Written Answers Nos. 818-832
818. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of contracts to provide services and-or consultancy to her Department; the companies that were granted these contracts and the nature of the work involved; and the qualifying criteria that was applied to any company awarded such a contract in 2022 and to date in 2023. [35946/23]
View answerIt has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.
819. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of marked and unmarked Garda cars and vans attached to the Garda dog unit as of 12 July 2023; and if she will provide same figures as of 31 January 2022, in tabular form. [35947/23]
View answerAs 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 purchase, allocation, and effective and efficient use of Garda vehicles. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.
I have however been assured by Garda authorities that the purchase and allocation of vehicles is made on the basis of identified operational demand, and is kept under continued review to ensure their optimum use.
The table below, provided to me by Garda authorities, provides the number of Garda cars and vans attached to the Garda dog unit for 31 January 2022 and as of 30 June 2023, the latest date for which figures are available.
|
Marked Cars |
Unmarked Cars |
Marked Vans |
Unmarked Vans |
Marked 4x4 |
Unmarked 4x4 |
Total Marked |
Total Unmarked |
|
|
As at 31 January 2022 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
8 |
|
As at 30 June 2023 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
10 |
820. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of external consultant reports commissioned by her Department in each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022 and to-date in 2023; the cost of same; the company involved; the title and publication date, by report, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35971/23]
View answerIt has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.
821. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of external consultant reports commissioned by the bodies under her Department's aegis in each of the years 2020, 2021. 2022 and to-date in 2023; the cost of same; the company involved; the title and publication date, by report, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35972/23]
View answerIt has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.
822. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she considers the payment of €184 per week for 34 weeks to trainee gardaí in Garda college to be a deterrent to entry to An Garda Síochána, particularly given the current cost of living; if her Department is actively considering recommendations for an increase to this weekly payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35982/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, public sector pay policy is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The Garda Commissioner is also responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff under section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended).
I am advised that the current point 1 (lowest point of the pay scale) for a Garda member on attestation from the Garda College, Templemore is €34,572 per annum. This equates to €662.55 per week.
Garda Trainees currently undertake 33 weeks training at a rate of €184 per week training allowance. Food and accommodation are provided by the Garda College. This figure does not include travel/subsistence or other allowances payable when a trainee is assigned to a training station during the training period.
Additionally, trainees receive the uniform and boot allowances, which are fixed amounts and remain unchanged on attestation as a Garda member.
Any change in relation to the rate of the training allowance would have to be considered as part of the estimates process. I am engaging with my colleague, Minister Donohoe, in relation to this matter.
826. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she will agree to pay restoration for barristers. [35989/23]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the Department of Justice administers the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme and is responsible for making payments under the Scheme and that the fee rates are set with the consent of the Minister of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
The Department recognises and appreciates the important role played by barristers in undertaking criminal legal aid work as it is a fundamental part of the criminal justice system .
In response to the Deputy, my Department supports the restoration of fees paid under Criminal Legal Aid and is actively engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform to expedite a resolution for this matter.
827. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if Ireland will designate Russia as an unsafe country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36021/23]
View answerIreland is party to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees. The Convention defines the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of refugees, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.
Every person has the right to apply for asylum under the 1951 Convention. The Convention does not exclude a person from exercising the right to seek asylum based on their nationality.
All applications for international protection, regardless of an applicant’s country of origin, are assessed on the basis of their individual merits, facts and circumstances. The circumstances of each case is assessed having regard to both the subjective elements (the applicant’s own account or personal history) and objective elements (up-to-date, and reputable, information on the conditions prevailing in the applicant’s country or place of origin) at the material time. Supporting documentation submitted by applicants is also taken into account.
All decisions on international protection applications are made in accordance with relevant legislation and Ireland follows the guidance of the UNHCR and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) in relation to claims for international protection.
Under section 72 of the International Protection Act 2015 the Minister may make an order designating a country as a safe country of origin. Russia is not designated as a safe country under the Act. The Act does not provide for the concept of an ‘unsafe country’.
828. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 746 of 11 July, if she will consider reducing the cost of IRP cards under budget 2024. [36057/23]
View answer833. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 476 of 11 July 2023, if she will provide details of the ongoing review of the fee structure, the form it takes and the outcome of the most recent review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36237/23]
View answer890. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Justice the projected cost of reducing the Irish residence permit to €75; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37037/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 828, 833 and 890 together.
I can inform the Deputies that the standard registration fee of €300 payable by an applicant is designed to reflect the effort and cost, above and beyond the cost of producing the card itself, in processing registrations. An applicant is exempted from the fee if they -
- Have refugee status
- Have subsidiary protection status
- Have leave to remain under Section 49 of the International Protection Act 2015
- Are under 18
- Are resident based on your marriage to an Irish citizen
- Are a family member of an EU citizen
The Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card, granted following a successful registration, certifies that a person is legally registered with the Irish immigration authorities and provides details of the immigration permission held, for example a Stamp 1 or 4, etc. In addition where a person has an in date IRP card, there is no requirement to apply for a re-entry visa when returning to the State after a short period abroad.
The Registration Office of my Department also provides an online renewals portal that speeds up the renewal process and a customer service team that is available to support customers.
The cost of registration has not increased since 2012; however, the fee structure is kept under ongoing review by my Department, as part of ordinary financial planning and budgeting.
Insofar as the question of reducing the cost for application and issuance of an IRP from €300 to €75 is concerned, this would result in a 75% reduction in fees generated. It is estimated that this would cost approximately €42m at 2022 levels of registration activity.
830. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide additional funding to the Legal Aid Board to ensure that waiting times for access legal aid are reduced (currently 35 weeks in some parts of the country); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36177/23]
View answerThe Legal Aid Board is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. Section 3(3) of the Act states that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions.
I am informed that civil legal aid and advice is provided primarily through a network of law centres by solicitors employed by the Board. There are 34 full-time centres and dedicated units and three part-time law centres.
I am further informed that specific law centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway include an international protection speciality and that there are also dedicated units in Dublin dealing with personal injury and/or medical negligence cases and cases involving children at risk. Family mediation services are provided through 10 full time offices and 10 part time offices.
I am informed that the Legal Aid Board also engages private solicitors to supplement the services provided by Board solicitors in certain areas of law on a case-by-case basis, those areas of law being: District Court family law matters, Circuit Court judicial separation and divorce cases, international protection cases, and cases on foot of the Abhaile scheme.
A priority service is provided in certain cases including cases involving domestic violence, child abduction, applications by the State to take children into care or under supervision, and cases that have statutory time limits close to expiry.
The waiting times and numbers for first consultation appointments are published on a regular basis on the website of the Legal Aid Board (www.legalaidboard.ie).
To be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made with the Legal Aid Board, and I am informed that in 2022, the overall average waiting time for a consultation with a solicitor of the 30 law centres that operate a waiting list was 15 weeks, compared with 20 weeks in each of the years 2021, 2020 and 2019. As at 30 June 2023 the average waiting time was 14 weeks.
Funding for the Legal Aid Board for 2023 amounts to €53.060m, which is a 10% increase on the organisation’s funding allocation for the previous year. An additional €500k was provided to the Board in June 2023 to support the recruitment of additional staff to ensure the needs of clients seeking services in respective of international protection applications are met. It is clear, therefore, that the government has sanctioned extra resources for the Legal Aid Board, designed to increase its ability to support its clients.
The matter of resource allocation is an operational matter for the Legal Aid Board which is independent in its functions. I can assure the Deputy that, as part of ongoing governance arrangements, officials in my Department engage regularly with the Board in relation to resourcing matters, including the Estimates process.
831. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice if she will give due consideration to increasing the means test for access to Legal Aid Board services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36178/23]
View answerIn its over forty years of operation, the Civil Legal Aid Scheme has been a significant and beneficial public service, providing legal aid and advice to people of limited means in civil disputes, including family law.
However, since the Scheme was set up, Irish society has changed, and the demands of the service have grown. In order to meet the needs of those it was established to serve, within the finite resources available to fund legal aid, a comprehensive review of the Scheme is now under way. This review will include consideration of eligibility limits.
In June 2022, I established the Civil Legal Aid Review Group to review the current operation of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme and make recommendations for its future. The Review Group is being chaired by former Chief Justice, Mr Frank Clarke. The membership of the group is drawn from legal practitioners, academics, Department officials, those who work with marginalised groups, and representatives from the Legal Aid Board, which administers the statutory scheme.
As part of the review, a comprehensive multi-phased process of consultation has been conducted to ensure that as wide a range of views as possible is captured.
The results of all elements of the consultation are now being carefully considered by the Review Group. The Group is also examining how legal needs are met in other jurisdictions. The work of the Group is ongoing, with a report expected later this year.
The financial eligibility threshold for the Civil Legal Aid Scheme was last revised for income in 2006 and for capital assets in 2013. The current review will allow for an assessment of how flexible and responsive the Scheme is to the needs of those it is intended to serve, including in relation to financial eligibility.
I can, however, further advise the Deputy that my officials are also working with the Legal Aid Board to examine whether there are steps might feasibly be taken with respect to eligibility in the short-term pending the outcome of the wider review.
832. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 111 of 28 June 2023, when her Department expects the cataloguing process to be complete and the files made available to the public for viewing within the National Archives. [36234/23]
View answer861. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 1107 of 21 March 2023, for an update on the matter. [36473/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 832 and 861 together.
I can inform the Deputy that these files will be transferred from my Department to the National Archives on 26 July 2023.
