Written Answers Nos. 423-435
423. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide, in tabular form, the number of times since she assumed office that she has met with representatives of the Bar Council of Ireland and of the Law Society of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23004/15]
View answerSince my appointment as Minister for Justice and Equality on 8 May 2014 I have had meetings with various bodies who have a direct interest, as stakeholders, in the work of my Department. This has, of course, included the legal professional bodies who have a range of insights to offer from their direct working engagement across the justice system.
On 22 May 2014 I had my first meetings, as Minister, with the Bar Council and with the Honorable Society of King's Inns. I had a similar meeting with the Law Society on 16 June 2014. I availed of these meetings to have an initial exchange of views on a range of current matters within my Department's remit including the Government's ongoing commitment to legislative and other reforms such as those contained in the Legal Services Regulation Bill. On 3 December 2014 I had a further meeting with the Bar Council followed by one with the Law Society on 8 December 2014. These meetings provided further opportunity for me to discuss key aspects of the Legal Services Regulation Bill as well to discuss broader aspects of the justice system of common interest. On 3 June 2015 I had a round-table exchange with the Law Society on specific aspects of the Bill relating to solicitors. I remain open to having further such meetings, as may be appropriate, in support of the ongoing and very detailed work of officials in my Department on the various matters concerned. These exchanges, at both official and Ministerial level, continue to take place on a very positive and constructive basis.
For the sake of completeness, I would wish to point out that my role as Minister for Justice and Equality, including in the promotion of key reforms such as those of the Legal Services Regulation Bill, includes my active participation in an array of events such as the annual conferences, parchment and graduation ceremonies that may be held from time to time by the legal professional or educational bodies.
424. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality how she plans to address the increasing number of attacks on emergency service staff, including prison officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23005/15]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that the law already recognises the gravity of any attack on emergency service personnel and on prison officers, who are carrying out their duty, and that the penalties which are in place clearly underline the seriousness with which such attacks are viewed.
I would refer the Deputy in particular to the provisions of section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) 1994 Act (as amended by section 185 Criminal Justice Act 2006) which deal with assaults of, or threats to, emergency workers in front line positions, and which provide penalties of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or both. In addition, in the case of an assault causing serious harm, an offender can be prosecuted under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 and could be subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
As the Deputy refers in particular to the position regarding assaults on prison officers I would draw his attention to a number of measures taken in recent years by the Irish Prison Service. These are primarily designed to ensure the safety of staff and prisoners by targeting the avenues by which contraband such as drugs, weapons and mobile phones are brought into our prisons. These measures, which are in addition to the introduction of enhanced CCTV coverage and ongoing training of Prison Officers in relation to Control and Restraint techniques, include the use of hand-held metal detectors, netting over prisons yards and security screening machines to detect and prevent weapons from entering the prison to further limit the scope of acts of violence.
Furthermore, the Irish Prison Service had established a Focus Group on Hospital Escorts and Procedures. In addition, a Control and Restraint Advisory Group has been convened and this Group has identified a number of proposals and recommendations regarding the safety requirements in the case of prisoner escorts. An implementation group has been established, chaired by the Governor of the Prison Service Escort Corp (PSEC), and I am advised that the implementation of these recommendations has commenced.
425. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Istanbul Convention will be fully implemented; the reason for the delay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23007/15]
View answerIt is my intention to seek Government approval for Ireland to sign the Istanbul Convention in the coming weeks. This is a matter of priority for me.
My Department has been working with other Government Departments and agencies to establish precisely the actions which would need to be taken in order to ratify and implement the Istanbul Convention. I intend to include those actions in the new National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. I expect to publish the Strategy, which will cover a multi-year period from 2015, in the coming months.
426. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide, in tabular form, the current waiting period for a civil case to be heard before the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23008/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Courts Service is responsible for the management and administration of the Courts. The scheduling of court cases and the allocation of court business is a matter for the Presidents of the courts and the presiding judge who are under the Constitution independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. The Presidents monitor waiting times across all courts lists and seek to ensure the optimum use of court time. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the primary objective for the Service is to maintain the delivery of front line court sittings and services. The Courts Service continuously works to support the judiciary and assist in ensuring that cases are dealt with as effectively and as speedily as possible. Available resources and operational and organisational structures are kept under ongoing review to ensure that resources are targeted and focussed on keeping waiting times in the provision of services to a minimum. However, delays in the hearing of cases can occur for a number of reasons which can be outside the control of the courts and the Courts Service, such as the unavailability of a witness or where the parties or the legal practitioners may not be ready to proceed. The following tables set out the waiting times for civil cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
|
High Court |
Waiting time |
|
Asylum |
4 months |
|
Chancery Actions |
4 months |
|
Chancery Special Summonses |
3 weeks |
|
Commercial List |
1 week to 4 months depending on duration |
|
Family Law |
4 months |
|
Garda Comp |
4 weeks |
|
Hague Luxembourg Convention |
6 weeks |
|
Jury List |
4 months |
|
Judicial Review |
4 months |
|
Non Jury (including Circuit Court appeals) |
6 months |
|
Cork Personal Injury List |
23 months |
|
Dublin Personal Injury List |
4 weeks |
|
Dundalk Personal Injuries |
5 months |
|
Galway Personal Injuries |
4 months |
|
Kilkenny / Waterford Personal Injuries |
9 months |
|
Limerick Personal Injuries |
7 months |
|
Sligo Personal Injuries |
5 months |
|
Court of Appeal |
Waiting Times |
|
New Appeals |
8 – 9 months from date of lodgement on notice to appeal to hearing |
|
Transferred Appeals |
8 -9 months from application to Direction List |
|
Supreme Court |
Waiting Times |
|
New Appeals |
See below |
|
Priority Legacy Appeals |
12 months |
|
Legacy Appeals |
54 months |
With regard to the Court of Appeal, I am informed that every new appeal appears in a Directions List usually within 4 weeks, for appeals categorised under the provisions of Order 86A Rule 7 of the Rules of the Superior Courts as expedited appeal and within 7 weeks for all other appeals. Two such Direction Lists are held each week, one for appeals categorised as expedited appeals and one for all other appeals and hearing dates are allocated for the first available date having regard to the time required for the hearing. I am informed that appeals requiring a priority hearing, for example Article 40 (habeas corpus), bail, extradition and Hague Convention cases will be accommodated at short notice and by scheduling additional sittings if necessary.
In relation to appeals transferred to the Court of Appeal from the Supreme Court, over 1,350 such cases exist and I am informed that they are managed by way of parallel listing system in the Directions List. The court has been proactive in listing over 150 transferred appeals for directions and allocating hearing dates and will in due course list further tranches of transferred cases. In the meantime any party to a transferred appeal may apply for directions by way of the procedures set out in a Practice Direction issued by the President of the Court of Appeal and any such application will be included in the weekly Directions List and a hearing date allocated usually within 8 to 9 months of the directions hearing.
The Supreme Court's list is in transition and it is managing a legacy appeal caseload together with applications under Article 64 of the Constitution (transferred appeals) and applications for leave to appeal under the new Constitutional jurisdictions. In relation to new appeals, leave to appeal has been granted in a small number of cases since the establishment of the Court of Appeal. It is proposed to deal with these cases as expeditiously as possible. In respect of priority legacy appeals and other legacy appeals, I am informed that the historic average waiting period has been 12 months and 54 months respectively but it is anticipated at this point that the legacy appeal caseload will have been disposed of by mid 2016 subject to the level of new business that is filed with the Court.
427. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the full capital cost of establishing the Civil Court of Appeal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23010/15]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service. The Act provides that the Service is independent in the performance of its functions, including the provision of courthouse facilities.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service informed me that works to accommodate the Court of Appeal involved the refurbishment of the Public Records Office building in the Four Courts complex to accommodate two courtrooms and chambers for the ten judges of the Court of Appeal. It also involved the refurbishment of accommodation in Áras Uí Dhálaigh to house the Office of the Court of Appeal and staff of the court, as well as accommodation for courts, judges and staff who had to be relocated there from the Public Records Office building. The cost of these building works to date has been €2.497 million. A small amount of works remain to be completed which are expected to be undertaken during the summer of 2015. I am informed that in relation to ICT services for the Court of Appeal, expenditure of €467,000 was incurred to date in providing ICT equipment for the courtrooms, judges and staff of the Court. This included the installation of digital audio recording in courtrooms and the provision of a new case management system.
428. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the total cost of ministerial security for each year from 2011 to 2014 and for 2015 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23011/15]
View answerThe Deputy will understand that it has been the long standing practice and policy of successive Ministers not to comment in detail on the arrangements that are put in place to seek to ensure the personal security of certain office holders. In any event, the Deputy will appreciate that a range of security costs can arise in terms of ensuring the personal security of Ministers and, in the circumstances, the overall security costs are not readily available.
429. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views that it is essential to provide certain constitutional officeholders with adequate, secure and up-to-date transport services in order to maintain their security at the required level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23012/15]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that arrangements for the maintaining of security for the persons referred to are an operational matter for An Garda Síochána and it would be contrary to established practice to comment in detail on such arrangements. I have no information to suggest that the security of such persons has been compromised in the manner referred to by the Deputy.
430. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will report on all public and private, official and unofficial, engagements and meetings with a person (details supplied) and with senior executives within the person's media companies here; and the outcome of such meetings. [23049/15]
View answerI wish to confirm that, since my appointment as Minister for Justice and Equality, I have not had any such official engagements or meetings, either public or private in nature as referred to by the Deputy.
431. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will ensure that the rights of the church and religious orders will be protected following the inclusion of the provision that marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex in Article 41 of the Constitution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23054/15]
View answerWhen the Government decided on 5 November 2013 that a referendum would be held on the question of enabling same-sex couples to marry, it reiterated its commitment that the freedom of religion of religious solemnisers would be guaranteed. The General Scheme of a Marriage Bill 2015, published on my Department's website on 9 March 2015, set out the framework for the legislation which would be proposed if the referendum on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution were passed by the people. That General Scheme made it clear that the issue of guaranteeing the freedom of religion of religious solemnisers will be addressed in that context. Specifically, Head 7 sets out firstly that the legislation will not oblige a religious body to recognise a particular form of marriage ceremony, and secondly that the legislation will not oblige a registered solemniser who is registered in the Register of Solemnisers on behalf of a religious body, to solemnise a marriage in accordance with a form of ceremony which is not recognised by that religious body.
The Marriage Bill 2015, currently at an advanced stage of drafting, will give legislative effect to that principle.
432. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014; when the Bill will be enacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23056/15]
View answerOn 27 November, I published the General Scheme of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill. The Bill will provide for new offences of purchasing, in the context of prostitution, sexual services. It also includes wide ranging provisions to enhance the protection of children and vulnerable persons from sexual abuse and exploitation. When enacted, the Bill will facilitate full compliance with the criminal law provisions of a number of EU, UN and Council of Europe legal instruments as well as implementing the recommendations of a number of Oireachtas committees.
As the Deputy will appreciate, this is a complex piece of legislation addressing a number of sensitive issues. The Bill is priority legislation and is currently being drafted, with a view to publication in this parliamentary session.
433. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to review the enforcement of the requirement for all drivers to have insurance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23066/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, I have no direct role in operational road traffic enforcement which is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. I can, however, assure the Deputy that roads policing continues to be a priority for An Garda Síochána and all aspects in respect of its enforcement are kept under review.
While members of the Garda Traffic Corps in every Garda Division are specifically tasked with the enforcement of the road traffic and road transport legislation, all members of An Garda Síochána are tasked with enforcing the provisions of all criminal law, including the relevant provisions of the Road Traffic Acts. An Garda Síochána continuously conducts awareness and education campaigns and enforcement initiatives to increase driver awareness and prevent and detect breaches of road traffic and transport legislation, thus promoting an improved compliance culture among road-users. I am advised by the Garda authorities that there is extensive enforcement of motor insurance legislation compliance with 101,731 prosecutions instigated for no insurance between 2012 to 7 April 2015.
434. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to increase the monetary limit of claims which can be brought to the Small Claims Court, in view of the fact that the €2,000 limit has remained static for almost a decade; if she is aware of the limits in the United Kingdom which were recently raised to £10,000 sterling with plans to increase them by a further 50%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23117/15]
View answerThe current maximum value of cases that can be taken under the small claims procedure of the District Court is €2,000. This limit was set in 2006 and was last reviewed in 2009 in advance of the expansion of the scheme to cater for business-to-business claims of the same nature which came into effect on 5 January 2010. I am informed that the review found that the existing limit was appropriate and should remain unchanged as an increase might result in a negative impact on the level of service provided by Small Claims Registrars throughout the country. The procedure is labour intensive but provides a satisfactory service at present.
In addition, European Small Claims Procedures, provided for under Regulation (EC) No. 861/2007, currently provide for a maximum claim limit of €2,000. Negotiations are at an advanced stage in the relevant EU Working Group to amend this Regulation and it is anticipated that the claim limit may be increased. The rules governing the procedure, including the question of increasing the limit further, will be considered further by my Department following the conclusion of the EU discussions.
435. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration has not issued a call for proposals for integration work, as it had stated was its intention (details supplied). [23120/15]
View answer442. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration will issue a call for proposals for integration work, as was committed to in February 2015 during his meeting with the Cultúr Migrants Centre; the lower and upper limits of funds to be made available; if he will indicate who may apply for funding; and the length of time the proposals will cover. [23183/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 435 and 442 together.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a call for applications for funding will be made shortly. The full details of the call, including the level of funding, have not yet been finalised but I can say that it is likely that projects will be of more than one year's duration.
