Written Answers Nos. 105-110
105. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the report of the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland entitled, "Asylum seekers and refugees surviving on hold: Sexual violence disclosed to Rape Crisis Centres"; and the measures her Department will take to provide support and assistance to asylum seekers and refugees who are victims of sexual violence. [42313/14]
View answerThe report concerned finds that the majority of clients of Rape Crisis Centres had experienced incidents before arrival in Ireland, often in a situation of conflict. In so far as asylum seekers accommodated in the State's Direct Provision system are concerned, the House Rules and Procedures of the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department specifically provide that assault is a criminal offence and encourages any resident who has been subjected to such an offence to report the matter to An Garda Síochána in the first instance.
A number of the recommendations made in the report are already in train including the development of the RIA Policy and Practice document for safeguarding residents against sexual and gender based violence and harassment. This is available on the RIA website www.ria.gov.ie. Procurement of training for staff on the implementation of this policy document is currently underway. Another recommendation that there should be women only centres is also in train. A State owned centre in RIA's portfolio will be reconfigured as such a centre when refurbishment works end in a few months time.
In relation to the wider recommendations in the Report, including the length of time spent in direct provision, the Deputy will be aware that an independent working group has recently been established to make recommendations in relation to improvements to the protection process, including direct provision, and supports for asylum seekers. The first meeting of this group will take place on 10 November, 2014.
Services for victims of sexual violence are available to all those living in Ireland. These services are core-funded by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. Ministerial oversight of Tusla is provided by my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
106. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost to the Exchequer of providing free legal aid in 2013; and if she will provide in tabular form by county a breakdown of the payments made to solicitors and barristers in 2013, including the names of the firms and persons concerned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42326/14]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that the provision of legal aid falls within two separate categories, i.e. civil legal aid and criminal legal aid. Details in respect of each category are outlined as follows.
Criminal Legal Aid
The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, which is the primary legislation covering the operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, 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. 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 themselves in person or through legal assistance of their own choosing, if they have insufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require.
Expenditure on criminal legal aid in 2013 was €50.8 million. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of expenditure on a county basis as the majority of barristers addresses are recorded as being at the Law Library, Dublin 7.
Civil Legal Aid
In respect of civil legal aid, this is provided by the Legal Aid Board, an independent State agency. Persons availing of civil legal aid pay a contribution towards the service, with some exceptions, so it is not a free service per se. Exchequer funding is provided by way of a grant-in-aid to the Board. In 2013, this grant amounted to €33.759 million in the year. The service is primarily provided through the Board's law centre network and by its own solicitors, although private practitioners on the Board's panels are engaged to provide a complementary service by the Board, mainly in District Court family law matters. In addition to this the Board may engage the services of Barristers in cases where it is considered necessary. Members of the panels for private practitioners and barristers may provide services in a number of counties. It is not possible to give a breakdown of costs by county.
Due to the large amount of data involved, the information sought by the Deputy regarding payments to solicitors and barristers does not lend itself to inclusion here. This information will be forwarded to the Deputy under separate cover.
107. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost to the State to date in the searches for the bodies of the disappeared, that is, the persons murdered by the IRA in the course of the conflict in the North and secretly buried by it at unknown locations in the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42344/14]
View answerThe cost to my Department for the operations of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) from the beginning of its current 'active' phase in 2006 to the end of October this year is €5.1 million.
As the Deputy will be aware the ICLVR was established by the Irish and British Governments to facilitate the location of the remains of a number of people who were killed and buried secretly by paramilitary groups during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Of the 16 people on the ICLVR's list of the disappeared, ten have been recovered to date, the most recent being Brendan Megraw whose remains were found by the ICLVR last month in Co. Meath. Our thoughts are with the Megraw family whose decades-long wait is now over and who will, I hope, gain comfort from finally being able to afford their loved one a proper burial.
There are six other disappeared persons whose remains have yet to be located and whose families are still suffering. The ICLVR is continuing its work on all these outstanding cases. I want to assure those families of my and the Government's support for this ongoing humanitarian work. I call on anyone with any information on the disappeared to provide it in strict confidence to the ICLVR without any further delay. Any information provided can only be used for the purpose of finding the victims' remains and, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could hold the key to ending another family's suffering.
108. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who went on sick leave and the number of occurrences and total number of days lost through sick absences on the part of members of the Garda Síochána in 2013 and to the end of August 2014. [42355/14]
View answer109. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of occurrences and total number of days lost through self-certified sick absences on the part of members of An Garda Síochána in 2013 and to the end of August 2014. [42356/14]
View answer110. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of days self-certified sick leave allowed to a member of An Garda Síochána per year; and the regulations which were applied to the number of such days as a result of reform of the sick leave arrangements in the public service in 2014. [42357/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 108 to 110, inclusive, together.
I have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda Commissioner and as soon as it is to hand I will pass it on to the Deputy.
