Written Answers Nos. 338-348
338. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Justice if the central authority for child abduction in her Department gives advice to Irish parents that have been the victim of child abduction; if a response will issue in relation to the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15546/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish Central Authority for Child Abduction is located within my Department. The Central Authority can only assist on cases where children have been removed from this jurisdiction to a country that is a bilateral partner to the 1980 Hague Convention, that is, where their accession is accepted by this jurisdiction.
My officials are dealing with the case referred to by the Deputy and contact has been made with the person concerned. However, I hope you will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me, as Minister, to comment on any individual case.
Additionally, the Central Authority for Child Abduction does not provide legal advice but can advise an individual about how to make an application under the Hague Convention.
339. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Justice if the current procedures will be reviewed for injuries incurred on duty for prison officers (details supplied). [15554/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted on Prison Officers provides for compensation in respect of personal injuries criminally inflicted on prison officers in the course of duty.
The Scheme is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, which is independent in the matter of individual decisions on applications for compensation.
While there has been engagement between the Department and the Irish Prison Service on the operation of the Scheme, paragraph 7 of the Scheme already provides that compensation awarded by the Tribunal will be on the basis of damages awarded under the Civil Liability Acts (except in a range of defined circumstances set out in that paragraph).
In assessing an award for general damages under the prison officer scheme, the Tribunal in the past took the Book of Quantum into account.
In April 2021 the Judicial Council Personal Injuries Guidelines were commenced and I can confirm that since then, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal has regard to those guidelines in assessing general damages under the prison officer scheme.
340. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the number of refugees admitted into Ireland in each year since 2011, by country under the Irish Humanitarian Admission Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15562/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Irish Refugee Protection Programme Humanitarian Admission Programme (IHAP) was announced in May 2018.
The processing of applications made under the IHAP programme is the only element of the IRPP that remains under my Department's remit following the transfer of this function to the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth on 14 October 2020
The programme allowed holders of an international protection status in Ireland, (i.e. refugees with Convention or Programme Refugee status), holders of Subsidiary Protection grants, and Irish citizens, to make a proposal to me to bring to the State their family members who are nationals of one of the top ten major source countries of refugees as identified by the UNHCR Annual Global Trends Report.
The table below provides information on IHAP beneficiaries approved by country and by year.
|
IHAP beneficiaries approved by country and year |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2018-2021 |
|
Syrian Arab Republic |
43 |
125 |
67 |
6 |
241 |
|
Eritrea |
3 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
14 |
|
Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The |
21 |
86 |
80 |
7 |
194 |
|
Afghanistan |
18 |
78 |
79 |
15 |
190 |
|
Sudan |
13 |
53 |
32 |
2 |
100 |
|
South Sudan |
0 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
|
Somalia |
2 |
27 |
33 |
9 |
71 |
|
Lebanon |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Myanmar |
0 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
8 |
|
Subtotal by year: |
100 |
385 |
302 |
39 |
|
|
Total for all years: |
826 |
The IHAP programme had two windows for applications in mid 2018 and early 2019 and all decisions were completed by the end of 2021. There are no statistics for any years other than those given above due to the time limited nature of the programme.
341. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the number of refugees admitted into Ireland in each year since 2011 under the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15563/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2014, Ireland introduced a Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP). The SHAP offered naturalised Irish citizens of Syrian birth and Syrian nationals already legally resident in Ireland an opportunity to make an application for vulnerable close family members to join them in Ireland for up to two years under a sponsorship programme.
This Programme was an additional initiative in response to the crisis in Syria and was without prejudice to other existing avenues whereby by Syrian national might lawfully enter the State, such as family reunification for the family members of refugees and persons with subsidiary protection, and the UNHCR's resettlement programme.
Applications under the SHAP programme were accepted from 14 March 2014 to 30 April 2014 and all decisions on applications were issued in that year.
In total, 84 applications were received for 307 beneficiaries. Of these, 44 applications were approved for 119 beneficiaries, with 40 applications refused in respect of 188 beneficiaries because they did not meet the criteria for the Programme.
SHAP immigration stamps were issued to 79 people who took up their SHAP immigration permissions and travelled to Ireland between 2014 and January 2017. In 2021, SHAP immigration permissions were renewed in respect of 12 beneficiaries.
Between 2011 and the end of February 2022, a total of 1,406 Syrian nationals were granted international protection under the Refugee Act 1996 (up to 2016) and the International Protection Act 2015 (from 2017).
Prior to the transfer of responsibility for the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) from my Department to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on 14 October 2020, a total of 3,358 people were relocated and resettled to Ireland, the vast majority of which were Syrian nationals.
Additionally, Syrian nationals legally resident in Ireland on another immigration permission, for example as students or people with employment permits, may apply for an extension of their permission to remain in the State while the crisis situation in Syria continues.
342. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Justice the number of refugees admitted into Ireland to date under the Afghan Admission Programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15564/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the most recent crisis in Afghanistan, the Government introduced an immigration programme specifically for Afghan nationals. It offers temporary Irish residence to people whose freedom or safety is at risk, whether resident in Afghanistan or in certain neighbouring countries having fled from Afghanistan since 1 August 2021, and who have close family members in Ireland.
The Afghan Admission Programme opened on 16 December 2021 and my Department accepted applications posted on or before 11 March 2022.
I can confirm that approximately 500 applications have been received and will be assessed in line with the published criteria for the Programme.
I expect to be in a position to provide a more comprehensive update in the coming weeks.
343. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Justice if she will advise on a matter raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15568/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraOnce a non EEA national reaches 16 years of age while resident in the State, they are required to attend at their local immigration office to register their permission and to receive an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card in their own right.
The person referred to by the Deputy can write to Unit 4 in the Residence Division of my Department to request the permission letter by email or post at the contact details provided below.
Email: Unit4Residence@justice.ie.
Postal Address:
Residence Unit 4
Immigration Service Delivery
Department of Justice
13-14 Burgh Quay
Dublin 2 D02 XK70
Ireland
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, 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 Question process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in the cases where the response is, in the Deputy's view, inadequate or too long awaited.
344. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice the number of domestic violence calls to an Garda Síochána in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15587/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can assure the Deputy I am committed to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) in all its forms, and to ensuring that people, particularly women and vulnerable people, feel safe and are safe where they live, work and socialise.
The prioritisation of this hugely important work is evident in the policy and legislative developments implemented by this Government and those that are currently being progressed. Additionally, increased budget allocations have been secured this year in order to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and to support victims of this heinous and unacceptable behaviour.
As the Deputy may be aware, I am currently leading work on a new whole of Government strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. This new strategy will have a particular focus on prevention, and on ensuring victims are better supported. It will set an overall goal of zero tolerance in our society for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
The new Strategy will be structured around the four pillars or goals of the Istanbul Convention which are -
- Prevention
- Protection
- Prosecution
- Co-ordinated Policies.
Under each of these high level objectives there will be a number of specific aims listed but the Strategy and aims will be high level in tone and content.
The Strategy has been developed in partnership with the sector to ensure it is targeted, comprehensive and effective in achieving all of the goals set out.
It is my intention to publish the final Strategy and its accompanying Action Plans in April.
On foot of the Deputy's question, I contacted An Garda Síochána to seek the specific information sought and that is presented below:
To determine the number of Domestic Abuse incidents reported in a given timeframe a number of criteria are applied. The counts in the table below are a combination of the following:
The incident type is one of:
- Breach of Interim Barring Order
- Breach of Protection Order
- Breach of Barring Order
- Breach of Safety Order
- Domestic Dispute - No Offence Disclosed
- Breach of Emergency Barring Order
- Or is of any incident type, but with a recorded motive of ‘Domestic Abuse’.
In addition to the above, incidents of any type recorded on PULSE which were the result of a call for assistance where the dispatcher assigned the type as ‘DVSA’ (Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault) are also included in the counts.
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
|
Domestic Abuse Incidents |
44,411 |
48,837 |
10,924 |
Incident counts are based on reported date and were collated based on PULSE data as of 1:30am on the 21st March 2022. Crime counting rules are not applied to reflect all recorded incidents.
Operation Faoiseamh commenced on 01 April 2020 and is an initiative undertaken by An Garda Síochána for the purpose of providing enhanced proactive support to victims of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Garda National Protective Service Bureau (GNPSB) oversees the implementation of this proactive initiative, which was launched with the aim of ensuring that victims of domestic abuse are supported and protected.
345. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice the status of her Department’s efforts to tackle sex trafficking in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15589/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraHuman trafficking is a heinous crime based on deception and exploitation of vulnerable people. Combatting it is, and will continue to be, a priority for me and for this Government.
An Garda Síochána has committed significant resources to the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking in Ireland. A specialised Garda Unit, the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit (HTICU), has been in place since 2009 to conduct investigations into human trafficking. It also provides advice, support and where necessary, operational assistance to investigations at district level. An Garda Síochána is also active in relation to trafficking gangs through work targeting organised crime – this includes targeting their finances and their use of the internet and by Gardaí working closely with other jurisdictions.
I can assure the Deputy that this Government is serious about preventing and prosecuting for human trafficking, and committed to supporting those that are victims of it. We are confident that the victim-centred policy approach we are taking will encourage more victims to come forward and access supports and that this will, in turn, strengthen prosecutions and convictions.
Last year Government approved proposals to revise the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to make it easier for victims of trafficking to come forward, be identified and access advice, accommodation and support.
The revised NRM will provide for all agencies, both State and civil society, to co-operate, share information about potential victims, identify those victims and facilitate their access to advice, accommodation and support.
The new approach acknowledges various state bodies and NGOs have a role in identifying victims of human trafficking and referring them to the NRM.
We want to be sure that every victim of trafficking is identified and helped so we can support them. Doing this will also help us gather more information and evidence in order to bring to justice the traffickers who prey on vulnerable people with no regard for the lives and safety of their victims.
In addition, the development of a new National Action Plan on human trafficking is also taking place. A consultant has produced a short and focused analysis of the current position in relation to human trafficking in Ireland. The analysis includes a research review, a synopsis of the extent of trafficking in Ireland and a summary of issues to address.
Following that analysis, the Department of Justice is now engaged with a working group to draft a new National Action Plan. Officials will be engaging with Civil Society representatives in the coming weeks with a view to finalising the plan to submit to Government after the Easter recess.
346. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice the supports for women seeking to leave sex work; and the plans her Department is considering to implement further supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15590/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is generally recognised that prostitution is inherently exploitative of vulnerable persons, mainly women and girls, and that many people are forced into prostitution through trafficking, drug addiction, homelessness and poverty.
My Department provides funding to Ruhama, an organisation that provides supports to people who are exiting prostitution.
During the Covid pandemic my Department provided additional Covid related funding to a number of organisations, including Ruhama, to ensure they can continue to deliver their vital services during this time and this funding continues.
It will also be of interest to the Deputy to note that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 removed those who offer their services as a prostitute from the existing offences of soliciting for the purpose of prostitution and criminalised the purchase of sex.
A key purpose of the 2017 Sexual Offences Act was to provide additional protection to persons involved in prostitution, especially vulnerable persons and victims of human trafficking. It allows those engaged in prostitution to provide information to Gardaí, for instance if they were subjected to violence by clients, without fear of prosecution for selling sexual services.
Section 27 of the 2017 Act provides for a review of Part 4 of the Act three years after it is commenced. In the context of the goal of the legislation, which is to protect vulnerable persons, the review will include consideration of whether further measures are needed to strengthen protection for persons who engage in sexual activity for payment.
The review of Part 4 is being carried out by an independent expert and is ongoing.
Officials in my Department are also working on a legislative amendment to expunge previous convictions for ‘sale of sex’, or prostitution offences. This is a significant step in recognising and responding to the needs of victims of sex trafficking, and those forced to provide sexual services, which will include people trafficked into Ireland for that purpose.
Given the link between trafficking and prostitution, I would like to also assure you that the Government is fully committed to addressing human trafficking in all forms under Irish and EU legislation and the principal international conventions.
The Second National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Human Trafficking involves a victim-centred and human rights based approach with the ultimate aims of preventing human trafficking, ensuring an effective criminal justice response and delivery of supports to victims.
In that regard, my Department provides funding to several non-governmental organisations for their work to provide support to victims of trafficking.
Separately, last year the Government approved plans to revise the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) to make it easier for victims of human trafficking to come forward, be identified, and facilitate their access to advice, accommodation and support.
Currently, when suspected victims of human trafficking are encountered by, or referred to, An Garda Síochána, they are provided with a wide range of services by both the Government and NGOs through the NRM. The new approach acknowledges that other state bodies and NGOs have a role in identifying victims of human trafficking and referring them to An Garda Síochána.
Action is also being taken to raise public awareness in Ireland and help members of the public identify the signs of human trafficking. More information is available on www.blueblindfold.gov.ie, a website maintained by my Department.
An Garda Síochána last year formally established the Organised Prostitution Unit, attached to the Garda National Protective Services Bureau. The establishment of this specialised unit reinforces the service's commitment to protecting vulnerable persons, including victims of human trafficking involved in prostitution here.
An Garda Síochána also continues to commit significant resources to the investigation of human trafficking and organised prostitution, and to supporting vulnerable victims including those who have been victims of trafficking. A specialised Garda Unit, the Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit (HTICU), has been established to coordinate delivery of the national strategy.
347. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Justice the number of women and girls in Ireland subjected to cyber-harassment; her Department’s efforts to tackle this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15593/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI'd like to thank the Deputy for raising this issue and reaffirm my commitment to tackling all forms of harassment, whether committed online or offline.
The legislation under my remit covering offences relating to “cyber-harassment” within this jurisdiction is, in the main, contained in Coco’s Law, otherwise known as the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.
This legislation which I commenced last February introduced the following new offences in this area.
Section 2 creates an offence where a person distributes, publishes or threatens to distribute or publish an intimate image of another person without that person’s consent and with intent to cause harm to, or being reckless as to whether or not harm is caused to, the other person. The act provides a comprehensive definition of the term ‘intimate image’ and the penalties include a term of imprisonment of up to seven years on conviction on indictment.
Section 3 makes it an offence to record, distribute or publish an intimate image without consent even if there was no intent to cause harm. This summary offence provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of 12 months.
In section 4 distributing, publishing or sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication is made an indictable offence with a maximum term of imprisonment of two years. It also provides for once-off harmful communication to or about another person without the need for persistence of offending.
Coco's Law amends and updates the definition of ‘harassment’ introduced in the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 to reflect and include the cyber or online environment. It also increases the penalties for the offence of harassment, notably to 10 years for conviction on indictment as well as providing for increased fines.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána has to date, commenced 28 prosecutions by way of charges and summonses, relating to 19 separate investigations under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020.
We need to make sure that people are aware of the harm caused to victims and of the potential penalties applicable if a person is tried and convicted of engaging in this unacceptable behaviour.
On 2 September 2021, my Department with An Garda Síochána, established a partnership with Hotline.ie to create an online reporting facility. This enables victims of intimate image abuse (IIA) to report it to Hotline.ie and request the assistance of Hotline.ie who will engage with the relevant service provider to seek the removal of the illegal content reported. At the same time, if a victim requests, Hotline.ie will pass all relevant information to the Gardaí so that a thorough criminal investigation can be conducted with a view to prosecuting offenders.
I am further advised that during the period 2 September 2021 to 23 March 2022, An Garda Síochána received 39 reports from Hotline.ie. Following the removal of the reported links by Hotline.ie and further engagement by An Garda Síochána, 16 cases have been closed with no further action requested and 23 remain under assessment / investigation.
348. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Justice if exit interviews are conducted with gardaí; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15646/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including human resourcing matters. As Minister, I have no role in these matters.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that, at present, exit interviews are undertaken on an informal basis within An Garda Síochána. I am further advised that it is the intention of An Garda Síochána to incorporate an organisational approach to exit interviews within the forthcoming People Strategy which is expected to come into effect this year.
