Written Answers Nos. 471-490
471. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the date on which and the format in which the Garda Commissioner consulted with his Department regarding the creation of the Charleton liaison committee. [35375/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra472. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the meaning of the phrase "The Commissioner subsequently sought formal sanction to retain the services of a small number of individuals"; and the way the Commissioner could sanction to retain persons if they had not been formally sanctioned by his Department, the Policing Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. [35376/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra473. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the meaning of the phrase "The Commissioner subsequently sought formal sanction to retain the services of a small number of individuals"; and the way the Commissioner could seek to sanction to retain persons to work on the Charleton liaison committee in view of the fact that this was a new committee that did not actually exist before. [35377/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra474. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, if the Garda Commissioner employed persons as part of the Charleton liaison committee before getting formal sanction from his Department, the Policing Authority or the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. [35378/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra475. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, if his Department was consulted on the persons that would be hired by the Garda Commissioner as part of the Charleton liaison committee prior to their selection by the Commissioner. [35379/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra476. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the names of the persons that the Garda Commissioner has hired to be part of the Charleton liaison committee; and the length of their contract and commencement dates of each. [35380/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra477. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, if he will provide full evidence that all the persons who have been hired by the Garda Commissioner to form part of the Charleton liaison committee were employed following a full public procurement process; and if he will supply the details of same. [35381/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra478. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, if any of the persons who are now hired by the Garda Commissioner to form part of the Charleton liaison committee commenced work prior to the Garda Commissioner getting formal approval for those persons to commence work from his Department, the Policing Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. [35382/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra479. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, when approval was given by his Department for the Garda Commissioner to engage a solicitor as part of the Charleton liaison committee. [35383/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra480. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, when he was consulted by the Garda Commissioner regarding the hiring of a solicitor as part of the Charleton liaison committee. [35384/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra481. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the reason his Department is of the view it was necessary for the Garda Commissioner to hire a solicitor to be part of the Charleton liaison committee in view of the fact that the An Garda Síochána already has an in-house legal team. [35385/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra482. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the detail of the procurement process that took place for the solicitor that was hired as part of the Charleton liaison committee by the Garda Commissioner. [35386/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra483. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 62 of 1 June 2017, the contact details, commencement date and remuneration details of the solicitor that was hired by the Garda Commissioner to be part of the Charleton liaison committee. [35387/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra484. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the purpose of the Charleton liaison committee that is based An Garda Síochána; the location the committee is based; the number of persons that work in it; the reporting lines of every person based in the committee; the persons that have access to the work of the committee; and the budget of the committee. [35388/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra485. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if all gardaí irrespective of rank or title who are referenced in the disclosures tribunal have equal access to the Charleton liaison committee, equal use of its resources and equal access to its information and data as it pertains to their individual modules. [35389/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra486. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if all the persons that have been hired by the Garda Commissioner to form part of the Charleton liaison committee were sanctioned by his Department and employed following a full public procurement process; and if so, the details of same. [35390/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra487. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if Government approval was received for the setting up of the Charleton liaison committee; and if so, the date on which. [35391/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 471 to 487, inclusive, together.
The Disclosures Tribunal was appointed following the passing of Resolutions by this House and Seanad Éireann on 16 February 2017. Those resolutions require the Tribunal to report to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann with its findings and recommendations. Therefore, I do not propose to say or do anything which could be interpreted as impinging on its independence.
As the Deputy will also be aware it is the Garda Commissioner who has statutory responsibility to carry on and manage and control generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána. Accordingly, the putting in place of internal structures to service the Tribunal is a matter for the Commissioner and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. The question of Government approval does not arise. Similarly, the selection of personnel to support those structures is a matter for the Commissioner. I do not believe that it would be proper for me as Minister to prescribe the approach which is taken by An Garda Síochána towards the Tribunal. Indeed, I would be open to criticism if I were to seek to influence how An Garda Síochána fulfil their duties to the Tribunal.
As previously advised in reply to Parliamentary Questions No. 62 of 1 June 2017 and Nos. 762 to 778 of 20 June 2017, the Government has been anxious to ensure that the Disclosures Tribunal receives the greatest degree of assistance possible from all parties, not least An Garda Síochána and to that end, has been supportive of the Commissioner in ensuring that she has the resources at her disposal to service the Tribunal in a timely and effective manner. In light of the importance of the Tribunal and the urgency of its work, it was agreed that arrangements should be put in place without delay to facilitate that work. The Commissioner identified a requirement that could best be met by the re-engagement of a small number of retired persons and my Department approved this in February 2017, subject to formal sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which was conveyed in May 2017. The formal sanction provided for the engagement of three persons (i.e. two retired members of An Garda Síochána and one civilian) for up to 9 months for the purposes of servicing the Tribunal. I am advised that the services of two former members of An Garda Síochána have been engaged for a period of nine months from March to November 2017 and that their contracts fully comply with pension abatement regulations. These contracts were initially for a period of six months to the August but have recently been extended to the end of November. My Department was not consulted nor should it have been in relation to the selection of the particular individuals concerned.
The rehiring of persons on a contract basis does not require the approval of either the Policing Authority or the Government. Neither is there a requirement to tender for the purposes of rehiring retired individuals on a temporary basis.
Approval was also granted to retain the services of a solicitor which would require a procurement process and the involvement of the Office of Government Procurement. In the event, those services are being provided by the Chief State Solicitor's Office and the Commissioner has not availed of the sanction to date.
I am informed that the work of the two retired members supports the Disclosure Tribunal Co-Ordination Office based in Garda Headquarters which is staffed by one full-time member, seconded temporarily from the Office of Corporate Communications, to whom the normal supervisory rules apply. That Office will assist any member of An Garda Síochána, serving and retired, irrespective of rank in relation to the Tribunal. A number of additional personnel are facilitating the work of this office on an ad hoc basis as requirements dictate. I am further informed that liaison persons have been nominated from relevant sections/Regions to deal with specific requests from the Tribunal. Funding for the Co-Ordination Office is met from the overall Garda budget.
It should be understood that the provision of these additional resources is to ensure that An Garda Síochána as an organisation is able to cooperate with the Tribunal to the fullest extent, without unduly affecting the ability of the organisation to continue to carry out its normal vital work. That said, there is nothing in the arrangements put in place by the Commissioner to prevent, nor could they, the right of any individual member of An Garda Síochána to make any representations they see fit, relevant to its terms of reference, to the Tribunal.
488. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 623 of 28 June 2005 (details supplied), his plans to amend same for record of Dáil Éireann. [35402/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to the response to Question No. 132 of 21 March 2017 and to previous questions which set out the position in respect of this matter. The position in this regard has not changed. The Deputy will appreciate, of course, that the sale of the barracks to which he refers which was completed in March 2004 was a matter for the Minister for Defence at that time.
489. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will expedite the visa application of a person (details supplied). [35419/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the visa application referred to has been processed. The application was refused on 17 July, 2017, and the applicant has been advised of the reasons for the decision.
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.
In addition, applicants may themselves e-mail queries relating to visa applications directly to INIS (visamail@justice.ie).
The overall position with regard to the visa regime in respect of Libyan nationals is set out in my response to Parliamentary Questions no. 64 and 75 of 12 July last.
490. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans regarding the court services in County Westmeath (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35437/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that Mullingar Courthouse is currently being refurbished and extended as part of the Courts Service seven courthouse PPP bundle. The Mullingar courthouse is currently scheduled for completion and handover to the Courts Service at the end of November 2017. During the construction period the Courts Service endeavoured to maintain as many court sittings as possible within the county of Westmeath. Temporary accommodation was acquired in Mullingar (in St Loman's GAA Club) to ensure that District Court sittings remained in Mullingar. In addition, Athlone courthouse has accommodated, on a temporary basis, increased Circuit Court sittings for civil and family law business.
The opening of the refurnished and extended Mullingar Courthouse will enable the return of sittings of the Circuit Criminal Court to Mullingar. There are currently no plans to transfer criminal, civil and family law cases relating to the District Court Area of Athlone to Mullingar. Consequently no consideration is being given to a reduction in District Court sitting days in Athlone.
