Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014

Written Answers Nos. 149-155

EU Directives

Ceisteanna (149)

Joan Collins

Ceist:

149. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the temporary protection mechanism directive has been discussed or invoked by Europe in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. [8400/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

Council Directive 2001/55/EC deals with minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof. Article 5 of the Directive states that the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons shall be established by a Council Decision adopted by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, which shall also examine any request by a Member State that it shall submit a proposal to the Council. To date the Commission has not made a proposal under Article 5 of the Directive in connection with the conflict in Syria.

Road Traffic Legislation

Ceisteanna (150)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

150. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 652 of 11 June 2013 and Parliamentary Question No. 135 of 6 February 2014, if the report referred to in the earlier reply is now to hand; and if he will request an updated report from An Garda Síochána about the technical and administrative arrangements required to bring section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 into effect. [8398/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The report of the working group in question has been received and I have also recently received an update from the Garda authorities to the effect that the substantial technical and administrative arrangements required to bring the provision in question into effect remain under careful evaluation.

Residency Permits

Ceisteanna (151)

Ann Phelan

Ceist:

151. Deputy Ann Phelan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will investigate the case of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow who applied over one year ago for a visa in order to remain in the State based on their parentage of an Irish citizen child, in view of the financial and personal hardship this is causing this parent; if he will clarify the stage this application is at and when it is expected that this application will be assessed and completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8407/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The person concerned has applied for a right of residency in the State, accompanied by a right to work, based on her parentage of an Irish born minor citizen child, and based also on the principles of the Zambrano Judgment. This application is under consideration at present. When consideration of this application has been completed, and a decision arrived at, the person concerned will be notified in writing.

Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS of my Department 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 the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.

Work Permit Application Numbers

Ceisteanna (152)

Terence Flanagan

Ceist:

152. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if there is a cap in place for the number of work visas granted each year; if he will provide details of the number of work visas that have been granted in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8415/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

Visa required nationals who wish to migrate to the State to take up employment must, in the great majority of cases, obtain a work permit before applying for a visa to travel to the State. In a minority of cases, for example, where visa required nationals wish to migrate for periods of less than six months, a work permit may not be required but the person must apply for, and be granted, a visa. There is no cap on the number of visas that may be granted.

The issue and renewal of work permits is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. Where a person is granted a work permit and requires a visa in order to come to Ireland to take up employment, the matter is expedited by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service subject to normal immigration controls. Re-entry visas are issued to visa required work permit holders who wish to leave the State for short periods for business or personal reasons.

It is not possible to show separately figures solely for visas for the purpose of employment as data relating to employment visas are aggregated with a number of other categories such as short term business, conference and business permission visas, visas for medical professionals and event/performance visas.

Garda Recruitment

Ceisteanna (153, 154, 164, 166)

Mattie McGrath

Ceist:

153. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in relation to the recruitment campaign for An Garda Síochána, if those who are unsuccessful at stage two are they going to be removed from the recruitment process or ranked accordingly and asked to progress to stage three should the need occur at a future date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8448/14]

Mattie McGrath

Ceist:

154. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality in relation to Garda recruitment, those within band one who are successful right to the end of the process, if there is going to be a panel drawn up to service the needs over the next three years with just band one members; it was recently announced that this campaign would be for the next three years; for those that are within band two and three will they ever progress to stage two of the campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8449/14]

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

164. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality with regard to the current Garda recruitment the number that will go through stage one and stage two of the Garda recruitment process and the number that will finally go for interview; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8554/14]

Michael Lowry

Ceist:

166. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide clarification on the status of those who had applied as part of the Garda recruitment process and who have been classified as Band 2 or Band 3; if these persons will be considered for any future recruitment process or will that be confined to those classified as Band 1; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8559/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

I propose to take Questions Nos. 153, 154, 164 and 166 together.

The Deputies will be aware that the Public Appointments Service are managing this recruitment process for the Garda Commissioner and as such I have no direct involvement in the matter. I have however been informed that the first stages of the recruitment competition have now been completed. Candidates who have qualified through these have been placed in order of merit into three bands.

Those in Band one will be the first to be called to the next stages of the competition, which will also be run by PAS, and if ultimately successful will be placed on a panel for entry into training in the Garda College. A candidate who fails any stage of the process will be eliminated from the competition and will not be allowed re-enter this competition. Once all those on Band one have been tested, those on Band two and then Band three will be called to the second and subsequent stages and again, if ultimately successful, will also be placed on the panel.

The number progressing through any stages of the recruitment process is dependent on the success rate of the candidates in question and it is therefore not possible at this stage to know how many candidates from any Band will go forward to the interview stage.

I have made it clear on a number of occasions that it is my wish that Garda strength should remain at 13,000 and the number to be recruited will take that into account along with the rate of departures from the force in the coming years.

Road Traffic Offences

Ceisteanna (155)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

155. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons arrested and charged for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the Christmas and new year period in the Garda R and J districts. [8507/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

I am informed by the Garda authorities that thirty eight persons were arrested and charged in the Dublin Metropolitan Region Northern Division (Garda R and J Districts) for driving under the influence of an intoxicant from 1 December 2013 to 5 January, 2014 (inclusive). It should be noted that the figures provided are provisional, operational and liable to change.