Written Answers Nos. 491-505
491. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 396 and 397 of 14 January 2015, if she has received the report from An Garda Síochána; and if she can provide same as outlined in her reply. [11871/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will recall, I am informed that, following the examination by An Garda Síochána of the report of the Moriarty Tribunal, the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions was sought with a view to determining whether or not a full Garda investigation should be commenced. The Deputy will also recall that the Garda authorities have also been engaged in an examination of the Report of the Mahon Tribunal, which was referred to the Garda Commissioner by the Government.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that the position in relation to these matters remains the same.
492. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 31 of 15 January 2015, if she will provide an update as to its status and timeframe for distribution. [11872/15]
View answerI can inform the Deputy that the report referred to was published by me on 27 January, 2015. The report is entitled 'Garda Professional Standards Unit Examination of the Procedures, Policy and Decision Making Processes in Relation to Cancellations on the Fixed Charge Processing System of Road Traffic Related Offences' and is available on my Department's website www.justice.ie. To be of assistance, I have arranged that the Deputy be provided with a link to the material concerned along with a copy of the statement which I issued at the time of publication.
493. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 313 of 20 January 2015 in which she indicated she was making inquiries with the Courts Service, if the information has been retrieved or when can it be expected. [11873/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that I am continuing to make enquiries with the Courts Service and the Garda Síochána in relation to the information sought by the Deputy and I will write to the Deputy directly as soon as it is to hand. I want to assure the Deputy that I am treating as a priority the need to have in place the most efficient and effective processing and recording of data in respect of non-production of licences and all necessary procedures to ensure follow-up action.
494. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 350 of 10 February 2015, if she has received the information from An Garda Síochána; and when the information will be shared. [11874/15]
View answer498. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to subsequent communications and questions from the Deputy, if she will provide responses to outstanding parliamentary questions (details supplied); the reason for the long delay in providing the statistics requested; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11878/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 494 and 498 together.
I sought clarification in relation to the information requested and can confirm that I have recently replied directly to the Deputy in this regard.
For ease of reference, I can advise the Deputy that I am informed by the Garda authorities that there is extensive enforcement of driver licence legislation as provided for in the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Acts. 20,315 prosecutions were brought against individuals in respect of driving without a licence in 2013 and 19,968 in 2014. I am also informed that 1,286 drivers were prosecuted in 2013 for driving while disqualified, with a further 1,373 prosecutions initiated in 2014.
In respect of disqualified drivers failing to submit a licence under section 29(16) and (17) of the Road Traffic Act, 2010, the position is that 5 such prosecutions were taken in 2014 and 1 to date in 2015. I am further advised that An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority are liaising as to how improvements can be made to the exchange of information with respect to the latter category of persons with a view to streamlining the bringing of prosecutions in this regard, in those circumstances where prosecution is feasible.
Insofar as Parliamentary Question Number 28 of 1 October, 2014 is concerned, I understand the Deputy directed the question to my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and to be of assistance I have brought the Deputy's query to his attention.
495. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 109 of 11 February 2015 in which she indicated that the Central Statistics Office would forward on the relevant information, if she will request the information from An Garda Síochána or the Courts Service; and if she will request that the Central Statistics Office be directed to report a more detailed breakdown of prosecutions, by type of offence. [11875/15]
View answer496. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 110 of 11 February 2015, which indicated that the Central Statistics Office would forward on the relevant information (details supplied), if she will request the information from An Garda Síochána or the Courts Service; and if she will request that the Central Statistics Office be directed to report a more detailed breakdown of prosecutions, by type of offence. [11876/15]
View answer497. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 330 and 331 of 24 February 2015 which indicated that the Central Statistics Office would forward on the relevant information (details supplied), if she will request the information from An Garda Síochána or the Courts Service; and if she will request that the Central Statistics Office be directed to report a more detailed breakdown of prosecutions, by type of offence. [11877/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 495 to 497, inclusive, together.
The Deputy will appreciate that, as the CSO is the independent national statistical agency, the format of the recorded crime statistics which it publishes are matters for it to determine.
Crime statistics are derived from data (including PULSE data) which is transmitted by criminal justice agencies to the CSO. I understand that is not feasible to disaggregate the data along the lines sought by the Deputy.
499. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of ejectment civil bills issued in the Circuit Court in 2014, broken down by county in tabular form. [11903/15]
View answer500. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of ejectment civil bills still before the Circuit Court as of 31 December 2014, broken down by county in tabular form. [11904/15]
View answer504. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of civil bills for possession, recovery of possession of any land on foot of a legal mortgage or charge, as opposed to well-charging relief, transferred by county registrars into judges' lists in 2014; and the number of such civil bills for possession still remaining in judges' lists as of 31 December 2014, broken down by county in tabular form. [11922/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 499, 500 and 504 together.
The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of information on the courts system.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the information sought by the Deputy can only be retrieved by way of a manual examination of each individual court record. As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, this would require the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources which cannot be justified.
501. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to commence the various provisions of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014; the reason it has not yet been commenced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11905/15]
View answerThe Fines (Payments and Recovery) Act 2014 represents a very significant change in the way justice will be administered by the courts. The aim is to seek to effectively eliminate, in so far as is possible the need for a judge to commit anyone to prison for the non-payment of a fine. As well as introducing an option for persons to pay by instalment, there are also changes in the way in which those who fail to pay fines are dealt with, with a range of options available to judges which are recovery orders, attachment to earnings and community service. Such change has implications for agencies across the Justice sector, including the Courts and the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána, the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service. Changes of the scale proposed in the Fines (Payments and Recovery) Act 2014 require a major overhaul of IT systems and of administrative systems.
Work is ongoing in preparing for the implementation of the Act. The area most directly affected by the changes is the Courts and the Courts Service is working on a number of developments which will ensure that the implementation of the legislation, and the new procedures which will operate under it, are as efficient as possible.
This has required work to upgrade the IT systems to ensure that the instalment payment system operates effectively and that the necessary accounting procedures are in place for the recording of payments. Changes are also required in the way that information is transferred between the Courts Service and An Garda Síochána to ensure that both organisations have fully up to date information on the cases and their current status.
Good progress is being made in the preparatory work. All aspects of the recovery of fines are being outsourced to an external provider and the procurement process is nearing conclusion. The successful tender has been decided upon and the contract will be signed shortly. It is important that preparations are done correctly to ensure that the significant changes being implemented in the fines system as a result of the legislation are implemented smoothly and effectively from the start. It is envisaged that preparations will be completed in the 3rd quarter of 2015.
502. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of civil bills for possession, recovery of possession of any land on foot of a legal mortgage or charge, as opposed to well-charging relief, issued in the Circuit Court in 2014, broken down by county in tabular form. [11920/15]
View answer503. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of civil bills for possession, recovery of possession of any land on foot of a legal mortgage or charge, as opposed to well-charging relief, still before the Circuit Court as of 31 December 2014, broken down by county in tabular form. [11921/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 502 and 503 together.
The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of information on the courts system.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the information sought by the Deputy can only be retrieved by way of a manual examination of each individual court record. As I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, this would require the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources which cannot be justified.
505. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if measures are being considered to reduce any duplication in Garda vetting caused by persons requiring multiple applications for vetting for different organisations within a limited period of time (details supplied). [11952/15]
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.
There is no arrangement in place whereby vetting reports are valid for fixed periods of time. 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.
