Written Answers Nos. 125-134
125. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she continues to review the level of resources, personnel and vehicles being made available to the Garda in Tallaght in Dublin 24, to allow for continued effective action on challenges it faces day and night; her views on the success of its efforts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38505/15]
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 continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of resources. Tallaght Garda District forms part of the Dublin Metropolitan Region South and of the 536 Garda assigned to the Division, 172 are assigned to Tallaght Garda station. The work of these Gardaí in Tallaght is supported by 9 Garda Reserves and 10 civilians.
This Government is committed to the ongoing recruitment of trainee Gardaí, and to this end the first intake since 2009 of new recruits commenced training at the Garda College, Templemore, in September of last year. To date there has been five intakes of Garda Trainees to the Garda College, giving a total intake of 475. It is planned that a further 75 recruits will enter college by the end of November, bringing total recruitment of Garda Trainees to 550. So far 295 of the new Garda Trainees have attested as members of An Garda Síochána. On attestation, new Probationer Gardaí are assigned to Garda stations throughout the country by the Garda Commissioner, where they are assigned to mainstream uniform policing duties. I am assured by Garda management that the needs of all Garda Divisions are fully considered when determining the allocation of newly attested Gardaí and in this regard I am informed that five Probationer Gardaí have been assigned to Tallaght.
The increased budget allocation for An Garda Síochána in 2016 which I recently announced, provides for the recruitment of 600 new Gardaí in addition to the 550 that will be recruited by year end. This will bring the total number of trainee Gardai recruited since September 2014 to 1,150 by the end of 2016. The ongoing recruitment of new Gardaí is crucial to An Garda Síochána and for the safety of communities throughout the State. This ramped-up recruitment underscores the determination of this Government to deliver an effective, responsive police service to protect our communities and respond to emerging crime trends.
This Government has also invested over €34 million in new Garda vehicles since 2012 with over 640 new vehicles coming on stream in 2015, ranging from more Garda patrol cars to high-powered vehicles for armed units. This will ensure Gardaí can be mobile, visible and responsive, on the roads and in the community. We are also investing in airborne surveillance and enhanced technology and ICT systems.
Operation Thor, a new multi-strand national anti-crime and anti-burglary operation which was launched by the Garda Commissioner earlier this week, will make full use of this continuing investment. Operation Thor, which has been in planning for several months, builds on previous and current Garda operations and entails a broad range of activities to tackle crime, particularly burglaries in both urban and rural communities nationwide. A further allocation of in excess of €5 million has been committed to Operation Thor. This allocation, which includes funding for Garda overtime will support a combination of additional patrols, checkpoints, rapid armed response and public awareness measures.
I am confident that the totality of the Government's investment will ensure that An Garda Síochána has the capacity to provide effective policing services throughout the country.
I have requested the figures from the Garda Commissioner in relation to the Garda vehicles assigned to Tallaght District and on receipt I will write to the Deputy.
126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current and-or expected residency status of a person (details supplied) in County Waterford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38524/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned applied for a right of residency in the State, accompanied by a right to work, based on her parentage of an Irish citizen child on 27 February 2015. This application is under consideration at present and INIS expect to be in a position to convey a decision to the person concerned by the end of November.
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.
127. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she has discussed with the British Ambassador to Ireland or with representatives of the British Government the content of a recent RTE programme (details supplied). [38528/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe matter to which the Deputy refers was raised as a speculation in the television programme concerned. I have not raised this matter with either the British Ambassador or the British Government.
128. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of an application for a residence card by a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and when that person can expect a decision, considering that the application was made on 10 February 2015. [38529/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned was refused an application for a residence card, under the provisions of the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2006 and 2008 (the "Regulations"), on 12 January, 2015.
A request by the applicant for a review of this decision was received on 10 February, 2015. The legal representative for the applicant has recently responded to a request for further information in relation to their client's application for residence in the State. The request for a review remains under consideration and the EU Treaty Rights Review Unit will be in contact with the person in question in due course.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using 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.
129. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to establish a new firearms assessment and appeals authority; to appoint members of the National Sports Coalition to this authority; the number of members that will make up the authority; and the range of skill sets and experience she will require to be represented on the authority. [38564/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI recently announced fundamental long term reforms of firearms licensing including the establishment of a new Firearms Assessment and Appeals Authority. The primary function of the Authority will be to determine, on the basis of an objective assessment of all the issues, with safety of the public being paramount, whether particular forms of firearms may be licensed in the State, whether there should be any limit on the number of such firearms and what safety conditions might properly be applied to their licensing. The functions of the Authority will be subject to further consultation with key stakeholders in advance of the preparation of the necessary enabling legislation, which will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence. I have also sought submissions on the proposed Authority from the Firearms Consultative Panel, which is made up of key stakeholders, including the Sports Coalition. Accordingly, it is premature at this stage to decide on the make up of the Authority before the consultation process.
130. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will support a matter (details supplied) regarding anti-social behaviour; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38606/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise the Deputy that I have brought the specific matter to which he refers to the attention of the Garda authorities. The Deputy will appreciate that queries relating to local authority functions are not a matter for my Department.
I can, however, assure the Deputy that it is the policy of An Garda Síochána to deploy personnel to establish a highly visible and accessible service to communities to tackle crime, the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour. If a person feels that a crime has been committed they should contact their local Garda station.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda approach to community policing includes a strong focus on quality of life issues and collaboration with local authorities to help address the causes of anti-social behaviour. As part of their role, local Community Gardaí also engage directly with residents, schools and relevant community groups to address issues of local concern.
132. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the percentage of staff in her Department capable of dealing with the public in the Irish language; if there are training programmes in place for staff to improve their level of working Irish; the provision there is for other minority languages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38628/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has over 47 members of staff, almost 3% of the staff cohort, on a panel of officials who are available to do work through Irish and can deal with queries in Irish from members of the public. The Department also has a full-time Irish translator, who is principally engaged in the translation of Rules of Court to Irish.
Since 2006, with the commencement of its inaugural Irish Language Scheme, the Department of Justice and Equality has run 23 in-house Irish courses, both written and oral, tailored for members of staff. These courses were run, concurrently in some cases, by Gaeleagras, Gaelchultúr and the Institute of Public Administration, in the Department’s offices in both Dublin and Killarney. In addition, the Department has supported members of staff who wished to do Irish courses outside of the Department, and officials who participated in an on-line written Irish course, and continues to support staff who wish to do Irish courses. One official of the Department has gone on to do a Master’s Degree in Irish while another, who had attended a number of the in-house courses, has gone on to do a B.A. Degree in Irish.
During Irish Language Week each year, for the past number of years, the Department has held an event to foster the use of the language within the Department, all of which events have been very well attended.
In respect of other languages, where the resource to communicate through a language is not available internally, my Department outsources translation services.
133. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the funding allocated by her Department to organisations not audited directly by the Comptroller and Auditor General; the names of these organisations; the funding allocated to each over the past five years; the process in place to ensure that value for money is achieved and that the funding allocated is audited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38674/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to inform the Deputy that it has not been possible to provide the information requested in the time available. I will write to the Deputy directly when this information is to hand.
134. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he acknowledges that the announcement of the availability of the refund of preschool fees on 21 October 2015, with a deadline of 23 October 2015, was unfair and unpractical (details supplied); if he will allow for an extension of the period allowed to apply for the refund. [38568/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt present, the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme covers children who have reached the age of 3 years and 2 months by 1st September of the relevant year. Children born between 2nd February 2011 and 30th June 2012 and who have not previously availed of the ECCE programme in the Sept 2014 pre-school year, are eligible to avail of the free pre-school provision in the school year commencing September 2015. Some of these children were eligible under the current eligibility criteria to avail of the free pre-school year in either the school year commencing in September 2015 or the school year commencing September 2016.
Following the Budget announcement, which expanded the ECCE programme to allow children to access free pre-school from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, some parents who had initially opted to enrol their children for the 2016 commencement date decided to enrol in the current school year. This enables them to avail of the further provision in the school year commencing September 2016 that resulted from the Budget measures.
Pre-school providers can register those children now opting to avail of the programme in the current year on the Programme Implementation Platform (PIP) using the "registration request" facility, stating that the Budget 2016 announcement is the reason for the delay in applying for the place. Once the free pre-school place is approved and the provider receives payment for the child, the parent must be refunded.
