Tuesday, 11 Jul 2023

Written Answers Nos. 484-498

Departmental Programmes

Questions (485)

Michael Lowry

Question:

485. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Justice when an application (details supplied) will be finalised and permission granted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33765/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government agreed to close the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) to further applications from 15 February 2023. The IIP Unit has published a FAQ concerning the closure on my Department's website, which will be updated with any further arising questions from the closure, and is available here: www.irishimmigration.ie/faqs-closure-of-the-immigrant-investor-programme-iip/.

As Minister, I do not comment on individual IIP applications.

My Department is committed to ensuring that all applications will be examined on their own merits and will endeavour to conclude all decisions in a timely manner. However, given the exceptionally large number of applications on hand, it is not possible at this time to give an indication as to when individual applications will receive a decision.

Traffic Fines

Questions (486)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

486. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of fixed penalty notices that gardaí issued for parking in a bus lane and cycle path and on the footpath in 2022 and to-date in 2023, in tabular form. [33786/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including the management of the Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS). As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

I am however assured that road traffic enforcement remains a core policing function of An Garda Síochána. The Garda National Roads Policing Bureau ensures a consistent approach to road safety and enforcement of road traffic legislation across the country. This is achieved through coordination of enforcement measures and development of policy, based on research and analysis of statistics and by engaging in campaigns in partnership with other State Agencies, notably the Road Safety Authority.

Road traffic legislation is also enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of all members of An Garda Síochána, in addition to the employment of specific enforcement operations.

Roads policing statistics are compiled by the Garda Síochána Analysis Service on a monthly basis and published on the Garda website.

The statistical tables below have been provided to me by the Garda authorities and outline Fixed Charge Penalty Notices issued by members of An Garda Síochána only. I have been advised that detections by traffic wardens employed by local authorities are not included in this data.

Fixed Charge Notices issued nationally for parking in a bus lane.

-	2022	2023*
Parking in a bus lane	558	273

Fixed Charge Notices issued nationally for parking in a cycle path.

-	2022	2023*
Parking in a cycle lane	477	3 51

*Figures are based on incidents which occurred from 01/01/2022 to 30/06/2023, inclusive.

All information provided is based upon operational data from the FCPS system as was available on 05/07/2023 and is liable to change

* 2023 figures cover the period from 01/01/2023 to 30/06/2023

International Protection

Questions (487)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

487. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of international protection applicants who sought protection in Ireland from eight countries (details supplied) in each of the past 24 months, in tabular form. [33790/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

My Department takes all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times. The International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department is responsible for examining all international protection applications received. The staff of the IPO are independent by law in the exercise of their international protection functions.

The following countries were designated as safe countries of origin with effect from 16 April 2018 under the International Protection Act 2015 (Safe Countries of Origin) Order 2018:

• Albania;

• Bosnia and Herzegovina;

• Georgia;

• Kosovo;

• Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of);

• Montenegro;

• Serbia; and

• South Africa.

On November 8 2022, the International Protection Office (IPO) introduced accelerated procedures for international protection applicants from safe countries of origin.

An applicant from a safe country of origin is afforded the opportunity to submit grounds, in writing and/or at interview, as to why their country is not safe for them and those grounds are given due consideration. Furthermore, all applicants have the right to appeal a negative recommendation by the IPO to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT).

Overall, my Department is working to minimise the timeframe for receiving a decision on an international protection application, allowing those eligible to remain the opportunity to rebuild their lives. Those who are not entitled to the protection of the State will also be advised of that fact as quickly as possible.

The table below gives a breakdown of the number of international protection applicants who sought protection in Ireland from six of the designated safe countries referenced in Deputy's question in each of the past 24 months, in tabular form. In relation to the remaining designated safe countries Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro, no applications have made between June 2021 to June 2023.

Breakdown of applications from designated safe countries June 2021 to June 2022*

Year/ Month	Albania	Georgia	Kosovo / UNSCR 1244	South Africa	Serbia	The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia
2021
June	7	0	0	0	0	0
July	5	17	<=5	8	0	0
August	5	54	0	11	0	0
September	8	67	<=5	19	0	0
October	11	45	0	19	0	0
November	12	46	0	17	<=5	0
December	<=5	77	0	14	0	0
2022
January	<=5	49	<=5	14	0	0
February	8	57	0	24	0	<=5
March	17	114	<=5	41	0	0
April	17	198	0	54	0	0
May	27	340	0	48	0	0
June	12	424	0	53	0	0
July	23	335	<=5	44	0	0
August	24	277	0	23	0	0
September	28	266	0	42	0	0
October	24	240	5	26	0	0
November	23	244	7	34	0	0
December	13	166	8	47	0	0
2023
January	21	145	5	59	0	0
February	11	84	6	17	0	0
March	14	54	5	37	0	0
April	8	37	<=5	33	0	0
May	9	47	<=5	31	0	0
June	20	60	<=5	52	0	0
Total	352	3447	48	767	<=5	<=5

*Where the number of applications for individual countries is low (less than 6), a breakdown is not provided. This is for reasons of confidentiality, as provided for under section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015.

Question No. 488 answered with Question No. 475.

Question No. 489 answered with Question No. 475.

Legal Services Regulation

Questions (490, 491, 492, 493, 494)

Robert Troy

Question:

490. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 160 of 17 May 2023, what has been the impact of all of those actions in terms of the ultimate Troika request of reducing legal costs. [33829/23]

Robert Troy

Question:

491. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice what measures are in place to track legal costs in order to measure the effectiveness of the actions; and what are those measures saying about the effectiveness of the actions. [33830/23]

Robert Troy

Question:

492. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice what other measurements of legal costs in Ireland are available. [33831/23]

Robert Troy

Question:

493. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice with regard to the research by a company (details supplied) on models to control legal costs, commissioned by her Department when this report will be submitted to her Department; and the reason is it a year late. [33832/23]

Robert Troy

Question:

494. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice if she will commit to publishing a report (details supplied) report on receipt. [33833/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I propose to take Questions Nos. 490, 491, 492, 493 and 494 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the Government is committed to facilitating easier, speedier access to justice for businesses and individuals, part of which involves addressing the issue of costs associated with accessing the legal system.

The Report of the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice (known as the Peter Kelly Report) made over 90 recommendations, which, when implemented, will represent the most significant reform to civil law in the history of the State. One area on which the Kelly Review Group was not able to reach consensus was on the primary measures necessary to reduce legal costs in Ireland. Two options were put forward: the first a set of non-binding guidelines; the second a table of maximum costs, to be set by an independent committee.

Arising from the Review report, Minister McEntee published the Civil Justice Efficiencies and Reform Measures plan in May 2022. The plan sets out how we will achieve these ambitious reforms, with the goal of facilitating easier, cheaper and quicker access to civil justice. The plan identifies a number of measures which have the aim of reducing legal costs, recognising that no one singular action will have the effect of sufficiently addressing the issue on its own.

One action in the Plan is to undertake research on the two primary options put forward by the Review Group. To this end, my Department commissioned economic consultants to evaluate these two options, as well as identifying other potential options which may serve the same policy objective. This work uses a multi-criteria analysis methodology to assess the impact of the options proposed by the Review Group, as well as other options identified in the research. Underpinning this research has been a stakeholder survey. The work also incorporates existing data on legal costs arising from the National Claims Information Database, as well as from the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator

The report is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks. Following receipt of the report, its recommendations will be examined and will be subject to legal assessment before policy proposals will be developed. It is expected that the report will be published once consideration of its content is complete.

Question No. 491 answered with Question No. 490.

Question No. 492 answered with Question No. 490.

Question No. 493 answered with Question No. 490.

Question No. 494 answered with Question No. 490.

Departmental Policies

Questions (495)

Richard Bruton

Question:

495. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Justice whether she has considered extending greater residency rights to the spouse of an Irish citizen where the family has been living abroad, so that it would be easier for them to come and go with their children and spouse who are all Irish citizens; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33868/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

A non-visa required national may seek to enter and reside in the State on visitors conditions for up to 90 days at a time without applying for residency or for a visa. The Immigration officer at the port of entry will determine, on each occasion, whether they may enter and the duration permission to remain granted.

If the person is from a Visa required country, they can apply for a short stay ‘C’ visa. They have the option to apply for either a single or a multiple entry visa. The option to apply for a multi-entry visa has been extended for up to 5 years for all visa required countries.

The policy considerations underpinning decisions on applications for multiple entry visas are explained on our website:

www.irishimmigration.ie/single-multiple-visas/.

Any non EU/EEA nationals who wish to reside in the State for longer than 90 days must register with their local immigration office and apply for further permission to remain before their initial permission to remain expires. Full details of the Registration process can be found at the link below:

www.irishimmigration.ie/registering-your-immigration-permission/how-to-register-your-immigration-permission-for-the-first-time/requirements-and-documents-needed/.

A visa required national that wishes to reside in the State for longer than 90 days must apply for a Type D Long Stay Visa. All visa applications can be made online at: www.visas.inis.gov.ie/avats/OnlineHome.aspx.

Question No. 496 answered with Question No. 475.

Departmental Schemes

Questions (497, 498, 555)

Holly Cairns

Question:

497. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the number of staff assigned to the regularisation scheme for undocumented people from the scheme's inception to date, in tabular form. [33877/23]

Holly Cairns

Question:

498. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice to provide a timeline for when the regularisation scheme for undocumented people will complete its work; and the number of applications within the scheme that have not yet been completed. [33878/23]

Gary Gannon

Question:

555. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice the expected processing times for remaining undocumented scheme applications; and the staffing numbers in the scheme unit from the start of the scheme to date. [34391/23]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I propose to take Questions Nos. 497, 498 and 555 together.

As the Deputy is aware, this once in a generation scheme was designed to give long-term undocumented residents the opportunity to regularise their status, access the labour market legally and begin their path to citizenship. It has provided an opportunity for those who meet its criteria to remain and reside in the State and to become part of mainstream Irish society rather than living on its margins.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that 87% of all applications under this hugely successful and impactful scheme have been processed since it opened last year.

In total, 6,548 applications were submitted in respect of 8,311 people under the scheme. Of these 5,654 (86%) were Single Applications and 894 (14%) Family Applications. As of 03 July 2023, 4,617 applications have been granted, 1,002 applications have been refused, and 118 applications have been withdrawn by the applicants for various reasons.

The remaining applications are in the main more complex cases and it is not possible to provide a definitive timeframe for when all cases will be finalised, although every effort is being made to do so without undue delay. Each application received is assessed individually in accordance with the published criteria, available on my Department's immigration website.

While every effort is made to process applications as soon as possible, processing times will vary having regard to the complexity of applications, whether it is a single or family application, the supporting documentation, the vetting process with An Garda Síochána, the possible need for the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) function of my Department to seek further information, and the resources available.

The International Protection strand of the Scheme attracted over 3,240 applications. By 29 June, 2023, some 1,596 applicants had been granted a permission under the Scheme while, during the lifetime of the Scheme, a further 1,102 Scheme applicants were granted an equivalent, or higher order of, immigration permission.

With regard to resources, I can advise the Deputy that when the scheme first opened to applications on 31 January 2022, there were 17 staff members assigned to the dedicated unit. The highest number of staff assigned to the unit at any one time was 21.

The scheme closed on 31 July 2022, and the dedicated unit closed eight months later at the end of March 2023. Since then, remaining decisions and appeals under the scheme are being processed by Domestic Residence and Permissions (DRP) division which operates a flexible staffing model, assigning processing staff flexibly in line with the real-time needs of the business. Applications are processed by Unit A of DRP, and, as at end June 2023, there were 10 staff members directly involved in the processing of the scheme.

DRP Staff Assigned to Undocumented Scheme as at 30 June 2023:

HEO	EO	CO	Total
1	6	3	10

Question No. 498 answered with Question No. 497.