Written Answers Nos. 1-20
12. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice if her Department will undertake a comprehensive review of economic crime, financial fraud and scamming given the increased prevalence of economic crime arising online and through digital technology and its growing threat to consumers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46289/22]
View answerThe continued increase in incidents of fraud is concerning. As highlighted in the most recent CSO crime statistics, most of the fraudulent activity recorded relates to attempts to obtain people’s personal or banking information.
Every person in Ireland deserves to feel safe and to be safe when they conduct their personal business online or over the phone, and so the practice of trying to trick people out of their personal information or hard-earned money is truly disgusting and will not be tolerated.I urge anyone conducting sensitive or personal business online or over the phone to be very cautious when providing personal or banking information. Many of the financial institutions have excellent advice for customers on how to be safe online, as does the Citizens’ Information website.
The Deputy may be aware that October is European Cyber Security Month so I very much welcome the opportunity to further highlight this issue. This initiative aims to raise awareness of cybersecurity threats and to promote cybersecurity awareness and prevention, as this is by far the most effective way to combat this crime which often preys on the vulnerable.
Combatting and preventing fraud and related cybercrime falls under the remit of several Departments and agencies. I can assure the Deputy that there is close cooperation across the whole of Government on this issue and earlier this month I launched the awareness campaign in conjunction with my colleague Ossian Smyth, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and An Garda Síochána.
This year’s campaign focuses on the twin themes of phishing and ransomware, urging vigilance and outlining their potential impacts on the everyday lives of Irish citizens and businesses. The campaign is being jointly promoted by the NCSC and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB).
Over the course of Cyber Security Month, which runs throughout October, the NCSC has been raising awareness on phishing and ransomware across online and traditional channels. This is taking place alongside work by the GNCCB; both bodies are engaging with target audiences — for example the elderly and SME businesses — to highlight the risks involved and the steps that can be taken against both phishing and ransomware attacks.
Phishing emails, used by attackers to lure people into disclosing personal details or clicking on malicious links, are used by cyber-criminals to gain unauthorised access to a computer or network. Hackers continue to design smarter and more sophisticated phishing emails, in the hope of gaining people’s trust and pressuring them into acting without thinking.
Throughout October a key focus will be on informing the public, in particular the elderly, on how to avoid becoming a victim of email phishing, how to spot the tell-tale signs of these types of emails and what to do if a person has fallen victim to an e-mail phishing attack.
I can assure the Deputy that these crimes are not taken lightly by this Government, or by Gardaí, and I reiterate our commitment to tackling this form of crime, which particularly targets the vulnerable.
If anyone suspects that they have been the victim of a cyber crime or fraud, I would encourage them to contact Gardaí to report this at the earliest possible time. I assure people that members of An Garda Síochána will be best placed to advise them.
13. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the number of Garda youth diversion projects in Cork city and county; if there are plans over the coming months to extend the service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52187/22]
View answerBoth myself and Minister McEntee are very aware that youth crime, including anti-social behaviour, can have a major impact on our communities, and poses significant challenges for An Garda Síochána, as well as other Justice agencies.
The factors which underlie youth crime have significant implications across a range of areas of policy and service provisions, including Child and Family Services, Health, Education and local authority functions.
Diverting young people away from crime requires a whole of Government response, and is at the heart of the Youth Justice Strategy that I launched in April last year.
I was pleased to secure an additional allocation of €6.7m in Budget 2022 and a further €2.5m in 2023, bringing the total available Youth Justice services budget to almost €24m. The 2023 allocation will allow for continued good work in this field, backed by evidence based policy and practice. It will also ensure the delivery of key objectives in the Youth Justice Strategy.
A top priority is the expansion and deepening of the services offered to young people by the Youth Diversion Projects, which are fully funded by my Department. These projects provide an invaluable support to complement the work of An Garda Síochána in addressing youth crime and protect local communities.
I can inform the Deputy that there are currently 13 Youth Diversion Projects (YDPs) operating in Co. Cork, and they have received a total funding allocation of over €2 million for this year. All of Cork North Garda Division is covered by three projects based in Cobh, Mallow and Youghal. A mobile service with dedicated staff covers the remainder of the Division.
Cork City Division has 8 projects, which take referrals from the entire Cork City Division. In the Cork West Division, a project covers both Bandon and Kinsale towns and their immediate hinterland.
A public call for proposals to expand YDP coverage in Cork and a number of other areas in the State will issue from my Department in the coming months. Youth services and other community organisations will be able to participate in this process. Successful applicants will need to be registered charities, among other governance requirements.
This level of funding will enable us to achieve national coverage for youth diversion projects, so that they are available in every part of the country, to every young person who might benefit from their services.
It will also allow for more targeted work, where it is needed, for children who have proven hardest to reach to date. Funding of community-based organisations, to give special support to parents and families, including children under the age of twelve is a critical element of the necessary support.
14. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Justice if he will provide an update on the legal aid review being undertaken. [51504/22]
View answerAs committed to in my Justice Plan 2022, I recently announced a comprehensive review of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme, for the first time in its more than 40-year history. The scheme provides legal aid and advice to people of limited means in civil disputes including in family law.
The Review Group is being chaired by a former Chief Justice, with expert membership drawn from those who work with marginalised groups, legal practitioners, academics, Department officials and representatives from the Legal Aid Board, which administers the statutory scheme.
I understand the Review Group held its first meeting on 22 June 2022, and its work is now ongoing.
As the Deputy is aware, since its establishment, the Civil Legal Aid Scheme has been a hugely significant and beneficial resource for many people. However, within those 40 years, Irish society has changed, and the demands of the Scheme have grown. In order to provide maximum benefit to those it was established to serve, within the finite resources available to fund legal aid, a robust, comprehensive review of the Scheme is now timely.
This review will allow for an assessment of how flexible and responsive the scheme is to the needs of those it is intended to serve. The Review Group will make recommendations for its future, including in relation to eligibility. This work is expected to take 12 months. The Review Group will report periodically to me on progress before submitting its final report once its work is completed.
As part of the review process, it is intended that there will be significant consultation, including a public consultation, to ensure that the insights of a range of stakeholders regarding the operation of the Scheme – and how best to support those of limited means with legal needs – will inform the work of the Review Group. Capturing the views of those with unmet legal needs will be an important part of the Group’s consultation and engagement. I would encourage as many people as possible to participate and have their say on this important matter once the consultation opens.
Ultimately the review should map out a future for the Civil Legal Aid Scheme, one which will provide for a flexible service that has, as far as possible, the capacity and resources to respond to the priority legal assistance needs of those of insufficient means.
16. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons facilitated in relocating to this country under the Afghan Admission Programme; the number of persons who have been accepted but are yet to be relocated; the number of persons refused participation in the programme; and the reason for the refusals. [36289/22]
View answerIn response to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, my Department remains focused on processing applications for family reunification made under all admission avenues, including the Afghan Admissions Programme for family members of Afghan nationals living in Ireland.
The Afghan Admissions Programme is an additional avenue open to the relatively small number of Afghan nationals living here to bring close family members to live here with them. There are of course a number of other options already in place through existing immigration programmes that have also been availed of by members of the Afghan community in Ireland since the beginning of August 2021 to 19 October 2022, a total of 140 join family visas have been approved for Afghan nationals and 94 family reunification applications have been approved and we continue to also process these applications sympathetically.
I can inform the Deputy that my Department has received 528 applications to the Afghan Admission Programme and while no application has yet been approved under this Programme, a significant number of Afghan people have also been allocated places under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which is under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. My Department provides the visas to facilitate their travel to Ireland and almost 600 visa waiver letters have been issued to date.
I understand that this is a difficult situation for our Afghan community and their loved ones. I would also like to assure the Afghan community that applications under this Programme continue to be assessed in a pragmatic and humanitarian manner with a view to issuing decisions as soon as possible.
Considerable information was provided by my Department to assist proposers in Ireland filling out the application form for their family members. This included a detailed guidance document published in conjunction with the application form on 16 December 2021 and a Frequently Asked Questions document, drafted in light of queries received and published on 31 December 2021.
The guidance document also included a detailed checklist to assist proposers in ensuring that all of the requested information was provided.
The original closing date for the Programme was extended in consultation with civil society groups to allow proposers time to gather the required information and my Department continues to engage with these groups.
The information required to apply was to ensure that the Programme benefitted its intended beneficiaries, and that my Department was satisfied as to the identities of both the proposers and their family members coming to Ireland.
Where applicants are missing important information, such as proof of identity and familial relationships, my Department is contacting applicants directly to try to gather the required documents. This will help to ensure as many people as possible can avail of this important programme.
17. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice her plans to tackle anti-social behaviour in Irish cities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52459/22]
View answerI would like to say at the outset that this Government is aware of the damaging affect anti-social behaviour can have on a community and as such remains very committed to tackling it. Some of the incidents we have seen recently are totally unacceptable and I am committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána have the resources to ensure people and communities are safe and feel safe.
I can inform the Deputy that there are a number of measures are currently in place to tackle anti-social behaviour both in cities and in rural areas. The Expert Anti-Social Behaviour Forum, which is chaired by Minister of State Brown, was set up to examine the broad range of issues which lead to anti-social behaviour, and to develop measures to counteract its negative impact on life in a community.
Within this forum, two subgroups were set up to counteract knife crime and the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes. Arising from the work of the subgroup on the misuse of scramblers and quadbikes, funding of almost €200,000 is being provided to eight community-based projects to work with young people involved in the anti-social use of scramblers and quad bikes and related crime.
The government is rolling out a number of policy and legislative initiates which will reduce the level of anti-social behaviour. These include:
- Providing the Gardaí with new powers to seize and stop the illegal use of scrambler bikes
- Introducing legislation to provide for body worn cameras for Gardaí and community CCTV schemes
- Rolling out the Community Safety Innovation fund to drive the development of community safety projects at a local level
- Examining the use of anti-social behaviour orders to ensure they are as effective as possible.
- Introducing legislation to criminalise the grooming of children
There are also a number of Garda operations active in cities across the country. In Dublin, Operation Citizen was commenced to reassure the citizens, visitors and businesses of Dublin City Centre that is a safe place to visit, socialise in and do business in. Operation Citizen was commenced in October 2021 and delivers a high-visibility police presence to Dublin City, while also focusing on collaborative community and stakeholder engagement.
Operation Citizen is supported by other Garda Operations such as Operation Saul and Operation Spire. Operation Saul focuses on tackling anti-social behaviour on public transport networks in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. Operation Spire was initiated to combat all anti-social behaviour, particularly the supply of drugs in the O'Connell Street area.
Operation Tara is an enhanced nationwide anti-drugs strategy that is in effect in cities across the country. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks at all levels, international, national and local, involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs. Under Operation Tara, Gardaí seized Cocaine and Cannabis with a value of €220,000 in Cork City in July 2022. Other recent successes include the seizure of €348,000 worth of drugs in Dublin and Louth. Five people were arrested on 17 October 2022 and have been charged to appear before the Courts.
I am also aware that we need to further strengthen An Garda Síochána and ensure they have the resources, tools and technology to keep us safe. In support of this my Department committed an unprecedented €2.14 billion in Budget 2023 to An Garda Síochána.
As recognised by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, improving community safety requires a multi-sectoral approach, strong inter-agency collaboration and engagement from the community.
Local Community Safety Partnerships will play a key part in this by creating a tailor-made community safety plan with input from the local community and public services. Innovative pilot schemes have been rolled out in Waterford, North Dublin Inner City and Longford as they engage with the community to prioritise issues raised by its members.
18. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Justice her plans to review, expand and further support the community alert service nationwide; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52357/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate one of the core duties of Government is to support people to feel safe and be safe within their communities. In addition to the extensive policing measures to build safer communities, there are several crime prevention initiatives including the Community Alert Service.
The Department has for many years provided funding to Muintir na Tíre in relation to the employment and associated costs of the national Community Alert programme, including the employment of three regional Development Officers.
These Officers provide support to Community and Text Alert schemes and offer advice on how to establish new schemes. Funding is also provided to offset the costs incurred by community groups including the cost of issuing the text messages under the Text Alert Rebate Scheme.
Funding in the region of €150,000 has been made available to local communities who wish to apply for a rebate towards the costs associated with running their local Text Alert Scheme, which is administered by Muintir na Tíre. This is a continuation of the annual funding made available by the Department for the Text Alert Rebate scheme each year since 2016.
The Deputy will be interested to know that the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau are currently exploring the potential of further rolling out the ‘See Something Say Something’ text alert initiative as part of a working group with both internal and external stakeholders.
I understand that this innovative approach to reporting issues directly to An Garda Síochána has been very successfully piloted in Swords and Tralee, and the project will be further rolled out in a number of additional areas.
19. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the extent to which the ongoing battle against organised crime is set to continue, with particular reference to the need to remove the crime barons from society in Ireland and throughout Europe or elsewhere; if An Garda Síochána continues to have access to adequate resources to meet this challenge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52340/22]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that tackling organised crime activity is the overriding priority for An Garda Síochána and the Government.
I wish to acknowledge the superb and painstaking work of the Gardaí in harnessing an international coalition of support to tackle the criminality associated with a particular Organised Crime Group. The enforcement of sanctions demonstrates the tremendous value and power of international co-operation in tackling organised crime and the actions taken recently send a very clear message to those involved in the group, or associated with the group, that criminality will not go unnoticed or unpunished.
While we should not underestimate the difficulties which the Garda authorities face in tackling organised crime activity, we continue to see the significant results of their efforts in the arrests made and people being brought before the Courts, both here and in other jurisdictions, as well as the ongoing drugs and firearms seizures made.
An Garda Síochána tackles organised criminal activity through a range of targeted measures designed to disrupt and dismantle the operations of criminal organisations. To the greatest extent possible, these measures include the use of advanced analytical and intelligence methodologies.
The additional resources allocated to AGS in recent years have enabled the Garda Commissioner to assign extra resources to the specialist units involved in tackling organised crime, including the Armed Support Unit, Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
An Garda Síochána uses multi-disciplinary approaches to ensure the activities of individuals and groups involved in criminal enterprise are effectively targeted. Such approaches include the use of money-laundering legislation and the powers available to CAB under the proceeds of crime legislation.
Other measures taken to tackle organised crime include the strengthening of legislation where required, the establishment of a second Special Criminal Court in 2016, and the establishment of Garda Armed Response Units in all Garda regions which are available to support all divisions countrywide.
The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) is having significant success in disrupting drug trafficking and the supply of illicit drugs by organised crime groups. I am advised by the Garda authorities that in 2021, the GNDOCB seized almost €64 million worth of illicit drugs and around €6 million in cash, a significant increase from 2019, when there were over €21 million worth of illicit drugs and over €2.5m in cash seized.
The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) conducted a search operation in Counties Donegal, Limerick and Cork on Friday 14 October 2022 targeting a Limerick based Organised Crime Group (OCG). The operation was conducted by Bureau Officers, supported by the Southern Regional Armed Response Unit and Gardaí from Donegal and Limerick. The search operation marks a significant development in the overall CAB proceeds of crime investigation which will target assets including properties linked to this OCG. In addition, the CAB were successful in a recent application to the Courts to have a property effectively owned by a prominent OCG recognised as being the proceeds of crime.
I am also progressing the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill shortly, which will increase the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life in prison. These new laws will ensure that An Garda Síochána and our Courts have the tools they need to take firm and decisive action to deal with our most serious criminals.
Justice Plan 2022 commits to working to break the link between gangs and the children they seek to recruit. In 2022, we will also progress draft legislation to outlaw the grooming of children into a life of crime. In parallel, we will continue to roll out a community intervention programme “Greentown” which seeks to break the link between children who are engaged or at risk of engaging with a criminal gang.
20. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice the progress to date in achieving the Istanbul Convention targets for refuge spaces for domestic violence victims; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52422/22]
View answerOne of the overarching goals of the Zero Tolerance policy to address Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence is to ensure that everyone who needs a refuge space will get one, and I am committed to working with my Government colleagues and those working in the sector to achieve this.
In line with the priority which this government is attaching to tackling domestic, sexual and gender based violence, we will double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy, bringing it to 280.
The Tusla review of accommodation services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence identified priority locations where between 50 and 60 new refuge places are needed.
Further analysis undertaken identified 12 locations nationwide where the delivery of 98 family refuge spaces would have the most impact if prioritised.
In the initial phase of this work, we expect to have delivered 24 places in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan by 2024. The delivery of additional safe homes is also a key part of the response and it is expected to increase the number of safe homes by 15 this year.
In addition, by putting in place the correct structures to deliver additional refuge accommodation, including the development of a new statutory agency, we will accelerate the number of additional spaces that can be opened each year. Already, work undertaken implementing the Strategy has prepared the way for this, including a very significant increase in funding under Budget 2023.An interdepartmental group is developing and progressing agreed processes and approaches to ensure we have the highest standard of refuge accommodation, delivered in the most efficient way.
This has already resulted in a more streamlined process for capital funding applications for new refuges. Supports for applicant groups from the Housing Agency in relation to public procurement processes and direct engagement between Department of Housing Architectural Advisors and the Design Teams recruited by the applicant groups are now in place.Over the past two years I have had the privilege to visit a number of refuges around the country to see first-hand the fantastic work that is being done. I am determined that the implementation of the Strategy, we will bring us significantly closer to reaching our Istanbul target and to ensuring that organisations providing these vital services to victims are supported in doing so.
Since launching Zero Tolerance in June, the tendering process for the new Refuge in Wexford has moved to the final stage of completion.
Developments in Navan and Dundalk are continuing to make progress at design and planning stages, while developments in the other priority locations are mainly focused on establishing local stakeholders and lead organisations and on site selection.
