Written Answers Nos. 142-49
142. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of marked and unmarked Garda cars and marked and unmarked Garda vans in the Garda R and J districts in the years 2013, 2014 and to date in 2015. [2940/15]
View answerThe provision and allocation of Garda transport is a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the light of her identified operational requirements and the availability of resources. Responsibility for the efficient deployment of Garda vehicles in each Division is assigned to the Divisional Officer, who may allocate vehicles between stations, as required by operational circumstances.
In that context, I am advised by the Garda authorities that the information requested is as shown in the following table:
|
YEAR |
Cars |
Cars |
Vans |
Vans |
|
Marked |
Unmarked |
Marked |
Unmarked |
|
|
2013 |
12 |
29 |
6 |
0 |
|
2014 |
17 |
28 |
4 |
0 |
|
To date 2015 |
17 |
28 |
4 |
0 |
143. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of vehicles seized by An Garda Síochána in the Dublin region in the years 2014 and to date in 2015. [2941/15]
View answerI have requested the information sought from the Garda authorities and I will revert to the Deputy in due course as soon as the information is to hand.
144. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of licences that have been seized by gardaí under section 60 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 where the member had reasonable grounds for believing that the driver had been disqualified; and if she will report on the number of these concerned drivers who have been prosecuted for driving while disqualified. [2942/15]
View answerI am informed by the Garda authorities that data is not recorded in such a manner as to provide the information sought by the Deputy.
145. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the upcoming Landlord and Tenant Reform Bill will propose to reform the law concerning estate management companies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2950/15]
View answerThe primary objective of the Landlord and Tenant Law Reform Bill, which is broadly based on reform recommendations set out in the 2007 Law Reform Commission Report "The Law of Landlord and Tenant", is to update and streamline the general law relating to landlord and tenant. This will involve repealing the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act Ireland 1860 (more commonly referred to as Deasy’s Act) and other pre-1922 statutes, together with some statutory provisions or more recent origin, and replacing them with a statutory framework more suited to modern conditions. The draft Bill contains reforms which seek to clarify the respective obligations of both landlords and tenants and improve protection levels for tenants. It will, for example, abolish certain eviction remedies currently available to landlords and replace them with an updated statutory redress scheme.
It is not intended that the draft Bill will contain amendments to the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011. The primary purpose of this Act is to provide a statutory framework for the ownership and management of common areas of multi-unit developments and to facilitate the fair, efficient and effective functioning of owners' management companies (OMCs) which are established for the purposes of owning and managing such common areas. The operation of this Act is kept under review in my Department.
146. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding Garda vetting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2951/15]
View answerEnsuring the safety of children and vulnerable adults is the primary consideration in any vetting process and accordingly such vetting processes demand rigorous procedures to ensure their integrity and to maintain the highest level of confidence by the public and organisations availing of the service. To that end full vetting checks are conducted by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) for each new vetting application received to ensure that the most recent data available is taken into account.
The current procedures for Garda vetting ensure the integrity of the system. This is because once there has been any significant lapse of time between one employment and another, the original Garda Vetting Disclosure would not include information regarding any recent criminal convictions, and the second employer could not safely rely on it.
Furthermore, under the Data Protection Acts, any sensitive personal data which employers use in regard to their employees must be current, accurate and up-to-date and employers would be exposed to civil liability if they knowingly recruited staff based on out-of-date criminal records information where the person in fact had a more recent criminal conviction. Effectively, the non-transferability and contemporaneous nature of the current process protects against the risk of fraud or forgery and is a guarantee of the integrity of the vetting service and such procedures are in line with best practice internationally.
There are, however, certain limited circumstances where organisations can share a single vetting disclosure where this is agreed to by the vetting applicant. For example, persons involved in voluntary work may be doing work with more than one voluntary organisation at the same time, and may agree with the vetting applicant to share a single vetting disclosure. Similar arrangements arise in the health sector in regard to persons working as locums, agency nurses or other temporary employees in a number of different organisations, or in the education sector where substitute teachers are on panels for substitute teaching in more than one school.
Finally, the current average processing time for vetting applications is four weeks. Any vetting process will take a certain minimum amount of time to complete and, taking into account the need to protect children and vulnerable adults while providing an effective and efficient service, I do not think that this time period is unreasonable.
147. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when additional gardaí will be assigned to Ballyjamesduff Garda station, County Cavan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3034/15]
View answerOne of the primary functions of the Garda Commissioner under the Garda Síochána Acts, is to direct and control An Garda Síochána. 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 been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the personnel strength of Ballyjamesduff Garda station on 30 November 2014, the latest date for which figures are readily available was three. Ballyjamesduff forms part of the Bailieboro Garda District in the Cavan/Monaghan Garda Division. The personnel strength of Bailieboro Garda District and the Cavan/Monaghan Garda Division on the same date was 62 and 324, respectively. There are also 22 Garda Reserves and 36 civilians attached to the Cavan/Monaghan Division of which three Garda Reserves and six civilians are attached to the Baileboro District.
As the Deputy will be aware, 100 new recruits entered training at the Garda College in Templemore in September 2014, the first intake of Garda recruits since 2009. This was followed by an intake of a further 100 new recruits in December. A further intake of 100 is due to enter training at the end of this month. This will bring to 300 the number of recruits in the Garda College since last September and is a measure of this Government's commitment to the Garda Síochána. The first intake of recruits will attest as members of An Garda Síochána in May of this year and will be assigned to Garda Stations by the Garda Commissioner. The Garda Commissioner, will of course, continue to keep the needs of the Ballyjamesduff station under review within the overall context of the needs of Garda Divisions throughout the country.
148. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 417 of 14 January 2015, the nature of the investigations undertaken; the investigations that were referred to the DPP; and the findings of each investigation. [3057/15]
View answer149. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 417 of 14 January 2015, if the difference between the number of requests to search aircraft listed in her response as 33, and the figure of 17 provided in response to the previous ICCPR periodic review was due to requests made subsequent to the review. [3059/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 149 together.
I have sought a report from the Garda authorities in relation to the information requested by the Deputy. I will communicate further when this is available.
