Written Answers Nos. 342 to 362
342. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to incorporate the recently introduced EU victims directive into the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41709/15]
View answerIn July 2015, the Government approved the drafting of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill which will transpose EU Directive 2012/29 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. The Bill is currently being drafted on a priority basis and it is my intention that it will be published as soon as possible.
343. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to introduce legislation to tackle sex trafficking and prostitution; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41725/15]
View answerOn 23 September, I published the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015, as approved by Government. The Bill provides for two new offences of purchasing sexual services, in the context of prostitution. The purpose of these offences is to target the demand for prostitution. The first is a general offence of paying to engage in sexual activity with a prostitute which carries a penalty of a fine of up to €500 for a first offence and fines of up to €1000 for a second or subsequent offence. The second is the more serious offence of paying for sexual activity with a trafficked person, in the context of prostitution, and carries a potential penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine. In both cases, the person selling the sexual service will not commit an offence.
These proposals have been developed following extensive consultation, initiated by my Department, dating back to 2012. The new offences also implement the recommendation of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence which called for the introduction of an offence criminalising the purchase of sexual services.
The Bill completed second stage in the Seanad on 6 October and is expected to be considered in the Houses during the current session.
I would also draw the Deputy's attention to the existing legislative provisions addressing the trafficking of persons for the purpose of exploitation (including sexual exploitation) which can attract significant penalties. Under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008, any person found guilty of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation shall be liable to imprisonment for a period up to life. It is also an offence for a person to solicit or importune a trafficked person for the purposes of prostitution with a potential penalty of imprisonment for up to 5 years.
344. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to facilitate a purpose-built laboratory for Forensic Science Ireland at Backweston in County Kildare, with particular reference to facilities in urgent need of modernisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41737/15]
View answerThe need for a new purpose-built forensic science laboratory appropriate to the State’s requirements is long-standing. Well-advanced plans for a new facility in Backweston, Co. Kildare, were cancelled by the previous Government in 2009 as a result of the financial crisis. I was happy, therefore, to secure the funding necessary to proceed with construction of a new laboratory in the recently announced capital expenditure programme, with these funds set to become available in 2019. In light of the importance of this project and the pressing need for these facilities, however, I intend to keep the projected start date under review and want to make clear that if an opportunity arises to bring forward the start date of construction at Backweston, then this opportunity will be pursued.
345. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to run a recruitment competition for the post of prison officer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41738/15]
View answerI am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that there are no immediate plans to recruit additional prison officers. However the situation will be kept under review.
346. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will respond to an issue (details supplied) regarding a deportation matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41742/15]
View answerThe notification placed on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) website www.inis.gov.ie in March of this year was aimed at clarifying and standardising the terms and conditions in respect of applications from retired foreign nationals seeking to come and live in Ireland. Prior to that more ad hoc arrangements were applied in this area.
Persons who were granted permission prior to the changes however are not affected and their permissions can be renewed on the same terms as before provided they continue to comply with the terms of their permission and remain law abiding.
The immigration stamp has been changed from Stamp 3 to stamp 0 for new cases which is a low level permission not intended to be reckonable for naturalisation or long term residence. This is consistent with the permission granted to the elderly dependent relatives of Irish citizens or others already entitled to live here. The key financial consideration in respect of a retiree is that the person must have sufficient and sustainable resources to ensure that they will not now or in the future become a burden on the State. In the case of retirees this was set at an income of €50,000 per person. They were also expected to have a lump sum sufficient to cater for unforeseen circumstances and sufficient otherwise to purchase some form of dwelling.
I have however, asked my officials to carry out a review of policy in this area, having regard to the situation in comparable jurisdictions and in particular the opportunities open to Irish retirees seeking residence overseas.
347. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of an application for naturalisation by persons (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41769/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the application for a certificate of naturalisation from the first named person referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of processing and the case will be submitted to me for decision shortly. The second named person had her application granted and was presented with a Certificate of Naturalisation at a citizenship ceremony held on 17 July 2015.
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.
348. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a clear and unambiguous deadline for ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities beyond the general outline in the roadmap to ratification of the convention she has provided. [41789/15]
View answerThe Roadmap to Ratification sets out the substantial legislative agenda required for ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The deadline of end-2016 for completion of the legislative agenda, as set out in the Roadmap to Ratification, is clear and unambiguous.
As previously indicated, Minister Fitzgerald and I approved the drafting of an omnibus Bill to progress miscellaneous legislative amendments necessary to proceed to ratification. Work on the General Scheme of the Equality/Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is underway with a view to submission to Government very soon.
349. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the nature of the reservation to Article 27(a) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities; the legal arguments that led to that decision. [41790/15]
View answerArticle 27(1) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits:
"...discrimination on the basis of disability with regard to all matters concerning all forms of employment, including conditions of recruitment, hiring and employment, continuance of employment, career advancement and safe and healthy working conditions;”.
Article 27 of the Convention is not consistent with Article 3(4) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000, the EU Framework Employment Directive, which provides that:
“Member States may provide that this Directive, in so far as it relates to discrimination on the grounds of disability and age, shall not apply to the armed forces.”
Having regard to the specific nature of the occupations in question, section 37(6) of the Employment Equality Act, as amended, provides:
“In relation to discrimination on the age ground or the disability ground, nothing in this Part or Part II applies to employment—
(a) in the Defence Forces,
(b) in the Garda Síochána, or
(c) in the prison service.
Other EU Member States have entered reservations to Article 27(1) of the Convention. The United Kingdom asserts that the prohibition shall not apply to the admission into or service in any of its naval, military or armed forces. Slovakia’s reservation, along with the armed services, also includes armed security forces, armed corps, the National Security Office, the Slovak Information Service and the Fire and Rescue Corps. In their reservations, Greece and Cyprus cite Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000. The EU, which ratified the CRPD on 23 December 2010, entered a reservation to Article 27(1), stating that pursuant to Council Directive 2000/78/EC, Member States may enter their own reservations to the extent that the Council Directive provides them with the right to exclude non-discrimination on the grounds of disability with respect to employment in the armed forces from the scope of the Directive.
It is therefore proposed that Ireland follow suit and enter a reservation to Article 27(1) in relation to employment in the Defence Forces, in An Garda Síochána, and in the prison service, as provided in section 37(6) of the Employment Equality Act.
350. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners sentenced to a custodial term who were collected and transported to jail by members of An Garda Síochána and who were then processed, given a train or bus ticket and released on the same day due to overcrowding in each of the years 2013 to 2015 to date; the number of gardaí who engage in such activities on a daily basis, thereby taking them off the streets they are employed to protect; the cost to the State if this situation is permitted to continue; if judges are aware, when passing sentence, that there is no room to facilitate convicts; if a strong system of monitored community service should be implemented where sentences of three months or less have been handed down in order to alleviate the strain on the prison system and the needless waste of taxpayers' money; the system in place to either accommodate these prisoners or to facilitate their rehabilitation and the completion of their sentence elsewhere; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41792/15]
View answerStatistics are not maintained in the format sought by the Deputy.
Significant decreases in prison numbers have taken place in recent years. The overall daily average number in custody for 2014 was 3,915 compared to 4,390 in 2011, a decrease of 10.8%. The Deputy may wish to note that the number in custody reached a peak of 4,621 on 23rd February 2011. On the 23rd November 2015, there were 921 less prisoners in custody, a decrease of 20%. I can also advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service publish the capacity of its prisons and the numbers in custody on a daily basis on their website (www.irishprisons.ie).
I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it is continuing to reduce the capacity of our prisons to align with the Inspector of Prisons recommended bed capacity of 3,977 in so far as this is compatible with public safety and the integrity of the criminal justice system. On 23rd November 2015 there were 3,700 prisoners in custody which is 93% of the Inspector's recommended total capacity of 3,977.
Huge improvements have been made to prison conditions in recent years. Overcrowding has been eliminated in Mountjoy Prison and priority has been given to addressing capacity issues in Cork, Limerick and the Dóchas Centre. A completely new replacement prison in Cork is almost complete and will be operational by early 2016. The enabling works for a major redevelopment of Limerick Prison are also scheduled to begin in 2016 with the main construction phase to start in early 2017. Significant building and refurbishment projects are also scheduled for 2016 in Castlerea Prison.
The Programme for Government outlines the commitment of this Government to finding alternatives to custody as a means of reducing overcrowding. We continue to ensure that violent offenders and other serious offenders serve appropriate prison sentences while at the same time switching away from prison sentences and towards less costly non-custodial options for non-violent and less serious offenders.
Alternatives to custody continue to be pursued and legislation has already been passed. This includes the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 which requires the sentencing judge to consider the imposition of community service where a custodial sentence of 12 months or less is being considered.
In conjunction with the Probation Service, the Irish Prison Service has continued the national roll out of the Community Return Programme, an incentivised scheme for earned temporary release under which carefully selected offenders can be granted structured temporary release in return for supervised community service. In addition to this programme, Community Support Schemes have been set up in Cork Prison, Mountjoy Campus, West Dublin Campus and Limerick Prisons, the aim of which is to reduce recidivism rates by arranging for additional support structures and provide for a more structured form of temporary release.
The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 provides that the Court imposing a fine shall take into account a person's financial circumstances. It further provides, inter alia, that where a person fails to pay a fine by the due date, the Court may make an attachment order to earnings as a means of recovering the unpaid fine. As a result of this legislation, it is expected that we will see a reduction in the number of committals to prisons on short sentences.
351. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda Síochána compensation claims from gardaí either previously or at present stationed in County Kilkenny or residing there, which have been under assessment by her Department for at least 24 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41796/15]
View answer352. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda Síochána compensation claims that are under assessment within her Department from gardaí either previously or at present stationed, or residing, in County Kilkenny, which have been with her Department for at least 12 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41797/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 351 and 352 together.
The Garda Compensation Acts 1941 and 1945 provide for compensation for malicious injury or death inflicted upon members of An Garda Síochána, while they are on duty or related to their service as such members.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide the Deputy with the breakdown of claims as requested above. Computerised records are not maintained in a manner that facilitates a breakdown by the county or the year in which each application was received and such information could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources.
My Department is currently reviewing the Garda compensation caseload with the intention to reduce the processing time involved in assessing cases and to collate and publish statistics relating to the compensation process on the Department's website.
353. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs whether the change to the rules for child care facilities, with unqualified staff not being considered part of the staff ratio, will mean that child care facilities currently employing staff through community employment, CE, schemes will now have to recruit staff from outside CE, making this a CE-free zone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41191/15]
View answerSome community childcare services are dependent on Community Employment (CE) participants to make up the numbers to satisfy the adult/child ratios set out in the Pre-School Regulations. There is currently no minimum qualification standards for staff working in the childcare sector. However, this will change next year with new minimum qualification standards being introduced as part of the Early Years Quality Agenda which is being progressed by this Department.
I am aware of the difficulties that the new qualification requirements could create for those community services that are employing CE workers. I have asked my officials to consider this issue in the context of finalising the revised Child Care Regulations.
354. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the cost of increasing the foster care allowance to €335 per week per child up to 12 years of age; of increasing the allowance to €372 per week per child over 12 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41381/15]
View answerThe Foster Care Allowance is currently €325 per week per child under 12 and €352 per week per child of 12 and over. It is provided in order to allow foster carers to meet all of the child's daily living needs including food, clothing, basic travel, education costs and hobbies and sporting activities. There is no intention to increase the rate of the Foster Care Allowance at this time.
I have asked the Child and Family Agency to respond directly to the Deputy in relation to the cost of increasing the Foster Care Allowance to €335 per week per child under 12 and to €372 per week per child over 12.
355. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the sections of the Act establishing Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, that have not yet been commenced; the reason why; when these sections will be commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41462/15]
View answerAll provisions of the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 were commenced with effect from 1 January 2014. The relevant Statutory Instrument is the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 (Commencement) Order 2013 (S.I. 502/2013).
356. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will address a matter (details supplied) in County Kerry regarding the free preschool year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41518/15]
View answerIn Budget 2016 it was announced that, from September 2016, children will be eligible to start free pre-school when they turn age 3, and can continue in free pre-school until they start primary school (once the child is not older than 5½ years at the end of the relevant pre-school year i.e. end June).
This extension of free pre-school will increase the number of children benefitting from free pre-school from about 67,000 per annum, to 127,000 in a given programme year. Accommodating this increase requires a significant increase in capacity in the pre-school sector; pre-school services need time to consider and implement any needed infrastructural or service changes, and to put in place extra staff resources. The September 2016 implementation date was set to allow pre-school providers to put such measures in place.
It is appreciated that this does mean that a small cohort of children, including those mentioned by the Deputy, while continuing to avail of the 38 week entitlement to free pre-school currently provided under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, will not benefit from additional free pre-school provided under this new budgetary measure. However, should an earlier start date have been chosen, the likelihood is that there would not have been sufficient capacity in the sector to accommodate all children.
However, you will appreciate that this extended provision, when introduced, will ensure that, from the age of three, all children in Ireland will be able to access free education, either in pre-school or in primary school. This is a significant step forward for children and families.
357. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why inspection reports from Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, on privately-run residential services for children are not yet available on its website; if there are any legal or other barriers to doing so immediately; the details of these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41527/15]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, inspects and registers children’s residential centres run by the private and voluntary sectors. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) inspects Tusla child welfare and protection services under the Health Act 2007, and children’s residential care centres and foster care services under the Child Care Act, 1991. All inspections are undertaken against the National Standards developed by the Department of Health prior to HIQA’s establishment.
Since 30 September, 2015 Tusla publishes its inspection reports on private & voluntary children residential centres on its website, www.tusla.ie. To date, 13 inspection reports conducted in 2015 have been published, which can be found at the following address: http://www.tusla.ie/services/alternative-care/registration-and-inspection-service/inspection-reports.
358. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the first-year and full-year cost of increasing the capitation grant for the free preschool year by €5 per week, bringing it to €67.50 per child, and by €9.50 for the higher capitation grant, bringing it to €82.50 per child. [41786/15]
View answerAt present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year.
The recent Budget decisions, which introduced an extended provision under the ECCE programme that allows children to access the free pre-school programme from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, come into effect from September 2016. This extended provision, when fully rolled out, will mean that children will have access to free education - either in pre-school or primary school - from the age of three.
The start up date for the introduction of this new measure was decided so as to allow pre-school providers an adequate timeframe to make any necessary infrastructural or service changes and to put in place extra staff resources to accommodate the additional numbers benefitting from the programme, which is estimated to increase from 67,000 to 127,000 in a given programme year. The extension to this programme will cost an additional €47 million in 2016. The full year additional costs of this extended programme will be in the region of €114 million. These costs already include a restoration of capitation fees to pre-2012 levels with effect from September 2016 (i.e. €64.50 basic capitation fee and €75 higher capitation fee per child per week).
Increasing the basic and higher capitation fees further to €67.50 and €82.50 per child per week respectively is estimated to cost an additional €6 million in 2016 and €20 million in 2017. These estimates assume 33 per cent of children are attending higher capitation services (as is currently the case).
359. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views on the case of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick regarding the early childhood care and education programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41805/15]
View answerThe Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is implemented by my Department and provides free pre-school for children before they commence primary school.
Parents of a child with special needs can make an application to my Department for an exemption which will allow the child to access the ECCE programme over a two year period. My Department has not received any application for an exemption in respect of this child and I understand that officials in my Department have contacted the pre-school provider who will make the parents aware of the application procedures in this matter.
360. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs why grant funding for counselling at a school (details supplied) in Dublin 13 has been cut by 50% since 2010; if he will support this adult education group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41833/15]
View answerI have requested information from the Child and Family Agency and I will forward the reply to the Deputy once I have been furnished with this information.
361. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Health the number of speech and language therapists employed to work specifically in special schools; the approximate cost of employing these speech and language therapists. [41553/15]
View answerThe Government is committed to the provision and development of services for children with special needs, including early intervention services, and to improving access by these children to therapy services insofar as possible within available resources. Health related therapy supports and interventions for children, such as speech and language therapy, can be accessed through both the HSE’s primary care services and its disability services, depending on the level of need. Significant additional resources have been invested in recent years in the State’s primary care and disability services with a view to enhancing therapy service provision.
Additional funding of €20m was allocated in 2013 to strengthen primary care services and to support the recruitment of prioritised front-line posts, including over 260 additional posts for Primary Care Teams. In addition, the HSE has introduced a number of initiatives specifically in relation to speech and language therapy services that are aimed at improving access to these services, such as therapists increasing clinic based work and providing family centred interventions in a group, as opposed to a one-to-one setting, whenever possible.
The HSE is also currently engaged in a major reconfiguration of its existing therapy resources for children with disabilities into multi-disciplinary geographically based teams, as part of its National Programme on Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18 years). The key objective of this Programme is to bring about equity of access to disability services and consistency of service delivery, with a clear pathway for children with disabilities and their families to services, regardless of where they live, what school they go to or the nature of the individual child’s difficulties. An additional €4m was allocated in 2014 to assist in implementing the Progressing Disability Services Programme, equating to approximately 80 additional therapy posts. Further investment of €4 million (equating to €6 million in a full year) has been provided this year to support its ongoing implementation.
Improving access to therapy services for children in primary care and in disability services is a particular priority for the Government. Within this context, funding is being provided in 2016 to expand the provision of speech and language therapy through primary care services and to support the reorganisation and expansion of speech and language and other therapies under the Progressing Disability Services Programme. Full implementation of the Progressing Disability Services Programme is expected before the end of 2016.
I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy in respect of the specific operational matters he has raised. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
362. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health the legislative measures that will be introduced to enable prosecutions for the sale and possession of psychoactive substances such as Clockwork Orange; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41568/15]
View answer363. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health if he will update the Misuse of Drugs Acts as a matter of urgency, following a revelation on a recent Prime Time programme on Raidió Teilifís Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41646/15]
View answer405. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health his proposals to have some psychoactive substances such as Clockwork Orange classified as controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41551/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 362, 363 and 405 together.
Following a Court of Appeal decision on 10 March which declared unconstitutional the section of the Misuse of Drugs Act empowering the Government to declare substances to be controlled under the Act, the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015 was urgently enacted to recontrol all substances which had previously been declared controlled by Government order. These included ecstasy and a large number of new psychoactive substances.
A Bill to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act to restore the Government's power to declare substances to be controlled and to clarify the provisions under which Ministerial orders and regulations are made is currently being drafted and is listed in the Government Legislative Programme for publication in 2016. Once enacted, the Government may declare new substances controlled under the Act, including new psychoactive substances such as Clockwork Orange, thereby making unauthorised possession or supply of such substances an offence.
