Wednesday, 26 Nov 2014

Written Answers Nos. 79-83

Garda Deployment

Ceisteanna (79)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

79. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of gardaí deployed to each station throughout County Kildare on an annual basis from 2004 to date in 2014; the extent to which it is expected to augment the numbers in line with requirements at present; if she has received requests from the Garda authorities for an increase in Garda strength in the areas referred to; if and when she will be in a position to respond favourably; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45411/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

As the Deputy will be aware, one of the primary functions of the Garda Commissioner under the Garda Síochána Acts, is to direct and control An Garda Síochána. In this regard, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of all resources, including fully sworn members and Reserve Gardaí, among the Garda Regions, Divisions and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of security assessments, 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 the number of Gardaí and Reserve Gardaí assigned to each station in County Kildare between 31 December 2004 to 31 December 2013 and for the 30 September 2014, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was as set out in the following tables.

As the Deputy will be aware the first intake since 2009 of 100 new recruits entered training at the Garda College in Templemore on Monday 15th September 2014. This marked a positive step forward for policing in Ireland. Furthermore, the process of recruiting 200 additional Gardaí to the force will continue over the next few months. The Garda Commissioner will, of course, continue to keep the needs of the Kildare Garda Division under review within the overall context of the needs of Garda Divisions throughout the country.

Station	‘04	‘05	‘06	‘07	‘08	‘09
ATHY	16	18	19	18	23	27
BALLYTORE	1	1	1	1	2	2
CASTLEDERMOT	2	2	2	2	2	3
KILDARE	27	26	31	30	32	32
MONASTEREVIN	3	3	3	5	6	4
NEWBRIDGE	29	32	33	33	35	44
RATHANGAN	3	3	2	4	4	4
CARBURY	2	2	2	4	4	5
CELBRIDGE	17	19	20	21	22	18
KILCOCK	5	5	5	5	8	8
LEIXLIP	28	25	25	24	28	33
MAYNOOTH	15	15	17	16	18	15
BALLYMORE EUSTACE	1	0	1	1	1	1
CLANE	6	5	8	7	8	8
KILCULLEN	3	3	3	4	4	3
KILL	3	3	3	3	3	3
NAAS	78	80	89	98	103	107
ROBERTSTOWN	3	3	3	5	3	4
Total	242	245	267	281	306	321

Station	‘10	‘11	‘12	‘13	‘14
ATHY	29	31	34	32	31
BALLYTORE*	2	2	1	x	x
CASTLEDERMOT	3	3	3	4	4
KILDARE	33	26	27	29	30
MONASTEREVIN	4	5	4	4	4
NEWBRIDGE	45	47	50	49	47
RATHANGAN	4	3	3	3	3
CARBURY	4	4	5	6	5
CELBRIDGE	18	17	17	14	13
KILCOCK	8	9	10	9	9
LEIXLIP	35	34	30	38	38
MAYNOOTH	15	13	14	13	11
BALLYMORE EUSTACE*	1	2	2	x	x
CLANE	10	11	9	8	7
KILCULLEN	2	2	2	4	5
KILL*	4	2	2	x	x
NAAS	101	101	103	100	96
ROBERTSTOWN	5	6	2	2	2
Total	323	318	318	315	305

*Closed on 31 January

Garda Reserve

Station	‘06	‘07	‘08	‘09	‘10	‘11	‘12	‘13	‘14
NAAS	0	2	3	2	7	7	8	17	17
LEIXLIP	0	0	0	0	1	3	3	5	5
ATHY	0	0	0	3	3	3	3	5	5
CELBRIDGE	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1
NEWBRIDGE	0	1	2	3	3	5	5	6	6
KILDARE	0	0	3	5	7	6	5	7	7

Garda Disciplinary Proceedings

Ceisteanna (80)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

80. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a person (details supplied) was one of the gardaí named in the GSOC report sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration on whether criminal proceedings be issued against named members of the Garda who were involved with a drug dealer. [45440/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

In May 2013, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) made a Report to my predecessor under Section 80(5) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 following its investigation into allegations of collusion between an individual and members of the Garda Síochána.

In its letter accompanying the report GSOC stated that a file relating to its public interest investigation was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions pursuant to Section 102(2) of the 2005 Act. The section provides that GSOC shall send a copy of a designated officer's report to the DPP where the report contains matters that may constitute an offence by a member of the Garda Síochána. Having considered the file the DPP advised that the file did not warrant prosecution of any individual. Thereafter GSOC considered and decided against launching any investigation of matters which may constitute indiscipline.

I have no role in the initiation of prosecutions and, accordingly, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on whether or not specific individuals were named in the report forwarded to the DPP.

Ground Rents Payments

Ceisteanna (81)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Ceist:

81. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the present system for householders to buy out ground rent; if the State system and charges may be listed; if a landlord must sell at seven times annual rent or is legally entitled to go higher; if a landlord may charge administration, search and registration fees or if these are all available free under the State system; if a landlord is legally entitled to claim arrears; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45441/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The general position regarding ground rents is that section 2 of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1978 introduced a prohibition on the creation of new leases reserving ground rents on dwellings. As regards remaining ground rents, Part III of the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) (No. 2) Act 1978 contains a statutory scheme whereby a holder of a leasehold interest may, at reasonable cost, acquire the fee simple in his or her dwelling. To date, over 80,000 applicants have acquired freehold title to their property under this scheme. Comprehensive details of the scheme, including details of the ways in which the fee simple can be acquired and the fees involved, are available on the Property Registration Authority's website (www.prai.ie).

Departmental Meetings

Ceisteanna (82)

Lucinda Creighton

Ceist:

82. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide in tabular form, the dates of meetings of her Department's Management Advisory Council in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014; the civil servants present at each of these meetings; if she or her Department's Minister of State was present at each of these meetings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45481/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The Management Advisory Committee (MAC) currently meets weekly and is chaired by the Acting Secretary General who is also the Director General of the Irish Naturalisation & Immigration Service (INIS). Membership comprises the Director General of the Irish Prisons Service, the Director General of INIS, the Assistant Secretaries of the Department, the Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the Personnel Officer, and the Departmental Programme Manager.

The following table sets out MAC meeting dates from 2011 to date.

Year	Dates
2011	28 January, 7 March, 25 March, 4 April, 14 June, 15 July, 17 October, 28 November, 19 December.
2012	22 February, 26 March, 16 April, 9 May, 28 May, 11 June, 9 July, 11 September, 25 September, 9 October, 23 October, 6 November, 20 November, 4 December, 18 December.
2013	15 January, 29 January, 26 February, 12 March, 26 March, 9 April, 23 April, 21 May, 18 June, 10 September, 26 September, 8 October, 24 October, 7 November, 3 December, 17 December.
2014	14 January, 28 January, 13 March, 25 March, 9 April, 22 May, 20 June, 10 July, 18 July, 23 July, 31 July, 4 September, 23 September, 30 September, 14 October, 21 October, 28 October, 4 November, 11 November and 18 November, 25 November

The MAC Meetings are supplemented by meetings which I chair and are referred to as MinMAC meetings. Attendance includes those set out above as well as:

- Minister’s Advisors

- Minister’s Private Secretary

- Head of the Department’s Press Office.

The following table sets out details of the MinMAC meetings from 2011 to date. In this regard the Deputy will note that I have chaired five such meetings since my appointment on 8 May 2014. It has recently been decided that the Ministers of State in my Department will also attend future meetings.

Year	Date
2011	19 December
2012	4 April, 5 June, 9 July, 22 October, 17 December.
2014	4 April, 1 May, 9 May, 30 May, 7 July, 28 July, 16 September.

Legislative Measures

Ceisteanna (83)

Terence Flanagan

Ceist:

83. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding firearms legislation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45490/14]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

In light of public safety concerns highlighted by An Garda Síochána and difficulties in the interpretation of the legislation expressed by members of the judiciary, a joint Department of Justice and Equality/An Garda Síochána Working Group was established by my Department to review firearms licensing. The Report of this Working Group was published on 13 November and submissions on the Report have been sought from stakeholders and the public by 31 January 2015. The consultation process gives individuals and groups an opportunity to contribute to the development of firearms policy and legislation and will enable consideration to be given to the future direction of such legislation.

I have already given a commitment that I will not make any final decisions until I have had the opportunity to consider all the submissions which are made and I subsequently meet the key stakeholders, including the organisations who represent those who use firearms for sporting purposes. I would now urge all concerned to engage with this process so that the views of all concerned can be considered before final decisions are made in relation to this matter.