Written Answers Nos. 160-169
160. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the residency status and the eligibility to apply for naturalisation in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, who applied for naturalisation four years ago; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12576/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy, who currently has permission to reside in the State until 31 December, 2015.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process. Processing of the application is ongoing and the case will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
161. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12577/15]
View answerI am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that the person referred to by the Deputy was granted permission to remain and reside in the State on the 5th March 2012 as the subject of an application for Family Reunification.
Once granted Family Reunification, the person is required to register their permission with the Garda National Immigration Bureau in line with the permission granted to the Refugee.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
162. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if it is possible to register the name of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7 who is interested in offering counselling services to drug addicts in prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12578/15]
View answerI have been advised by the Irish Prison Service that Merchants Quay Ireland is the current contract holder for the provision of addiction counselling services to the Irish Prison Service. The provision of addiction counselling services is subject to the normal public procurement process.
163. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when an application for naturalisation might be favourably considered in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, in view of the circumstances; if that person's application is now eligible for consideration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12581/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy. My predecessor decided to defer a final decision on this application until November 2014. The person concerned was notified of this decision and the reasons for it in a letter issued on 09 May, 2013.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process. I am informed that processing of this application is well advanced and the applicant will be informed of my decision in due course.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically 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 INIS is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
164. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if her attention has been drawn to any case where Ireland is in breach of the directive on services in the Internal Market; if she will provide the details of all such breaches; if enforcement proceedings have commenced against Ireland over any such breaches; the immediate steps she proposes to take to address such breaches; if these steps will include new legislation or amendments to legislation presently before the Houses of the Oireachtas; the correspondence, if any, she has had with representatives of the professions in question; any future action that is required from them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12612/15]
View answerThe European Commission has expressed a concern that Ireland's current legal services advertising regime may be in breach of Article 24 of Directive 2006/123/EC ('the Services Directive'). In general terms, while the Directive permits certain restrictions on legal services advertising that are informed by the public interest, the Commission has found that some of the current restrictions being applied in this jurisdiction may be disproportionate. A letter of Formal Notice to that effect issued in October 2014.
My Department is engaged in ongoing correspondence and consultations with the Commission with a view to finding an appropriate balance between the exigencies of the Services Directive and those of Government policy including as part of the ongoing reform of the legal services sector. It is, therefore, anticipated that advertising provisions meeting those concerns arising in relation to the Services Directive will be put forward by way of amendment to the Legal Services Regulation Bill when it comes before the Seanad. Section 151 of the Bill enables the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority to make regulations in relation to the advertising of legal services by solicitors and barristers. Detailed work on the revised advertising provisions continues on this basis at my Department in consultation with the Commission and with the assistance of the Offices of the Attorney General and Parliamentary Counsel. In light of these developments I am confident that this matter can be satisfactorily resolved.
The Legal Services Regulation Bill is due to resume Dáil Report Stage on 21st April 2015.
165. Deputy Frank Feighan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will confirm that a full service will be maintained in relation to opening hours at the Garda station in Boyle in County Roscommon; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12620/15]
View answerDecisions in relation to the allocation of resources, including station opening hours, are a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the context of her operational requirements and I have no direct function in the matter.
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that local Garda management have reviewed the hours at which Boyle Garda station is currently open to the public in the context of providing an enhanced policing service to the newly enlarged District of Castlerea. These arrangements are designed to free up Garda personnel for outdoor policing duties who would otherwise be engaged in keeping the station open to the public.
I have been assured that Boyle Garda station will remain a fully functioning station with Garda members providing a twenty four hour service, seven days a week. There will be no reduction in the number of Garda personnel assigned to the station and the same level of resources and Garda patrols will continue to be deployed to the area.
In addition, I have been further informed that the new times at which the station is open to the public will continue to be reviewed to ensure that the revised arrangements are delivering an enhanced policing service. The new public opening hours for Boyle Garda station will take effect from Monday, 6th April 2015 and are as set out in the following table.
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
|
12.00 – 17.00 |
12.00 – 17.00 |
12.00 – 17.00 |
15.00 – 17.00 |
11.00 -13.00 |
11.00 – 13.00 |
|
|
20.00 – 22.00 |
20.00 – 22.00 |
20.00 – 22.00 |
20.00 – 23.00 |
21.00 – 23.00 |
I have been informed by the Garda authorities that they are satisfied that a comprehensive policing service will continue to be delivered in the area concerned and that the proposed structures will ensure the delivery of an effective and efficient policing service to the community.
166. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the action she is taking to deal with the very high cost of enforcing business contracts as measured by the World Bank, Doing Business Survey 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12640/15]
View answer167. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the divergence in the cost of legal services, compared to accountancy services since 2008, which have seen the cost of legal services increase over this period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12641/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together.
The Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011, which is to resume Report Stage in the Dáil on 21st April, gives legislative expression to the commitment in the Programme for Government to "establish independent regulation of the legal professions to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints". Having been a sectoral objective under the EU/IMF/ECB Troika Programme, the Bill is now the subject of a Country Specific Recommendation under the EU Semester Process as well as being an objective of the Action Plan for Jobs, the Medium Term Economic Strategy 2014-2020 and the National Reform Plan. The Legal Services Regulation Bill is, therefore, a key component of the Government's strategy to bring greater transparency to legal costs and to reduce their burden on consumers and enterprise - including by reference to the competitiveness indicators raised by the Deputy which would appear to be those also cited by the National Competitiveness Council in its "Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2014" report.
While the fees of the discrete group of 18 solicitors firms covered by the annual CSO survey (it does not cover barristers' services) concerned had remained relatively constant during the recent recession compared to those of accountants, they had demonstrated a reduction late in 2013. I understand that subsequent updates of this CSO survey to the third quarter of 2014 have confirmed the reduction in solicitors' fees among this group as an ongoing competitive trend. In relation to the longer time and higher cost involved in enforcing a business contract in Ireland as highlighted by the World Bank, I would anticipate that this will be ameliorated by the more transparent legal costs regime being introduced under the Legal Services Regulation Bill in tandem with the use of more efficient and timely enforcement and alternative dispute resolution approaches.
As a targeted structural reform, the Legal Services Regulation Bill is given continued validation by the concern also expressed in National Competitiveness Council's report that "looking to the future, further structural or policy induced changes are necessary to ensure that prices do not escalate and erode competitiveness as the Irish economy returns to stronger rates of growth". The Bill makes extensive provision, in Part 10, for a new and enhanced legal costs regime that will bring greater transparency to how legal costs are charged by legal practitioners, along with a better balance between the interests of legal practitioners and those of their clients. Legal practitioners, whether solicitors or barristers, will be obliged to provide more detailed information about legal costs from the outset of their dealings with clients. This will be in the form of a Notice written in clear language which must be provided when a legal practitioner takes instructions. Among other things, the Notice must, as set out in section 117 of the Bill, disclose the costs that are involved, or, where this is not reasonably practicable, the basis upon which such costs are to be calculated. A cooling-off period is to be allowed for the consideration of costs by the client. When there are any significant developments in a case which give rise to further costs, the Bill provides that a client must be duly updated and given the option of whether or not to proceed with the case in question. In addition, the Bill sets out that it will not be permissible for legal practitioners to set fees as a specified percentage or proportion of damages payable to a client from contentious business and that it will no longer be permissible for barristers to charge junior counsel fees as a specified percentage or proportion of Senior Counsel fees.
An aggrieved client also has the option of applying for the taxation of disputed legal costs by the Office of the Taxing-Master. Under the Legal Services Regulation Bill the current functions of the Taxing-Master will be taken over by the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator. The Bill sets out, for the first time in legislation, a series of Legal Costs Principles. These are contained in Schedule One and enumerate the various matters that may be taken into account in the adjudication of disputed legal costs. The Bill also provides for the establishment of a public Register of Determinations which will disclose the outcomes and reasons for decisions made by the Legal Costs Adjudicator. The Bill seeks to achieve greater flexibility in the legal-services market, more competition and improved access to justice and will pave the way for the introduction of new business structures for legal practitioners including in partnership with non-legal service providers. These combined measures will enable those availing of legal services, be they private consumers or enterprise, to identify costs more clearly, including in competition with other possible legal service providers.
168. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of stolen licensed guns that were recovered by An Garda Síochána following serious crime in the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12658/15]
View answer170. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of licensed guns that were reported as stolen in the past 12 months, excluding guns which are marked as damaged; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12660/15]
View answer171. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if An Garda Síochána have included toy guns and fake guns in their statistics of the number of stolen guns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12661/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 168, 170 and 171 together.
I have asked the Garda Commissioner for a report on these matters and will write to the Deputy when it becomes available.
169. Deputy Seán Conlan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gun licence applications that have been refused since 2011; the number of those decisions that were overturned on appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12659/15]
View answerI have asked the Garda Commissioner for a report on these matters and will write to the Deputy when it becomes available.
