supply the information requested by the Deputy. I will be in contact with the Deputy when the information is to hand.
423. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons currently supervised in the community under a post-release supervision order under Part 5 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001; the number of persons currently in breach of conditions under this part of the Act; if he will provide a regional breakdown of these figures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28180/14]
View answerThere are 68 persons being supervised by the Probation Service under the conditions of a Post Release Supervision Order as provided for in Part 5 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001. A regional breakdown of this number is illustrated in the following table.
|
Region |
Number |
|
Dublin |
38 |
|
North West |
09 |
|
Midlands/South East |
08 |
|
South West |
13 |
The number of persons currently in breach of conditions under Part 5 of the Act is not readily available.
424. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who must currently comply with Garda registration under Part 2 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001; the number of persons currently in breach of conditions under this part of the Act; the corresponding figures for 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28181/14]
View answer425. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who breached conditions under Part 2 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001; the number of recorded incidents, prosecutions and convictions that have taken place in 2013 and to date in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28182/14]
View answer426. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of sex offenders who entered the State from abroad in each of the past five years and notified the Garda under the Sex Offenders Act 2001 within the specified seven days; the number who breached this notification procedure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28183/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 424 to 426, inclusive, together.
The Sex Offenders Act 2001 contains a comprehensive series of provisions aimed at protecting children and other persons. Part 2 of the Act makes persons convicted of a range of sexual offences subject to notification requirements. The provisions of the Act also extend to any offenders convicted abroad of the same range of sexual offences who enter the State.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that, as of 26 June 2014, there were 1,357 persons subject to the requirements of Part 2 of the Act.
Insofar as the information requested regarding the number of notifications in relation to sex offenders entering the state from abroad over the past five years is concerned.
In relation to the other statistical information requested by the Deputy, the Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide relevant statistics directly to the Deputy.
All offenders subject to the notification requirements are monitored by the Sex Offender Management and Intelligence Unit (SOMIU) at the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Unit is supported by Garda Inspectors nominated in each Garda Division throughout the State. I am assured by the Garda authorities that the appropriate level of monitoring is carried out by An Garda Síochána and that all breaches of the requirements which come to notice are pursued.
427. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she and her Department have been made aware that phone calls and e-mails of the lead researcher in the Boston College project have been intercepted and the person's recent conversations and e-mails with the United States Government have been monitored; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28229/14]
View answerI am aware of the allegations to which the Deputy refers.
In general terms, the unlawful interception of telecommunications messages is an offence in Irish law in accordance with the provisions of section 98 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, as amended.
In the event that a person has evidence that their telecommunications messages have been unlawfully intercepted they should bring the matter to the relevant authorities for investigation by them. In this case it is a matter that should be brought to the attention of the Garda Síochána.
428. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps she is taking to address the backlog of cases that are with the computer crime investigation unit; the number of cases currently with the unit and the longest period of time that a case is with this unit awaiting the recovery of evidence; the present delay in recovering evidence from equipment submitted since October 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28231/14]
View answerI met with the Acting Commissioner recently to discuss this serious matter. As the Deputy may be aware, the Acting Commissioner has recently initiated a comprehensive review and strategic realignment of Garda capacity to deal with complex and emerging crime of this nature, which is very welcome. In addition, she is also examining a number of other more immediate steps which can be taken to speed up the processing of these cases and my Department will remain in regular contact with the Garda authorities in this regard.
Insofar as the question of the specific statistics sought by the Deputy are concerned, I have sought a report from the Garda authorities in this regard and will contact the Deputy again when this is received.
429. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide in tabular form details of the recorded and detected rates for each of the following offences, for each year from 2009 to 2013, inclusive, for the Tuam district of the Galway division of An Garda Síochána, homicide offences, sexual offences, attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences, dangerous or negligent acts, kidnapping and related offences, robbery, extortion and hijacking offences, burglary and related offences, theft and related offences, fraud, deception and related offences, controlled drug offences, weapons and explosives offences, damage to property and to the environment, public order and other social code offences, road and traffic offences, offences against Government, justice procedures and organisation of crime; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28278/14]
View answerThe Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose.
I have requested the CSO to provide statistics directly to the Deputy.
430. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons in direct provision who are currently awaiting decisions on either subsidiary protection or leave to remain; the way she proposes to address this backlog; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28317/14]
View answerThe latest available figures indicate that at the end of January 2014 there were just over 1,270 persons in the direct provision system with subsidiary protection decisions pending and 400 persons with leave to remain decisions pending.
These statistics do not tell the full story because of the complex nature of our protection system. For example, in relation to families, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department processes the entire family unit together. However, a number of different members of the family can be at different stages of the process. This can arise for a number of different reasons - one family member appeals to their case to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT) while another does not. Also, in many cases, a Judicial Review can be instigated by one family member (often a child) to an asylum decision while the remainder of the family will either be at Subsidiary Protection or Leave to Remain stage. However, INIS will await the outcome of the Judicial Review process as it endeavours at all times to keep the family unit together for processing. The Deputy will appreciate the desirability of having the cases of all family members brought to finality, be the outcome favourable or unfavourable, at the same time.
I am satisfied that every effort is being made to have all outstanding cases brought to finality as soon as it is possible to do so. I should add that this position applies equally to persons residing in Direct Provision accommodation as well as those residing elsewhere.
The Deputy may be aware that measures have recently been taken with a view to delivering improvements in the processing of subsidiary protection applications. The European Union (Subsidiary Protection) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 426 of 2013) were signed into law by my predecessor last November. Under the new Regulations, responsibility for the processing of applications for subsidiary protection was transferred from my Department to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) with appeals to be dealt with by the RAT. 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. Additional resources have been allocated to the establishment and operation of the new arrangements for the processing of these cases which include the engagement of a panel of legally qualified persons to process cases, personal interviews for each applicant at the first instance and the opportunity for an applicant to appeal a negative recommendation of the ORAC to the RAT. The ORAC, in consultation with the UNHCR, have recently published on its website details of how it will prioritise the process of scheduling persons for interview taking into account, inter-alia, dealing with applicants who are longest in the system first. The intention is to process as many of these cases to finality, to include consideration of any leave to remain aspects arising, in the shortest possible timeframe consistent with quality and fair assessment of all cases and of course, subject to the cooperation of applicants and no further legal impediments arising. To date significant progress has been made with this caseload. Over 1500 applicants for subsidiary protection have indicated their wish to proceed and the process of interviewing applicants began in December 2013. By the end of June, around 700 applicants had been scheduled for interview. The ORAC has also begun the process of issuing determinations.
In the context of cases currently at the leave to remain stage of the process, particular attention is paid to those cases which are awaiting a decision for the longest periods as well as the cases of persons with a history of criminality.
The Government remains committed to legislative reform in this area as provided for under the Programme for Government and under the Government Legislation Programme. My immediate priority is that the factors which lead to delays in the processing of cases are dealt with. In this regard, legislative reform aimed at establishing a single application procedure for the investigation of all grounds for protection is a key priority for this Government. Such reform would substantially simplify and streamline the existing arrangements by removing the current multi-layered and sequential processes and provide applicants with a final decision on their application in a more straightforward and timely fashion. In consultation with my officials, I am reviewing the work done to date in respect of the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill and will then decide on how best to progress the implementation of the Government's priorities, in particular to expedite those relating to the establishment of a single application procedure.
431. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to review the possibility of introducing legalisation to tackle the issue of upward only rent reviews; if she is not able to do this, will she look at the possibility of holding a referendum to tackle such reviews; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28428/14]
View answerIt will be recalled that the Government made the difficult decision in December 2011 not to proceed with the commitment in the Programme for Government to abolish upward only rent reviews in so called "legacy leases", i.e., those entered into before 28 February 2010. There was a substantial concern that any legislative scheme involving interference in the contractual relationships of private parties would find it extremely difficult to survive a Constitutional challenge. In addition, the Government was advised that any model proposed would require the payment of compensation to landlords whose rights were infringed in order to ensure that the proposal would be compatible with the Constitution and with the European Convention on Human Rights. The situation has not changed since 2011 and, as has been indicated in replies to previous Parliamentary Questions on the subject of upward only rent review clauses, there are no plans to re-examine the decision which was taken in 2011, nor are any plans to have a referendum on this matter.
432. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the forthcoming redress for women who were in certain institutions Bill will fully comply with Mr. Justice Quirke's recommendation that each woman who spent time in a Magdalen laundry should receive health services directly equivalent to those provided under the HAA card for persons infected with hepatitis C. [28449/14]
View answerWith regard to the provision of health services, Judge Quirke in his report on the Magdalen laundries, had recommended that legislation be introduced to give the women the same entitlement as those under the Hepatitis C scheme. This is to be implemented by the Department of Health but my Department will introduce the necessary legislative provisions.
I can confirm for the Deputy that, on 24 June, the Government agreed to the publication of the scheme of a new Bill to provide for services and supports for women who worked in Magdalen Laundries. In particular the Bill will make additional provision for access to health services in line with the recommendation of Judge Quirke.
433. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the forthcoming redress for women who were in certain institutions Bill, the scheme of which was agreed on 24 June 2014, will provide that the State will pay for health insurance for applicants to the restorative justice scheme who are survivors of the Magdalen laundries who are living outside of the State; if not, the reason; if so, when those applicants will be informed of the relevant process, and the date on which it is anticipated that it will commence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28450/14]
View answerWith regard to the provision of health services, Judge Quirke in his report on the Magdalen laundries, had recommended that legislation be introduced to give the women the same entitlement as those under the Hepatitis C scheme. This is to be implemented by the Department of Health but my Department will introduce the necessary legislative provisions.
I can confirm for the Deputy that, on 24 June, the Government agreed to the publication of the scheme of a new Bill to provide for services and supports for women who worked in Magdalen Laundries. In particular the Bill will make additional provision for access to health services in line with the recommendation of Judge Quirke.
The Department of Health has advised that, given the wide variation of country health system's organisation, access to equivalent medical services for participants living abroad will be dealt with on an administrative basis by the HSE and is therefore not part of the proposed Bill.
434. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when she will establish in her Department a permanent unit dedicated to administer the supports to Magdalen laundries' survivors as specified in the Quirke report; and the way she plans to ensure the Department provides easily accessible support and advice to applicants, as recommended by Mr. Justice Quirke. [28451/14]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that following the Government decision to implement the scheme recommended by Judge Quirke, my Department established a dedicated unit of 9 officers whose sole task is to assist in the implementation of the Scheme.
My officials in the Restorative Implementation Unit are available to assist applicants with any queries they have in relation to the Scheme in a helpful and sensitive manner.
Significant progress is being made on the implementation of the Scheme. 756 applications have been received to date, 71 of which have been refused as they were not in one of the 12 specified institutions. 369 applicants have received their lump sum payment so far, at a cost of €13.3m. A further 122 formal offers have been made and letters of provisional assessment on the length of stay in a relevant institution have issued to an additional 31 applicants.
In relation to other supports being provided under the Scheme the Department of Social Protection has established a new scheme to give effect to Judge Quirke's recommendation regarding the payment of pension type payments. This has taken time but the scheme is now up and running and payments will be made on a phased basis over the next couple of weeks. The payments will be backdated to 1 August 2013 so the women will not be at a loss.
With regard to the provision of health services, Judge Quirke in his report on the Magdalen laundries, had recommended that legislation be introduced to give the women the same entitlement as those under the Hepatitis C scheme. This is to be implemented by the Department of Health but my Department will introduce the necessary legislative provisions. I can confirm for the Deputy that, on 24 June, the Government, on my proposal agreed to the publication of the scheme of a new Bill to provide for services and supports for women who worked in Magdalen Laundries including the provision of health services. With the cooperation of the Oireachtas I expect the Bill will have a reasonably speedy progress towards enactment.
The Deputy will appreciate that priority is being given to the processing of applications and making lump sum payments. The recommendation regarding maintaining a permanent dedicated unit is a longer term issue and will be addressed after processing of applications has been completed.
435. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an application to remain in the State in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [28456/14]
View answerMarriage to an Irish national does not confer an automatic right of residence in the State. A non EEA national who wishes to reside in the State on the basis of their marriage to an Irish national must make an application for permission to remain in the State.
I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned made an application for permission to remain in the State on the basis of their marriage to an Irish national on 6 March 2014. In the interest of taking a fair approach to all applications, cases are processed in chronological order.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
437. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health to reduce the ceiling of the drug scheme refund level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28163/14]
View answerUnder the Drug Payment Scheme, no individual or family pays more than €144 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. The scheme significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines.
In addition, people who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves and their dependants may be entitled to a medical card. In the assessment process, the Health Service Executive can take into account medical costs incurred by an individual or a family. Those who are not eligible for a medical card may still be able to avail of a GP visit card, which covers the cost of GP consultations.
There are no plans to alter the Drug Payment Scheme threshold.
438. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health to reverse the exorbitant levy on private health insurers for use of private beds in public hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28165/14]
View answerPrior to January 2014 private in-patients in public hospitals were subject to maintenance charges that generally ranged from €586 to €1,046 per day when they were accommodated in a private designated bed. However, in an emergency admission if a private designated bed was not available and a private in-patient was accommodated in a public bed, the maintenance charge was not levied, although the private in-patient continued to pay the fees of his/her hospital consultant.
The Comptroller and Auditor General estimated in his 2010 Annual Report that 45% of in-patients treated privately by their consultants were not charged for their maintenance in public hospitals because they were not occupying designated private beds. That situation represented a significant loss of income to the public hospital system and an indirect subsidy to private insurance companies, who cover most private patients. In effect, private patients were not meeting the costs of the hospital services they used. It was, and is, my belief that situation could not continue and that the new charges makes sense.
While everyone is entitled to use a public hospital, an essential element of the eligibility arrangements is that the public or private status of a patient must be specified on admission to hospital. Where a patient elects to be treated privately by a consultant the hospital must treat that patient as a private patient.
The Government believes that users of private services should pay for the costs of providing these services even when they are provided by a public hospital and on that basis introduced legislation in 2013 to amend Section 55 of the Health Act 1970 which provides for the charging of private in-patients. Since 1 January 2014, private in-patients in public hospitals are subject to charges that range from €329 to €1,000 per day. It is not intended to reverse this policy.
439. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the rationale for downgrading the Mullingar office for the registration of births, deaths and marriages from a full-time office to a part-time one; if he will consider reversing this decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28316/14]
View answerThe Civil Registration Service is operated by the Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the General Registrar's Office under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection. The operational cost of this service is met from within the HSE's budget. Consequently, I have referred the Deputy's question to the HSE for direct reply.
440. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will extend BreastCheck, the national free breast screening programme, to women aged between 65 and 69 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28657/14]
View answer441. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health his plan to extend BreastCheck screening to women aged between 65 and 69, as outlined in the 2011 programme for Government. [28680/14]
View answer442. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Health when the BreastCheck free screening service for women aged between 65 and 69 years will be rolled out; if he will confirm whether the extension to this age group will be included in the Health Service Executive's national services plan for 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28683/14]
View answer443. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase the age for free mammograms through the BreastCheck screening programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28561/14]
View answer444. Deputy Noel Harrington asked the Minister for Health when he will extend the BreastCheck scheme to women aged between 65 and 69 years in line with the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28588/14]
View answer445. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Health if he will provide for the extension of BreastCheck to women aged between 65 and 69, as outlined in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28604/14]
View answer564. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Health if he will sanction the extension of BreastCheck, the national free breast cancer screening programme, to women aged between 65 and 69 years, as was promised in the programme for Government; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that 10% of breast cancer patients are in the 65 to 69 year age group and this group also has high mortality rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28412/14]
View answer565. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for Health if he will consider extending the BreastCheck screening programme to women aged between 65 and 69 years in line with a programme for Government commitment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28415/14]
View answer571. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health the proposals he has to extend BreastCheck to women aged between 65 and 69 years during 2014 in view of the commitments made in the programme for Government and in Future Health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28453/14]
View answer587. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if he will extend the BreastCheck screening range to those between the ages of 65 and 69 years in view of the fact that a significant proportion of women are diagnosed in this age range. [28505/14]
View answer590. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the extension of BreastCheck to the 65 to 69 year age group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28530/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 440 to 445, inclusive, 564, 565, 571, 587 and 590 together.
The BreastCheck Programme provides free mammograms to all women aged 50-64. A priority of the BreastCheck Programme at present is to maximise national uptake in the 50-64 year age cohort.
It is my intention to extend the upper age range to include the 65-69 age cohort as soon as possible in line with available resources.
