Written Answers Nos. 593-612
593. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Justice if she has addressed the matter of free legal aid being granted to repeat offenders in view of her Justice Plan 2021; if this matter is under review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11637/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, which is the primary legislation covering the operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, provides that free legal aid may be granted, in certain circumstances, for the defence of people who have insufficient means in criminal proceedings.
Under the Act, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. The Constitution obliges the State to provide an accused person with the means to obtain appropriate legal representation.
In addition, the European Convention on Human Rights provides that every person charged with a criminal offence is entitled to defend themselves in person or through legal assistance of their own choosing, or if they have insufficient means to pay for legal assistance to be given it free when the interests of justice so require.
The Deputy will appreciate that the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme must operate with due regard to these rights and that any unreasonable block on legal aid could give a convicted defendant an avenue for appeal or prohibition of the prosecution.
The overriding concern is to ensure that due process is followed and that no risk arises in relation to the prosecution of a person charged with a criminal offence before the courts.
The assignment of lawyers or the granting of aid are matters for the Court and as such are handled by the judiciary on the applicant's appearance in court. Criminal prosecutions originate in the District Court and if satisfied it is so warranted, the District Court Judge presiding will grant a criminal legal aid certificate.
There is no limit to the number of times that a person can be granted legal aid under the scheme. Whether or not an applicant has received legal aid previously is not a consideration in determining eligibility for legal aid and this information is not recorded by the Courts Service. An applicant's previous convictions are also not a criterion for the granting of criminal legal aid under the Act.
The General Scheme of legislation to amend and update the law in respect of criminal legal aid is being prepared and I intend to publish it later this year.
The key purpose of the General Scheme will be to transfer the administration of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme to the Legal Aid Board and consultation with relevant stakeholders will be undertaken once work on the draft General Scheme is completed.
The new Scheme will involve a transfer of accountability for Criminal Legal Aid expenditure to the Legal Aid Board. Among other things, the Scheme will also provide for better oversight and improved accountability for expenditure, management and control in line with Audit requirements. It will also provide for the implementation of a simple and transparent application system for Criminal Legal Aid and provide for a comprehensive body of regulations to support the administration of the amended Scheme. In the main this will be part based on existing regulations, updated as necessary.
595. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons on protection in the Irish Prison Service since 2015 to date broken down, by prison and by ethnicity [11654/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra596. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons who asked to be placed on protection in the Irish Prison Service since 2015 to date, by prison and by ethnicity. [11655/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 595 and 596 together.
I wish to advise the Deputy that prisoner safety is paramount to the Irish Prison Service and under Rule 63 of the Prison Rules 2007, a prisoner may, either at his/her own request or when the Governor considers it necessary, in so far as is practicable and subject to the maintenance and good order and safe and secure custody, be kept separate from other prisoners who are reasonably likely to cause significant harm to him/her.
Further, under Rule 62 of the Prison Rules, the Governor may decide for the maintenance of good order in the prison, to remove a prisoner from general association or structured activity to reduce the negative effect that that prisoner may have on the general population.
The Irish Prison Service record and publish the number of persons on protection on a quarterly basis, this information is available on the Irish Prison Service website www.irishprisons.ie, under Information Centre – Statistics & Information – Census Reports.
The Irish Prison Service does not record protection prisoners by ethnicity.
597. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice when the last prison census was taken; and when the next one is due to take place. [11656/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service publishes daily prisoner population counts and information is available via the following web link -
www.irishprisons.ie/information-centre/statistics-information/2015-daily-prisoner-population/
In addition, it also completes regular censuses of Prison population and Cell occupancy, including a Census of Restricted Regime Prisoners - a link to which can be found here -
www.irishprisons.ie/information-centre/statistics-information/census-reports/
I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that the Census of Restricted Regime Prisoners was last conducted on 18 January 2022. The next census is due to take place on 19 April 2022.
598. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of overtime hours provided to the Irish Prison Service, broken down by prison. for the period of 2015 to 2021 and to date in 2021; and the dates on which they were fully allocated. [11657/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt has not been possible to obtain the information requested by the Deputy in the time permitted. Relevant information has been sought and I will send it to the Deputy directly when it has been compiled.
599. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of days educational programmes were prevented from happening due to staff shortages in the Irish Prison Service since 2015 to date, by prison institution. [11658/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt has not been possible to obtain the information requested by the Deputy in the time permitted. Relevant information has been sought and I will send it to the Deputy directly when it has been compiled.
600. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice the number of days prison workshops, such as woodwork and metalwork, were closed since 2015 to date, by prison institution; and the reason for closure. [11659/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes to those in custody that include education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, counselling, welfare and spiritual services.
These programmes are available in all prisons and all prisoners are eligible to use the services.
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. There are over 120 workshops and service activities across the prison estate with a current work station capacity of 1,376. 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.
The Work and Training Service has an authorised staffing allocation of 378 Work and Training Officers who are assigned to areas such as catering, laundry, industrial cleaning, industrial skills and gym.
The manner in which records are collated does not allow the Prison Service to provide statistics on the number of days the workshops were closed and the reasons for such closures.
Statistics are not maintained on the number of days workshops were closed since 2015. Closures could be due to measures including staff shortages, infection control and other reasons.
Such statistics could only be compiled by the examination of training and workshops in each prison which would involve the commitment of a disproportionate amount of staff time impacting adversely on the work of the prisons. Statistics are available for the percentage of closed hours for 2020 and up to November 2021 and are outlined in the table below.
Closures in Prison Workshops - percentage of closed hours for 2020 and 2021.
|
Name of Prison |
% Closed hours - 2020 |
% Closed hours - 2021 (Jan- Nov) |
|
Arbour Hill |
13.41% |
20.00% |
|
Castlerea |
25.51% |
22.29% |
|
Cloverhill |
20.18% |
20.00% |
|
Cork |
29.50% |
29.19% |
|
Dóchas |
31.37% |
33.24% |
|
Limerick |
31.09% |
35.09% |
|
Loughan House |
43.52% |
15.30% |
|
Midlands |
10.23% |
23.00% |
|
Mountjoy |
26.33% |
24.82% |
|
Portlaoise |
31.32% |
24.43% |
|
Shelton Abbey |
0.00% |
0.87% |
|
Wheatfield |
73.04% |
30.67% |
|
Total |
31.45% |
24.76% |
602. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the basis of the trial currently under way on the grove in Castlerea (details supplied). [11691/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can advise the Deputy that the Grove area in Castlerea Prison consists of eight dwelling houses with accommodation for 55 prisoners and is designed to support the development of independent living skills.
In addition, there are a number of workshops, an education area, kitchen and communal dining area as well as a staff office.
I can further advise the Deputy that there has been an increase in the number of sex offenders committed to custody over the past number of years. The Prison Service has examined a number of options including accommodation in the Grove area to incentivise participation in constructive activities and prison-based therapeutic interventions to enhance public safety on release.
The Grove Area in Castlerea was selected for a number of reasons including access to services, its location away from the main prison and for other security and operational reasons.
A Standard Operating Procedure has been developed to allow for the selection and transfer of prisoners who are ready for step down procedures in sentence management plans but are not deemed suitable for an Open Centre.
Prisoners who wish to be considered for a transfer to the Grove must meet a set of clearly defined criteria including inter alia, completion of all risk relevant interventions identified in their sentence plan, be drug free, be on enhanced regime and have no disciplinary reports for a period of 3 months prior to the date of anticipated placement within the Grove. This incentivisation of engagement augments sentence planning and better identifies a pathway of interventions to address dynamic risk factors known to be associated with sex offending. Their case must also be considered at a multi-disciplinary meeting prior to any transfer being approved.
It is the intention of the Irish Prison Service to continue to develop this pathway for prisoners convicted of a sexual offences, subject to its ongoing review.
603. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice , further to Parliamentary Question No. 246 of 17 February 2022, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Irish citizens who are contacting the visa office to get their family members out of Ukraine and settled safely in Ireland are being told the process will take eight to ten weeks, and as part of this process applicants have to submit their passports to the consulate in Kyiv; the steps that she is taking to urgently address this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11693/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn Friday the 25th of February I announced the immediate lifting of visa requirements between Ukraine and Ireland.
This will streamline and support the swift exit of both the Ukrainian family members of Irish citizens, and the family members of people from Ukraine who are resident in Ireland. It will apply as an emergency measure to all Ukrainians travelling to Ireland. The Statutory Instrument removing the visa requirement for Ukraine nationals as an emergency measure takes immediate effect.
People who are considering leaving Ukraine and travelling to Ireland may for the coming period do so without a visa if they judge it safe to travel. Those who travel to Ireland without a visa during this period will initially be given a standard 90 day entry permission while appropriate support and protection measures are put in place.
604. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the current average waiting times for naturalisation certificates, in tabular form. [11738/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra605. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons waiting zero to six months, six to 12 months and more than 12 months for a certificate of naturalisation, in tabular form [11739/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 604 and 605 together.
The statistics requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below.
|
Length of time in system |
Number of applications |
|
Less than 6 months |
5,636 |
|
6 to less than 12 months |
5,931 |
|
Greater than 12 months |
14,278 |
|
Total |
25,845 |
Last year, the average time from receipt of application to issue of a decision was 23 months.
For a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.
However, my Department is taking a number of steps to speed up the processing of applications and a number of digitisation measures have also been introduced to increase efficiency in the process, including eTax clearance, eVetting and online payments. The end result of the digitisation process will be to free up more staff to focus on processing applications in a timely and efficient manner, to improve service to our customers and reduce waiting times.
Last year, my Department made 11,512 citizenship decisions, which is the highest level since 2015. Additional staff have also been assigned to the citizenship team. Based on these measures, my Department's objective is to achieve an improved timeframe of 6-9 months for decisions on a majority of applications during 2022.
606. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Justice if her Department will review issues concerning the new scorecard approach introduced for citizenship applications such as in the case of a person (details supplied); if her attention has been drawn to the fact that under the new scorecard approach this person will be unable to provide the information and documentation that is required with a citizenship application; her plans to amend the scorecard approach for young adults; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11765/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe scorecard was introduced to aid citizenship applicants in completing their applications with greater certainty than before.
This followed an examination of the application process by my Department, which found that incorrectly submitted applications are diverting considerable resources from general processing, leading to a longer processing time for all applicants.
A preliminary review of applications that have been received in recent weeks indicates that the quality of applications have improved since the introduction of the scorecard system. This is a welcome development and builds on other recent measures implemented to further improve the customer experience, including “Tara” the e-chat bot, e-payments, e-tax clearance and Gardaí e-vetting and the removal of the requirement to provide the original passport.
My Department is aware that for certain applicants the scorecard may not have addressed their individual circumstances. Accordingly a review is currently ongoing with a view to issuing updated guidance by the end of March 2022.
In these cases, the applicant can provide an affidavit detailing their situation and submit this with their application for naturalisation.
607. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the progress made in addressing the recommendation in the report of the Advisory Group on the Provision of Support including Accommodation to Persons in the International Protection Process to clear the backlog of current cases and that a one-off case-processing approach should be introduced for all applications that have been more than two years in the system. [11784/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is fully committed to implementing the key recommendations in the Expert Advisory Group Report to reduce processing times of both first instance decisions and appeals to 6 months respectively, as outlined in the White Paper to End Direct Provision and Establish a New International Protection Support Service.
The White Paper proposes that the new system should be operational by 2024 and that the intervening period should provide an opportunity to progress improvements in the overall processing times for international protection.
An end-to-end review of relevant international protection processes by a multi-disciplinary team from my Department, has now been completed and published. Over the last number of months, my Department has implemented measures to assist in meeting its overall objectives in this regard and improve on efficiencies and case throughput.
As I announced recently, the Government's Regularisation of Long-Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme will include a parallel process to implement the recommendation included in the Report of the Expert Advisory Group. Applicants who have an outstanding international protection application and have been in the asylum process for a minimum of two years can now apply for consideration under a separate strand of the Scheme. My Department has recently written to approximately 4,000 potentially eligible applicants inviting them to apply under the Scheme.
This strand opened for applications on 7 February 2022. Applications will be accepted for six months until 7 August 2022, when the strand will close. The International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department has begun contacting potentially eligible applications with further details, though all persons who feel they meet the stated criteria may apply.
Application forms can be downloaded from the IPO’s website at: www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/whatsnew and they must be submitted by email to IPRSU@ipo.gov.ie. There is no fee for making an application under this dedicated strand of the scheme.
Further details regarding the qualifying criteria, the required documentation, and how to apply for the international protection strand are available on the IPO’s website at www.ipo.gov.ie/en/ipo/pages/whatsnew.
Applications will be assessed independently of the application that has been made for international protection. There is no requirement for the applicant to withdraw their international protection application, although some may choose to do so, if successful under this scheme.
My Department will, by October 2022 at the latest, commence a review of progress made in reducing and improving processing times.
608. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will provide information on the commission on care; the terms of reference, expected membership and expected timelines; and if the commission will not delay the findings and implementation of recommendations by the Cross Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group. [11588/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is currently establishing a Commission on Care to assess how we care for older people and ensure we incorporate lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially an extensive review will be conducted on all relevant age-related strategies, with any gaps addressed through a collaborative process with a variety of stakeholders. Approaching the review from the bottom up is an opportunity to strengthen older person policies and strategies in the areas of COVID-19, Gender, Mental Health, Disabilities, and Marginalised communities. This initial review will ensure that the needs of communities across Ireland are accurately reflected in the Terms of Reference and subsequent work of the commission.
Alongside this Commission on Care, I am also committed to establishing a cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group to examine strategic workforce challenges, including recruitment and retention of workers, in front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes.
The work of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group will centre on engagement with the relevant stakeholders in the sector. To this end, a 'Call for Submissions' was issued by my Department to relevant stakeholders in December 2021. Following receipt of these completed submissions in January, my Department undertook a short-life scoping exercise to gather initial data and evidence on the nature and extent of the challenges in the sector to inform the structure and membership of this cross-departmental Group.
This scoping exercise is now complete and invitations to join the Group, along with its draft Terms of Reference, have been issued to all relevant Government Departments and agencies. The inaugural meeting of the Group will be held on Thursday, 3rd March 2022.
At this meeting, the Terms of Reference for the Group and action timelines will be agreed. These Terms of Reference will be published once finalised by the Group.
This Group will then progress a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements with key sectoral stakeholders to further explore and define the issues, listen to stakeholder views, and identify approaches to respond to the strategic workforce challenges.
The Group will provide a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address the workforce challenges in the sector and develop a report for my consideration outlining the Group’s key findings, recommendations, and a proposed action plan to support implementation of these recommendations to include periodic monitoring of progress.
609. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health when the respite services will be restored in the greater Listowel, County Kerry area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10845/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
610. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Health the current status and wait time for a person (details supplied) in view of the fact that the optimal time for the most effective treatment results is prior to the age of 16 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10846/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy, as soon as possible.
611. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Health the reason visually impaired persons who have been granted additional PA hours have not received their allocation; the steps that are being taken to address the shortfall in PA service providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10851/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is working to ensure that People with Disabilities be allowed to live an independent life of their own choosing, the same as any other person, and this is consistent with the disability reform policy - “transforming lives”.
The HSE provides a range of assisted living services including Personal Assistant (PA) services to support individuals to maximise their capacity to live full and independent lives.
Personal Assistance Services are accessed through an application process or through referrals from public health nurses or other community based staff. Individual’s needs are evaluated against the criteria for prioritisation for the particular services and then decisions are made in relation to the allocation of resources.
Resource allocation is determined by the needs of the individual, compliance with prioritisation criteria, and the level of resources available. PA and Home Support Services are provided either directly by the HSE or through a range of voluntary service providers. The majority of specialised disability provision (80%) is delivered through non-statutory sector service providers.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
612. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health if he will examine a medical card application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10854/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
