Written answers
Thursday, 17 July 2014
Department of Justice and Equality
Programme for Government Implementation
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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585. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide in tabular format the commitments under the Programme for Government which her Department is responsible for; the progress made to date with regard to each commitment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32399/14]
Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The current status of commitments pertaining to my Department is outlined in the tabular statement below. The timeline for delivery of the commitments is over the lifetime of the Government.
| Commitment | Status (Completed/In Progress/Under Review) |
|---|---|
| We will fast-track the substantial reforms needed for our bankruptcy legislation to bring us into line with best international standards, focusing on a flexible personal bankruptcy system that reduces discharge time for honest bankrupts. | Completed |
| We will legislate to end upward only rent reviews for existing leases. | It has not proved possible to develop a targeted scheme to tackle this issue. |
| We will explore the possibility of a new agreement on visitor visas with the UK, offering tourists the opportunity to visit the UK and Ireland with one visa, at a reasonable cost to tap into the tourism market for significant events. | Completed |
| We will permit postgraduate students to be allowed work here for up to a year after they complete their studies. High-value research students will be permitted to bring families if they are staying more than two years. | Completed |
| A referendum to amend the Constitution to allow the State to cut the salaries of judges in restricted circumstances as part of a general cut across the public sector | Completed |
| We will amend the Official Secrets Act, retaining a criminal sanction only for breaches which involve a serious threat to the vital interests of the state. | Under Review |
| We will halve the cost of the existing provision of ministerial transport. We will provide for the efficient use of transport including the release of Garda drivers to normal policing duties. We will end the automatic right to state cars for former office holders and other state officials. | Completed |
| Improve co-ordination and integration to delivery of services to the Traveller community across all Government departments, using available resources more effectively to deliver on principles of social inclusion, particularly in area of Traveller education through the DEIS programme | In Progress |
| Fast-tracking personal bankruptcy reform needed to bring us into line with best international standards, such as introducing a flexible discharge period for “honest bankrupts”, defined as one that has materially complied with the Tax, NAMA and Companies Acts among others. | Completed |
| We will improve the quality of information available on the Irish housing market by requiring that the selling price of all dwellings is recorded in a publically available, national housing price database | Completed |
| Enact legislation to strengthen the rights of victims of crime and their families, to ensure that victims and their needs are at the heart of the justice process and that rights to information, advice and other appropriate assistance are met effectively and efficiently. | In Progress |
| Ensure that rogue bankers and all those that misappropriate or embezzle funds are properly pursued for their crimes and that the full rigours of the law will apply to them | In Progress |
| Enact a new consolidated and reformed anti-corruption law to punish white collar crime and end the impunity from consequences for corporate behaviour that threatens the economy. | In Progress |
| Strengthen measures to ensure that convicted white collar criminals cannot transfer assets to spouses or other family members and we will empower the Criminal Assets Bureau to pursue such convicted white collar criminals for any legal aid costs awarded to them. | Under Review |
| Enact legislation to strengthen the powers of the Criminal Assets Bureau in relation to forfeiting the proceeds of crime. | In Progress |
| Establish a DNA Database to assist the Gardaí in the investigation of serious crime, such as homicides and sexual offences. The database will also be utilised to enhance cooperation with the EU in the area of asylum and immigration. There will be appropriate safeguards in relation to inclusion on and access to the DNA database. | In Progress Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2013 enacted on 22 June 2014. |
| Provide statutory guidelines for the witness protection programme. | In Progress |
| Introduce x-ray scanners to all prisons to screen people and goods entering prisons to stop the flow of drugs and mobile telephones into prisons. | Completed |
| Ensure that administrative duties are carried out by civilian staff in order to free up highly trained Gardaí for preventing and detecting crime. | In Progress |
| Reform the prosecution and judicial case management systems so as to reduce the number of Gardaí unnecessarily detained in the courts. | In Progress |
| Fully implement the Fines Act 2010 and extend the use of Community Service Orders. Where a member of the judiciary is considering the imposition of a prison sentence of one year or less, he/she will be required by legislation to first consider the appropriateness of Community Service Orders as an alternative to imprisonment. | Completed |
| End the practice of imprisoning people who cannot pay fines and debts and introduce a system which takes a small amount of money from wages or social welfare by “attachment order” to pay off a fine or debt over time, as an alternative to imprisonment for people who refuse to pay. | Completed |
| Introduce legislation to ensure that aggravating factors are considered in sentencing and to allow for the criminal prosecution service to make a submission on sentence, which draws to the court's attention aggravating factors which relate to the crime. | Under Review |
| Introduce a series of post-imprisonment restraint orders for violent and sexual offenders to include electronic tagging and other restrictions, which may be imposed at the time of sentencing. | In Progress |
| Violent and sexual offenders may only earn remission based on good behaviour, participation in education and training, and completion of addiction treatment programmes and, where appropriate, sex offender programmes. We will review the workings of the Prison Act 2007 in relation to incentivising engagement with rehabilitative services in prison. | In Progress |
| Strengthen the Inspector of Prisons, by putting the office on a statutory footing and removing restrictions on publication by the Inspector of Prisons of his/her reports. | Completed |
| Prison visiting committees will furnish their reports to the Inspector of Prisons who will be under an obligation to publish them. The Inspector of Prisons will make an annual report to the Minister for Justice and the Oireachtas Justice Committee, and will be empowered to appear before that committee on such other occasions as may be appropriate. | In Progress |
| Ensure better coordination between the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service to create an integrated offender management programme | In Progress |
| Review will be conducted of the working of mandatory sentencing laws in the context of an overall review of drugs policy. | In Progress |
| Review the proposal to build a new prison at Thornton Hall and consider alternatives, if any, to avoid the costs yet to be incurred by the state in building such a new prison. We are conscious of the need to provide in-cell sanitation to all prisons and, in so far as resources permit, to upgrade prison facilities. | In Progress |
| Tackle anti-social behaviour and the plague of low level crime that is so destructive of community life. | In Progress |
| Build on the existing community policing partnerships and forums to enhance trust between local communities and their Gardaí. | In Progress |
| Give special emphasis to alternative programmes for juvenile offenders through extensions to the Juvenile Liaison Officer Scheme and the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme, and the extended use of Restorative Justice where appropriate. | In Progress |
| Examine outcomes-based contracts with community organisations to help reduce re-offending by young people, based on the social impact bond model in the U.K. | In progress - in conjunction with Department of Children and Youth Affairs |
| Strengthen the supply reduction effort and criminal assets seizures, particularly at local level. | In Progress |
| Reduce the flow of drugs to prisons. | In Progress |
| Carry out a full review of the Drug Treatment Court Programme to evaluate its success and potential in dealing with young offenders identified as having serious problem with drugs. | In Progress |
| Legislate to establish a Judicial Council, with lay representation, to provide an effective mechanism for dealing with complaints against judges. | In Progress |
| Introduce a constitutional amendment to allow Government to reduce the pay of the judiciary as a whole in line with other public sector reductions. We will also provide a modern and reformed framework for judicial expenses. | Completed |
| Introduce a constitutional amendment to allow for the establishment of a distinct and separate system of family courts to streamline family law court processes and make them more efficient and less costly. We will take the necessary steps to create a permanent Civil Court of Appeal. | In Progress |
| Encourage and facilitate use of mediation to resolve commercial, civil and family disputes in order to speed up resolution of disputes, reduce legal costs and ameliorate the stress of contested court proceedings. | In Progress |
| Provide for a Commercial Court to facilitate speedy resolution of disputes at Circuit Court level, where monies in dispute do not warrant High Court jurisdiction. | Under Review |
| Introduce legislation to facilitate courts making provision for structured settlements in circumstances where lump sums are currently awarded as a consequence of individuals suffering catastrophic injury because of the negligence of another. | In Progress |
| Create an enforcement mechanism for District Court maintenance orders in family cases. | Completed |
| We will modernise and reform outdated elements of family law. | In Progress |
| Introduce consolidated and reformed domestic violence legislation to address all aspects of domestic violence, threatened violence and intimidation in a manner that provides protection to victims. | In Progress |
| Establish independent regulation of the legal professions to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints. | In Progress |
| Introduce comprehensive reforms of the immigration, residency and asylum systems , which will include a statutory appeals system and set out rights and obligations in a transparent way. | In Progress |
| Provide for the efficient processing and determination of citizenship applications within a reasonable time. | Completed |
| Ensure that all State boards have at least 40% of each gender. | In Progress |
| Promote greater co-ordination and integration of delivery of services to the Traveller community across Government, using available resources more effectively to deliver on principles of social inclusion, particularly in the area of Traveller education. | In Progress |
| Require all public bodies to take due note of equality and human rights in carrying out their functions. | In Progress |
| Promote policies which integrate minority ethnic groups in Ireland, and which promote social inclusion, equality, diversity and the participation of immigrants in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their communities. | In Progress |
| Publish, following wide consultation, a realistic implementation plan for the National Disability Strategy, including sectoral plans with achievable timescales and targets within available resources. Ensuring whole-of-government involvement and monitoring of the Strategy, in partnership with the disability sector. | In Progress |
| Examine different mechanisms to promote the recognition of Irish Sign Language. | In Progress |
| Reform the law on mental capacity to ensure the greatest degree of autonomy for people with intellectual disabilities or suffering with mental illnesses in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. | In Progress |
| We will enact legislation to amend tax and social welfare law in respect of civil partnerships. We will amend the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabiting Couples Act 2010 to address any anomalies or omissions, including those relating to children. | In Progress |
| We will enhance the Irish role in EU judicial and home affairs cooperation | In Progress |
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