Written Answers Nos. 253-260
253. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prosecutions in each of the past three years for driving without tax and insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29654/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have requested a report from An Garda Síochána in relation to the statistics sought by the Deputy and I will be in contact with the Deputy directly on receipt of this report.
254. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 109 of 25 April 2018, the status of the information requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29655/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Garda authorities that as part of the Garda Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016 -2021, the Garda Commissioner provided for the review and restructuring of the Computer Crime Investigation Unit (CCIU), originally a unit under the auspices of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, to establish a dedicated cybercrime bureau to ensure An Garda Síochána has the capacity and capabilities to deal with cyber-crime and cyber-security.
The Garda Cyber Crime Bureau (GCCB), under the direction of Detective Chief Superintendent, Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and Assistant Commissioner, Special Crime Operations, has responsibility for the forensic examination of all seized computer media, international liaison with regard to cyber matters and the investigation of cybercrime matters. Cases examined by the GCCB include all crime-types, in particular banking and financial crime matters, as well as the examination of equipment and media to assess images in the context of offences relating to child pornography and exploitation.
The Bureau is headed by a Detective Superintendent, who was appointed in August, 2016 and will be supported by two Detective Inspectors, with responsibility, respectively, for cyber-crime and for the forensic examination of computers and other media requiring examination as part of the investigative process.
There are currently 33 staff allocated to this unit, comprising of 1 Detective Superintendent, 1 Detective Inspector, 6 Detective Sergeants, 21 Detective Gardaí, (with one member on temporary allocation to another SCO Unit), 1 Higher Executive Officer, 1 Executive Officer and 2 Clerical Officers.
The continued roll out, on a phased basis, of Regional Triage units have been established in the Southern and South-Eastern Regions, at Ballincollig and New Ross Garda Stations. The triage model provides a tiered response and capability for computer forensic services on a Regional basis, utilising locally-based and trained first-responders and cyber triage specialists. The triage model also reduces demands on the central Bureau, while remaining under the supervision of D/Superintendent, Garda Cyber Crime Bureau. The triage units currently in place are subject of review to inform and establish best practices and processes for the establishment of further such units in other Regions.
I understand that the services being provided by the Bureau will also be assisted with the employment of specialist professional staff, in the area of computer forensics and analytics, in addition to which additional civilian support staff will be employed to support the administration and growth of the GCCB. The provision of additional resources, in terms of ICT, personnel and budget to the GCCB, is based on meeting the expressed business requirements of the section and, to date, has resulted in a reduction in the backlog of cases.
The following table shows the number of cases, relating to suspected child abuse, for which devices/media have been delivered to the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau and which await examination (cases are recorded by the Garda Cyber Crime Bureau on the date the device is submitted to the Bureau for examination).
|
Year |
No. of Cases |
|
2018 |
39 |
|
2017 |
92 |
|
2016 |
33 |
|
2015 |
1 |
Data provided is operational, provisional and liable to change and is valid from the 23 April 2018.
255. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the status of an application for a work permit by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29452/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Employment Permits Section of my Department informs me that an application for a Critical Skills Employment Permit for the person concerned was received on 11th June 2018.
The Employment Permits Section is currently processing standard applications received on 3rd April 2018 and this application should be considered in the next ten weeks.
256. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to standardise and register home care workers in cases in which all carers are documented and regularised in their immigration status for the home care industry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29488/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt my request, my Department is currently conducting a review of economic migration policies underpinning the current employment permits system to ensure that our policies are fully supportive of Ireland’s emerging labour market needs, be they skills or labour shortages in certain sectors. The review is on schedule for completion with a full report due in the coming weeks. Following on from that Report, it is expected that a review of the lists of occupations for employment permits will be conducted in the second half of this year.
Where specific skills prove difficult to source within the State and wider EEA, an employment permit may be sought by an employer to hire a non-EEA national. The employment permits system is managed in part through the operation of the highly skilled and ineligible occupation lists for the purpose of grant of employment permits.
Changes to access to the Irish labour market for specific occupations via the employment permits system are made on the basis of research undertaken by the Expert Group of Future Skills Needs and, coordinated by the National Skills Council, the annual National Skills Bulletin and the annual Vacancy Overview Report in tandem with a public consultation process.
Care workers are currently included on the Ineligible Categories of Employment List (ICEL). In order to remove a skill from this list, there would need to be a clear demonstration that recruitment difficulties are solely due to shortages across the EEA and not to other factors such as salary and/or employment conditions. Organisations in the sector would need to provide the necessary data to substantiate their claims. A detailed evidence-based case for removal of care workers from the ineligible list, based on this detailed data would then need to be put forward by the Department of Health, as the lead Department for the sector, to my Department for review and consideration.
I am aware that my colleague, Minister of State Daly, with special responsibility for Older People, has had various meetings with the nursing home sector and I understand Minister Daly is willing to work with the industry to ensure continuity of service in the best interests of residents.
The establishment of national standards and a register for home care workers would be the responsibility of the Department of Health.
257. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department will investigate the colleague representative committee in a company (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29520/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe dispute at the company referred to by the deputy relates to certain terms and conditions of employment, including that of pay and contractual security which a trade union is seeking to negotiate on behalf of its members.
As the deputy will be aware, Ireland operates a system of industrial relations that is voluntary in nature under which responsibility for the resolution of industrial disputes between employers and workers rests in the first instance with the employer, the workers and their representatives. For its part, the State provides the industrial relations dispute settlement mechanisms to support parties in their efforts to resolve their differences.
Under Irish law, as established in case law, it is not mandatory for employers to recognize trade unions. I understand that the company in question has indicated that it has in place a mechanism for direct engagement with staff through an internal representative committee. It should be noted that internal representative committees are not trade unions and as such are not required to hold a negotiating licence or to be registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies.
It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments to support the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association. An extensive range of statutory provisions have been put in place to provide the legislative support for such a framework.
The most recent legislation to facilitate this is the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 that came into effect on 1 August 2015. This Act provides a clear and balanced mechanism by which the fairness of the employment conditions of workers in their totality can be assessed in employments where collective bargaining does not take place.
This legislation was the culmination of an extensive consultation process with stakeholders at the time, including the issue of employees’ rights to engage in collective bargaining. The legislation took account of relevant European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence, as well as the conclusions and recommendations of the ILO in its consideration of a complaint by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions against the Government in the context of ILO Convention 98 to which the deputy refers.
The 2015 Act makes provision, in instances where employers engage in collective bargaining with an ‘internal excepted body’ as opposed to a trade union, for a referral to be made to the Labour Court to establish if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer. This is a role that under the legislation is vested in the Labour Court and as Minister, I have no role in this regard.
258. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if all recommendations of the Moriarty tribunal have been implemented; the recommendations that are outstanding; and when they will be implemented. [29040/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Moriarty Tribunal made a number of recommendations which relate to the responsibilities of a number of Departments.
With regard to matters that fall under my Department's responsibility, the Moriarty Tribunal made two recommendations for changes to company law, as follows:
- That a provision similar to section 172 of the UK Companies Act, 2006 be adopted, together with the adoption of additional implementation or enforcement measures.
- That consideration be given by the Oireachtas, and/or by the Company Law Review Group, to enacting provisions similar to those contained in Part 14 of the UK Companies Act, 2006, governing the control of political donations and expenditure.
The Government considered that provisions contained in Part 5 of the Companies Act, 2014 meet the objectives of the first recommendation. Part 5 introduces, for the first time in codified form, the various common law and statutory duties of company officers. The Companies Act, 2014 was signed into law by President Higgins on 23 December 2014 and it commenced on 1 June 2015.
With regard to the second recommendation above, provisions restricting corporate donations are contained in the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Act 2012, which comes within the remit of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.
259. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of times her Department has engaged polling companies and-or Irish market researchers to conduct research on its behalf in each of the past two years; the names of such companies; the costs associated with same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29567/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails of contracts that my Department has signed with polling companies and market research companies in 2016 and 2017 are set out in the table.
|
Year |
Name of Company |
Purpose of expenditure |
Cost € |
|
2016 |
Coyne Research |
Design of customer survey |
€13,776 |
|
2016 |
Behaviour and Attitudes |
Survey of Irish SMEs views on Brexit |
€52,250 |
|
2017 |
Behaviour and Attitudes |
Survey on impact of Brexit on SMEs and their capital funding |
€25,000 |
|
2017 |
Coyne Research |
Design and implementation of customer survey |
€10,332 |
260. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the unit within her Department that co-ordinates a cross-departmental response to the national competitiveness report. [29352/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Competitiveness Council (NCC) reports to the Taoiseach and the Government, through the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, on key competitiveness issues facing the Irish economy and offers recommendations on policy actions required to enhance Ireland's competitiveness position. The secretariat to the NCC is provided by my Department.
The Council annually publishes its recommendations on policy actions required to enhance Ireland's competitiveness in its Competitiveness Challenge Report. As part of this report, the Council provides updates on the issues identified as areas of concern in previous reports. These reports are presented to Government and it is the responsibility of each Government Department to consider and progress the Council's recommendations as appropriate.
