Written Answers Nos. 109-117
109. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment will issue under the 2014 disadvantaged areas scheme in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; the reason for the delay in issuing this payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47614/14]
View answerAn application under the 2014 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 19 March 2014. Payment has not yet issued to the person named as, at this stage, the holding concerned has not yet satisfied the Scheme minimum stocking density requirements.
Immediately the holding concerned is confirmed as having met these requirements, the case will be further processed with a view to payment issuing to the person named at the earliest possible date thereafter, provided all other Scheme requirements have been satisfied.
110. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment will issue under the 2014 single farm payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; the reason for the delay in issuing this payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47615/14]
View answerAn application under the 2014 Single Payment Scheme was received in my Department from the person named on 13 May 2014. Following processing, an overclaim was discovered in respect of one land parcel which required further investigation . This matter has now been resolved and full payment on the eligible area declared issued to the nominated bank account of the person named on 4 December 2014.
111. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has put the implementation committee in place to oversee the recommendations of the CEDRA, Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, report; if so the number of times the committee has met; the persons who are on committee; the number of the 38 recommendations that have been put on a priority list; if they are on a regional basis or national basis. [47675/14]
View answerIn July of this year, Ann Phelan, T.D. was appointed as Minister of State with specific responsibility for implementation of the CEDRA report. CEDRA is a broad multisectoral report containing 34 recommendations on actions to be taken on areas as diverse as investment and finance, local enterprise support, community capability building, social enterprise, broadband, roads, water, rural transport, artisan foods, creative industries, tourism & recreation, marine and renewable energy. As its effective implementation requires an integrated response from a wide variety of agencies, Minister Phelan has established a high level Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) involving all the main departmental actors dealing with the CEDRA recommendations. To date there have been three meetings of this group.
All 34 CEDRA recommendations are being progressed, with lead responsibility for each action assigned in accordance with statutory responsibility. In addition, Minister Phelan is in the process of identifying a number of priority proposals to support the economic development of rural communities. Work on these proposals is progressing well but is not yet finalised.
112. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 65 of 20 November 2014 the information requested has not been furnished, in view of the fact that the number of members of the Defence Forces who were retired by the President have been very small and those retired in the interests of the service under section 47(2) even fewer. [47503/14]
View answerI have been advised by the military authorities that an extensive search of the Defence Forces historical archived material across a considerable period of time has been undertaken in an attempt to accurately answer the question which the Deputy asked on 20 November 2014.
The military authorities have advised me that a total of twelve Officers have been retired from the Defence Forces under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1) during the period specified in Parliamentary Question No. 65, the years 1954 to 1985.
Of those twelve Officers, two were recorded as having been retired under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1)(f) “in the interests of the service”.
The other ten Officers were also retired from the Defence Forces under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1). However, the exact sub-paragraph under which they were retired was not recorded in all cases. Therefore, though all ten were retired under the provisions of Section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 as prescribed by Defence Force Regulation A15 Paragraph 18(1), it cannot be confirmed which, if any, were under Paragraph 18(1)(f) “in the interests of the service”.
113. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Defence the position regarding apprenticeships (details supplied) under the aegis of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48201/14]
View answerThe manpower requirement of the Defence Forces is monitored on an ongoing basis. Recruitment of personnel to the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps is determined in line with the operational requirements of each of the three services. To this end, apprenticeship competitions are held, as required, to fill vacancies in the Air Corps for Aircraft Technicians.
Following the 2014 competition a total of 15 Apprentices were enlisted in the Air Corps in October 2014. While it is intended to hold a further Air Corps Apprenticeship Competition in 2015, the number of apprentices required has not yet been determined.
In relation to the Department’s civilian employee workforce, consideration is being given to the introduction of a limited apprenticeship programme in the Naval Base, Haulbowline, Co. Cork to provide training in specialised ship maintenance skills to approximately 3 to 4 civilian personnel. Details of this apprenticeship programme will be published on the SOLAS website in due course.
With the support of the Chief of Staff and within the resources available, I intend to retain the capacity of the Defence Forces to operate effectively across all roles and to undertake the tasks laid down by Government both at home and overseas.
114. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on Ireland accepting more refugees from the conflict in Syria and to follow in the footsteps of other European countries by making a meaningful contribution to the victims of war, allowing them to enter Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47536/14]
View answerUnder the national asylum procedure, the majority of Syrians who have applied for asylum in Ireland since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011 and whose applications have since been determined, have been declared to be refugees. A total of 86 such applications have been received in the State in the period March 2011 to end November 2014.
In light of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, the Government committed this year to accept 90 persons displaced by the Syrian conflict under the UNHCR led resettlement programme. This will include four serious medical cases whose medical needs cannot be met except through resettlement. I have subsequently responded to a call for increased resettlement places by making 100 places available under the programme in 2015 and a further 120 places in 2016. The majority of these additional places will be dedicated to the resettlement of refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict.
Earlier this week I announced that 111 vulnerable people have been granted permission to reside in Ireland resulting from the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP). The SHAP was introduced following an approach by members of the Syrian community in Ireland and focuses on offering temporary Irish residence to vulnerable persons present in Syria, or who have fled from Syria to surrounding countries since the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011, and who have close family members residing in Ireland.
The Programme provided for naturalised Irish citizens of Syrian birth and Syrian nationals already lawfully resident in the State to make an application for vulnerable close family members to join them in Ireland for up to two years. These are persons who are considered by their sponsoring family member present in Ireland to be most at risk. Persons admitted under the Programme will be entitled to work, establish a business, or invest in the State. A key condition of the Programme is that these persons should not become a burden on the State.
This Programme is an additional initiative in response to the crisis in Syria and is without prejudice to other avenues whereby Syrian nationals might lawfully enter the State, such as family reunification for the family members of refugees and persons with subsidiary protection, and the aforementioned UNHCR resettlement programme.
115. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the provisions of Schedule 1, section 7, of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 extend to any work or activity as a minister or priest or any other person engaged on the advancement of any religious beliefs, extends to those volunteers who distribute leaflets, envelopes and promotional materials for religious organisations and/or churches. [47572/14]
View answer116. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 extend to those persons who engage in canvassing for political parties. [47573/14]
View answer117. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 extend to those persons who deliver the post and to those who work as parcel delivery-courier personnel. [47574/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 115 to 117, inclusive, together.
The National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 provides for the vetting of personnel working with children and/or vulnerable adults. Vetting of volunteers who distribute leaflets, envelopes and promotional materials for religious organisations and/or churches, or political canvassers, or persons who deliver the post, or those who work as parcel delivery/courier personnel is not required by the Act.
