Written Answers Nos. 464-476
464. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the Yazidi community of northern Iraq is included in her plans to accept refugees agreed with the European Union; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46521/15]
View answerThe Government has committed to accepting up to 4,000 persons overall under the EU Resettlement and EU Relocation programmes.
The focus of the Irish refugee resettlement programme in recent years has been on the resettlement of refugees displaced by the Syrian conflict who are living in one of the hosting countries in the region, for example those living in Lebanon or Jordan. NGOs working in co-operation with the UNHCR at a local level identify the most vulnerable persons for resettlement, regardless of their race, religion, nationality or ethnicity. These cases are then proposed to Ireland by UNHCR. Ireland accepted both Syrian and Iraqi refugees proposed to Ireland by UNHCR in 2015 and will do so again in 2016. It should be noted that those eligible for resettlement under this resettlement programme will have left their countries of origin.
The focus of the EU Relocation Programme is on the relocation from Italy and Greece to other EU member states of migrants who are in clear need of international protection.
465. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the Garda superintendent, based in Thomastown, County Kilkenny has now been transferred elsewhere; the plans for a replacement to be allocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46527/15]
View answerThe Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keeps this distribution under continuing review taking into account 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 she recently announced a promotion competition for the selection of officers for appointment to the rank of Superintendent and that the filling of the Superintendent vacancy in Thomastown will be considered in the overall context of the efficient use of resources. In the meantime, an Inspector in the District has been appointed in an acting-up capacity to Superintendent and can carry out all necessary statutory functions.
466. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of men 18 to 20, 21 to 25 and 25 plus years of age in prison who were placed under a restricted regime for punishment purposes during each of the months November 2013 to November 2015. [46533/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Prison Service that the number of prisoners who had their regime restricted for discipline reasons from November 2013 - November 2015 was 22. The breakdown by age profile is set out in the table beneath.
As the Deputy may be aware the restriction of a prisoner's regime can occur due to a number of factors but is mainly used for the protection of vulnerable prisoners (Rule 63 of the Prison Rules 2007) and to a lesser extent for the maintenance of good order in the prison (Rule 62). There are also occasions when a prisoner may have their regime restricted for a short duration of time for operational or medical reasons(Rule 64). In addition, a small number of prisoners would, on occasion, have their regime restricted for discipline reasons (Rule 66/ Rule 67). A quarterly breakdown of prisoners on restricted regime is published on the Irish Prison Service Website
(www.irishprisons.ie)
Table 1. Breakdown of Age Groups
|
Age Group |
Total |
|
18 - 20 Years Old |
2 |
|
21 - 25 Years Old |
9 |
|
26 Years + |
11 |
|
Total |
22 |
The sanctions for a breach of prison discipline are set out in Section 13 (1) of the Prisons Act 2007. Section 13 (1)c sets out that a prisoner who is found by the prison Governor to have committed a breach of prison discipline may be confined in a cell (other than a special observations cell) for a period not exceeding 3 days.
The imposition of a sanction is taken following a disciplinary hearing held by the Governor under Rule 67 of the Prison Rules 2007.
467. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of a visa application appeal by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46561/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the visa appeal was refused on 21 December 2015 and the refusal letter was issued to the applicant at the postal address provided on the visa application form.
Queries in relation to general immigration matters may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established 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.
In addition, applicants may themselves e-mail queries directly to INIS (visamail@justice.ie).
468. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality to deal with a matter (details supplied) regarding legal fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46621/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will know, Government Ministers do not set the legal professional fees paid by private clients to legal practitioners. However, as the Deputy will also be aware, the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, which was signed into law on 30th December 2015, 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 disclose the costs that are involved, or, where this is not known, 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 Act 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 Act 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 will also have the option of applying for the adjudication of disputed legal costs by the reformed and modernised Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators, which is currently known as the Taxing-Masters' Office. The Act 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 shall be taken into account in the adjudication of disputed legal costs. The Act also provides for the establishment of a publicly accessible Register of Determinations which will disclose the outcomes and reasons for decisions made by the Legal Costs Adjudicators.
The Act, as part of a new independent public complaints regime to be run by the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority, will also introduce a system for processing complaints about excessive costs, which will be the subject firstly of informal resolution attempts, but will then escalate to formal resolution where alternative dispute resolution means do not succeed. This will be the first time that complaints about all legal practitioners will be dealt with by an independent statutory public authority.
In addition, the Act sets out a clear path to new Legal Partnerships business models involving barrister/barrister partnerships and barrister/solicitor partnerships, which will allow for such partnerships to open for business in competition with the more traditional lawyer structures. The new Legal Services Regulatory Authority will be tasked with carrying out public consultations and reporting to me as Minister with further legislative recommendations over its first four years in areas such as removing existing client money and direct access restrictions relating to barristers; examining entry and training requirements for the legal profession; unification of the two legal professions and the opening of the market to multi-disciplinary practices.
Overall, the Act 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. 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. I might add also that both the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Consumers Association will have statutory nominees on the new 11 member Legal Services Regulatory Authority.
The legal costs provisions of the Act are expected to be commenced in the coming weeks, with the complaints-handling and business models provisions following in the coming months when the Authority is fully established.
469. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will support a matter regarding the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46637/15]
View answerThe particular case to which the Deputy refers is amongst those considered under the mechanism established for the independent review of certain allegations of Garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations, which have been made to me as Minister for Justice and Equality, or the Taoiseach with a view to determining to what extent and in what manner further action may be required in each case. A panel consisting of two senior and five junior counsel was established for that purpose.
The Panel has provided recommendations to me in all 320 cases submitted to it and has therefore largely concluded its work. The issuing of notification letters to complainants commenced on 29 June. To date, 307 complainants have been notified of the outcome of the review of their cases. Letters will continue to issue to all complainants, until the process is completed which I expect will be very shortly as we are nearing the end of the process. The outcome of the review in this case issued last month.
470. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a carer’s allowance and a domiciliary carer’s allowance will be taken into consideration for the purpose of calculating a sponsor’s income for an application for a visa pursuant to the policy document on non-European economic area family reunification. [46641/15]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 373 of 17 December, 2015 setting out the position.
Reply to Parliamentary Question No. 373 of 17 December, 2015
I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the position on such applications is set out in the Policy Document on Non-EEA Family Reunification published by my predecessor on 31 December 2013.
In general, the sponsor must be in a position to support family members wishing to reside in Ireland without undue reliance on benefits from the Irish State. Minimum levels of earnings have been established for eligibility as a sponsor. These levels have been established at a cumulative gross total of €40,000 over a three year period where the sponsor is an Irish citizen. Where the sponsor is an non-EEA citizen the level is set at the minimum salary for which an employment permit would issue, i.e. €30,000 per annum. This income level must have been achieved in each of the two years prior to the application. Social welfare payments are not reckonable as earnings for this purpose.
The State cannot be regarded as having an obligation to subsidise family members if they are to be permitted to come to Ireland. A person who is unable to support her/himself cannot expect the State to assume the necessary financial obligations on his/her behalf.
Declared and verified savings by the applicant may be taken into account in assessing cases which fall short of the income threshold.
The financial capacity is just one of the conditions that is considered when making a determination on a family reunification application and the circumstances of the parties concerned are considered in the round on a case by case basis.
471. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the free legal aid budget by civil cases, by criminal cases, by the number of persons availing of it, including details of those who have availed of it more than once, twice, three and four times for the six years to 31 December 2015 in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46657/15]
View answerUnder the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. An applicant for legal aid must establish to the satisfaction of the court that their means are insufficient to enable them to pay for legal aid themselves. The 1962 Act specifies that the court must also be satisfied that, by reason of the "gravity of the charge" or "exceptional circumstances", it is essential in the interests of justice that the applicant should have legal aid. Criminal prosecutions originate in the District Court and if so satisfied, the Judge will grant a criminal legal aid certificate.
Expenditure on criminal legal aid for each of the past six years is set out in Table 1 below along with data provided by the Courts Service regarding the number of legal aid certificates granted in the District Court. It should be noted the number of certificates does not equate to the number of persons granted criminal legal aid as more than one certificate may be granted to any one person. The number of legal aid certificates granted by the District Court in December 2015 is not yet available.
Table 1
|
Year |
Number of Certificates Granted |
Expenditure |
|
2010 |
55,412 |
€56.544m |
|
2011 |
54,092 |
€56.116m |
|
2012 |
49,639 |
€50.534m |
|
2013 |
49,843 |
€50.863m |
|
2014 |
51,128 |
€49.890m |
|
2015 |
49,836 (to end November) |
€50.879m (to end December) |
An applicant's previous convictions are not a criterion for the granting of criminal legal aid under the Act and consequently the information sought by the Deputy in respect of the number of persons who received criminal legal aid several times is not available. Records are not kept in such a manner to allow for information showing the number of times a person has been granted criminal legal aid to be extracted.
Civil legal aid is provided by the Legal Aid Board which is independent in the exercise of its functions, in accordance with Section 3 (3) of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1994.
The number of applicants for each of the past six years is set out in Table 2 below. I am informed by the Board that it is not possible to disaggregate information relating to the number of times a person has been granted a civil legal aid certificate.
Table 2
|
Year |
Number of Applicants |
Budget |
|
2010 |
18,623 |
€32.192m |
|
2011 |
19,636 |
€30.370m |
|
2012 |
17,595 |
€32.922m |
|
2013 |
17,559 |
€33.759m |
|
2014 |
16,433 |
€32.574m |
|
2015 |
16,793 |
€32.471m |
472. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the names of the persons she has nominated to serve in positions carrying remuneration, other than out-of-pocket expenses, on commissions, industrial, assurance, semi-State or other similar concerns; the amounts received annually in respect of each appointment; the name of the concern to which the appointment was made during the years 2011 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46669/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that I have nominated two persons to serve in positions carrying remuneration, other than out of pocket expenses, on commissions, industrial, assurance, semi-State or other similar concerns. Details regarding these appointments are set out below.
On 15 August 2014, I appointed Ms. Mary Rose Gearty, SC, as the sole member of the MacLochlainn Commission of Investigation on a salary equivalent to that of a High Court judge.
On 9 June, 2015, I appointed retired High Court Judge Roderick Murphy to oversee the preparation of notification letters to complainants in the Independent Review Mechanism. Mr Justice Roderick Murphy is paid on a per diem basis for this role.
473. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the transfer of a prisoner (details supplied); why this prisoner's request to transfer to Portlaoise prison has not been addressed for more than a year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46677/15]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Prison Service that an application for repatriation, from the person referred to, has been received and is being dealt with accordingly. It is not possible to provide a precise time-line in respect of individual applications, due to the number of parties involved in the process.
The individual will be kept informed directly of any developments in his case as they arise.
The Deputy should be aware, that the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons does not confer an automatic right for any prisoner to be transferred nor does it confer an obligation on any State to comply with a transfer request. In addition the consent of the three parties in the process is required prior to any transfer, i.e. the sentencing state, the receiving state and the sentenced person.
474. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality to expedite an application for naturalisation by a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46678/15]
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 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 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.
475. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons of Iraqi origin or claiming to be of Iraqi origin who were refused leave to land at various points of entry; the reason in each case, by age, by gender, by country to which they were returned, in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46682/15]
View answer486. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the details of those persons refused leave to land in 2015 from Syria, Eritrea, Iran, and Afghanistan, and as outlined by her in response to previous parliamentary questions raised, how many of the persons were subsequently permitted to enter the State and to claim asylum. [46842/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 475 and 486 together.
In my response to my reply to Parliamentary questions 311 to 314 of 15th December last, I outlined details of the numbers refused leave to land from Syria, Eritrea, Iran and Afghanistan. Of these a total of 52 made applications for asylum and were permitted entry to the State for the purposes of making a protection application. In respect of Iraq, a total of 30 persons were refused leave to land in 2015.
As outlined in my previous reply, the further breakdown of data requested by the Deputy is not readily available and would require the search and retrieval of individual records that could only be obtained by the disproportionate expenditure of time and resources relative to the information sought. Also as noted in my reply, these figures may be subject to revision over time where individual cases are examined further and the status of some cases may change.
476. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality to support Article 14(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the asylum issue (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46690/15]
View answerArticle 14(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.' The question is raised in the context of the family reunification provisions included in the International Protection Bill 2015. These provisions were the subject of debate in the course of the passage of this legislation through the Oireachtas. The Bill was also considered by the Council of State which was convened by the President to advise on the constitutionality of elements of this legislation. The Deputy will be aware that the President signed the International Protection Bill into law on 30 December, 2015.
