Written Answers Nos. 131-139
131. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which adequate resources remain available to a dedicated section within an Garda Síochána in respect of missing persons; the total number of persons reported missing in the past five years and in 2015 to date; the numbers still outstanding; the numbers deemed to have been found; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13805/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have sought an up to date report from An Garda Síochána in relation to the statistical information sought by the Deputy and I will be in contact directly when the information is available.
132. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which overcrowding throughout the prison system has been alleviated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13806/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise the Deputy that 2013 saw the first significant decrease in prison numbers since 2007. There were 15,735 committals to prison in 2013 which was a decrease of 7.6% on the 2012 figure.
Huge improvements have been made in prison conditions in recent years. Overcrowding has been eliminated in Mountjoy Prison and priority has been given to reducing overcrowding in Cork, Limerick and the Dóchas Centre.
Furthermore, it is intended to reduce the capacity of our prisons to align with the Inspector of Prisons recommended bed capacity of 3,982 in so far as this is compatible with public safety and the integrity of the criminal justice system. An examination of the figures on 30 March 2015 when there were 3,748 prisoners in custody shows that this figure was 94% of the Inspector's recommended total of 3,982.
Alternatives to custody continue to be pursued and legislation has already been passed. This includes the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011 which requires the sentencing judge to consider the imposition of community service where a custodial sentence of 12 or less is being considered.
The Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 provides that the Court imposing a fine shall take into account a person's financial circumstances. It further provides, inter alia, that where a person fails to pay a fine by the due date the Court may make an attachment order to earnings as a means of recovering an unpaid fine. As a result of this legislation it is expected that we will see a reduction in the number of committals to prison on short sentences.
In conjunction with the Probation Service, the Irish Prison Service has continued the national roll out of the Community Return Programme, an incentivised scheme for earned temporary release under which carefully selected offenders can be granted structured temporary release in return for supervised community service. 1,216 prisoners have taken part in the Community Return Programme since October 2011, and 909 have completed the programme.
In addition to Community Return, the Community Support Schemes have been set up in Cork Prison, Mountjoy Campus, West Dublin Campus and Limerick Prisons, the aim of which is to reduce recidivism rates by arranging for additional support structures and provide for a more structured form of temporary release. At present there are 70 persons on temporary release with over 220 prisoners released onto this Scheme having successfully completed their sentences.
All this points to a reducing trend in prisoner numbers indicative of the progress being made by this Government to reduce the prisoner population and pursue alternatives to custody.
133. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which resources remain available to her Department for the pursuit of so-called cold cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13807/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Garda authorities that the function of the Serious Crime Review Team (SCRT) is to assist Senior Investigating Officers assigned to the case in question in bringing investigations to a successful conclusion by identifying further investigative opportunities and ensuring that investigations conform to approved best practice guidelines.
At the conclusion of each review a substantive report is provided to the Senior Investigating Officer who considers the opportunities for further investigation for dissemination back into the investigative and operational units. Any recommendation of organisational effect is disseminated within the Garda organisation to improve the overall investigative capability of An Garda Síochána.
As the Deputy will be aware, the provision and allocation of Garda resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the light of identified operational demands. In this regard I am informed that the SCRT continues to review serious cases that remain unsolved and continues to identify evidence and witnesses to assist in the development of these cases.
134. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which rehabilitative training remains available to all first time offenders in prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13808/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can inform the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service provides to those in custody a wide range of rehabilitative programmes that include education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, counselling, welfare and spiritual services which have the dual purpose of providing prisoners with purposeful activity while serving their sentences and encouraging them to lead law abiding lives on release. These programmes are available in all prisons and all prisoners are eligible to use the services.
On committal, all prisoners are interviewed by the Governor and are informed of the services available in the prison. At this point prisoners may be referred to services or they can self refer at a later date. Where Governors consider, on the information available, that a prisoner needs a particular intervention they will initiate a referral.
The development of prisoner programmes forms a central part of the Irish Prison Service Three Year Strategic Plan 2012 - 2015. There is a clear commitment in the Strategy to enhance sentence planning through Integrated Sentence Management and the delivery of prison based rehabilitative programmes.
As well as seeking to draw on best practice in adult and further education in the community, there has been a lot of curriculum development over the years that is specific to prison circumstances, such as courses on addiction, health issues and offending behaviour.
The Department of Education and Skills provides an allocation of 220 whole time teacher equivalents to the Prison Service through the Education and Training Boards (ETB). Education in prisons is delivered in partnership between the ETBs and the Irish Prison Service with a focus on providing education which is quality assured, student centred and which facilitates lifelong learning. The partnership endeavours to meet the needs of students through helping them cope with their sentence, achieve personal development and prepare for life after release. A broad and flexible curriculum is provided which ranges from basic literacy classes and peer led tutoring to Open University. There is an increasing focus on FETAC accreditation as the modular structure best meets the needs of students in prison.
Other areas where there has been significant progress in prison education are in physical education, in the provision for higher education, in the arts and in preparing prisoners for release and supporting their transition to life, and often to education, on the outside. A top priority for the Irish Prison Service is ensuring help for those with reading and writing problems and peer mentoring programmes are currently active in all of our prisons.
The guiding principles which underpin the prisons' work and training service are to make available, work, work-training and other purposeful activities to all those in custody. Training activities are chosen to give as much variety as possible and also to give opportunities for those in prison to acquire practical skills which will help them secure employment on release. Work Training Officers have recently been appointed and assigned to areas such as catering, laundry, industrial cleaning, industrial skills and gym.
The Irish Prison Service has also been expanding the number of accredited courses and opportunities available to prisoners in Work Training in recent years. Enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies such as City and Guilds, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), and the Guild of Launders and Cleaners and the centralising of coordination and quality assurance arrangements have enabled us to extend the number of available courses and activities with certification.
The manner in which records are collated does not allow us to differentiate between first-time offenders and repeat offenders.
However, from the records that are available I can inform the Deputy that 46.1% of the prisoner population participated in education activities in January. Similarly 30% of the average prison population engaged in vocational training in January. It should be noted that a prisoner may participate in more than one activity.
135. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who made application for asylum and-or refugee status in each year from 2004 and in 2015 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13809/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 307 of 10 March 2015 which is set out as follows:
I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that details of the number of persons who applied for asylum for the years 2002 to 2013 are published in the annual reports of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner which are available at: http://www.orac.ie/website/orac/oracwebsite.nsf/page/orac-stats-en.
Provisional monthly statistics for 2014 and 2015 are also available on the site. In that regard, it should be noted that there were 1,448 applications for asylum in 2014 which represents an increase of 53% on the previous year. The rate of increase in the number of applications is accelerating to date this year with 416 applications recorded for the first two months of 2015 compared to a total of 181 for the same period in 2014.
136. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which she expects Garda numbers in the various Garda stations throughout County Kildare to be replenished, in line with demographics and criminal activity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13810/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel, among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of 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 personnel strength of Kildare Garda Division on 28 February 2015, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 300. These resources are augmented, when appropriate, by Gardaí from national units such as the Garda National Drug Unit and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The first intake since 2009 of 100 new recruits entered training at the Garda College, Templemore, on 15 September 2014. As part of Budget 2015, a further intake of 200 recruits in two batches was announced. On 15 December 2014, the first 100 of these batches commenced their training. The remaining 100 entered the college in early February. This will bring to 300 the number of recruits in the Garda College and is a measure of the Government's commitment to ensure that recruitment to An Garda Síochána continues seamlessly. The September intake will attest as members of the Garda Síochána in May 2015 and the December intake will attest in August 2015. In addition, I have received sanction from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for two further intakes of 125 Garda recruits later this year. On attestation they will be assigned to Garda stations throughout the country by the Garda Commissioner and the needs of Kildare Garda Division will be fully considered.
137. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the degree to which adequate resources are being made available to an Garda Síochána, to combat the supply of guns to organised criminal gangs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13811/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel, among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of these resources.
The An Garda Síochána Policing Plan for 2015 sets out the continued commitment of An Garda Síochána to pro-actively target groups and individuals engaged in serious crime in all its forms, in particular violent crime and organised criminal activity. Members of An Garda Síochána continue to utilise all available legislation, including the additional legislative provisions introduced by the Oireachtas in 2009 which amended the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 relating to organised crime.
Europol have identified the need for a community wide approach to help tackle Organised Crime Groupings including law enforcement, customs, business interests and government policy. An Garda Síochána are acutely aware that the targeting of Organised Criminal Groupings is best advanced by using multi-disciplinary approaches to ensure the activities of individuals and groups are effectively targeted. This includes the use of the Proceeds of Crimes Legislation including money-laundering legislation and the powers of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
An Garda Síochána also interact with a number of other law enforcement agencies from outside the jurisdiction in the ongoing combating of drugs and firearms trafficking and organised crime on an international level.
Taking cognisance of the target focused operations of both the Organised Crime Unit and the Garda National Drug Unit and the strength that could be gained from combining resources, the Commissioner decided to merge the Organised Crime Unit and the Garda National Drug Unit to create a robust entity, the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau to effectively tackle organised crime as it currently exists in this country.
The newly amalgamated unit will benefit from the skill sets of both the Organised Crime Unit and the Garda National Drug Unit personnel, in establishing an enforcement and investigative unit which will manage national and international drug trafficking and organised crime investigations.
Organised crime is often transnational in nature, constantly evolving and diversifying to take advantage of the prevailing economic and social conditions; developments in technology; and increasing mobility at a global level. An Garda Síochána continues to develop and implement operations and strategies aimed at targeting, dismantling and disrupting criminal networks, utilising advanced analytical and intelligence methodologies.
The resources available to target the activities of Organised Criminal Groups (OCGs) include direct resources allocated to the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau itself as well as indirect resources which include the services of specialist units as well as Divisional and District Drugs and Detective Units.
138. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which she is aware of the strong opposition from various sporting and gun clubs to proposals and restrictions in respect of guns available to the sporting sector, in view of the fact that the statistics would indicate that the most serious source of supply of such weapons comes from illegal sources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13812/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn light of public safety concerns highlighted by An Garda Síochána, a joint Department of Justice and Equality/ An Garda Síochána Working Group was established by the Department of Justice and Equality to review firearms licensing. The report of this Working Group was published on 13 November 2014 and submissions on the report were sought from stakeholders and the public by 31 January 2015. The consultation process gave 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. The submissions received are currently being examined and incorporated into a report for me.
The Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality has also sought submissions and held hearings with interested parties in relation to the Working Party report and will publish its own report on the matter. I have already given a commitment that I will not make any decisions until I have met the key stakeholders, including the organisations who represent those who use firearms for sporting purposes. I intend to meet the key stakeholders in the near future.
139. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of legally held shotguns or handguns reported stolen from households in each of the past ten years and in 2015 to date; the extent to which such weapons have subsequently been used in the committal of crimes; the number of gun-related crimes committed, which indicate the use of weapons acquired through other sources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13813/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the Garda Commissioner for a report in relation to this matter and will write to the Deputy when I have further information.
