Results 8,941-8,960 of 16,457 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The development of the community safety innovation fund is a key commitment under justice plan 2022, which I believe will have a significant impact on the development of community safety projects throughout the country. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department opened applications for the new community safety innovation fund on 11 April. The new fund will use money seized from the proceeds...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Schemes (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: One of the most important elements that I have tried to convey, which is why we had the consultation process to make it clear to people, is that the projects we want people to put forward should not be able to be funded through existing streams, such as the victims of crime funding from my Department, the HSE, Tusla, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, or any other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The way we will achieve this is through the roll-out of the new operating model. This new model has been proposed through the Commission on the Future of Policing and the subsequent implementation plan, which will result in the reduction of the number of districts. Most important, it will entail a merging of Garda members working in the back office, in the various finance and HR functions,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: My intention is to get as much funding and resources as possible for An Garda Síochána in this year's budget. The €2 billion in last year's budget was the largest budget we have ever had, building on significant increases in previous years. An element of that will go towards pay and other areas of current spending. It is important that we invest not just in the physical...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I fully support the Deputy's sentiments. There needs to be continuous engagement between governments in general on these matters but also between individual Departments and Ministries. I am pleased there is ongoing contact between myself and my colleague, Naomi Long, who is the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, as well as excellent ongoing cross-Border co-operation between our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Services (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Justice Plan 2022 commits to the implementation of the Government’s youth justice plan whose aims include preventing offending behaviour from occurring and diverting children and young adults who commit a crime away from further offending and involvement with the criminal justice system. The youth diversion projects, YDPs, are community-based projects that offer that vital support to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Services (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I fully agree. I acknowledge the youth diversion projects in my own county. Knowing the fantastic work they do with young people, it is absolutely vital that they are supported. The Department has identified gaps and is looking at areas in which the current 105 YDPs cannot provide the needed service and support through expansion. This list has not been finalised and we will need to have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Services (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: An Garda Síochána is the agency we initially engage with when identifying areas in which there is a need to expand but we also engage with the 105 YDPs to determine whether the expansion of their services can serve the areas where they currently do not operate. That is where these issues have been identified. We are not just working with An Garda Síochána but with the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: As of 31 May, there were 14,347 members of An Garda Síochána throughout the country. The Government has allocated An Garda Síochána an unprecedented budget of over €2 billion for 2022. This level of funding is enabling sustained ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, the number of gardaí is now 14,347 and we have more than 3,100 Garda...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It is because of the architect's report we received through the OPW from the Courts Service, which clearly says the building is not sufficient to deliver the required services which we want in Tralee and the surrounding areas, that another site has been identified. That is the Island of Geese site. There is no moving away from that decision. That decision has been taken by the Courts...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I will come back to the Deputy on that.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. There is no register of convicted criminals currently in place and no such register is under consideration. Justice is administered, as the Deputy said, in public in accordance with the Constitution and court outcomes can be reported in the media. The Deputy will appreciate that a decision on whether to convict a person and for what crime is a matter for the presiding...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It goes back to the Deputy's original point, which I referred to in my response, that any person convicted of a serious crime will have gone before the courts in a public manner. The media can report, though I accept that does not happen in every instance. In relation to Jason Poole and the awful circumstances of his sister's murder, I cannot commend him enough on the work he has done in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Policies (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Anything we would introduce or consider would need to be with the support of and in consultation with An Garda Síochána to make sure it is effective. Where serious criminal offences are committed, it is important that the punishment matches the crime and that those convicted serve the right sentence or penalty, while acknowledging that we need rehabilitation and reform in our...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legal Aid (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The overall increase from 98,000 to 294,000 was to support the huge amount of work it already does. There are 30 full-time law centres, part-time centres, four specialist legal offices and 20 family mediation centres. Of the law centres, eight of these with a family mediation offices are collocated. It is not just the online services but a huge amount is happening in-person on the ground....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legal Aid (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: What I always try to do and what any Department will try to do is respond to the asks, wishes and needs of the organisation it supports. The Department of Justice has tried, in many different ways, including financially, to support the expansion of FLAC. Any request coming into the budgetary process this year will be examined and hopefully responded to in a positive way. On the family...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legal Aid (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: We have to look at where we are identifying locations and need and we can respond once we have that done.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Under the national development plan, the Government will invest over €282 million in capital projects in 2022, including provision for PPP funding. The Government has prioritised a package of funding which will facilitate sustained investment to support an efficient and effective justice system providing important Government services and activities across the sector, including in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: People might ask why we took this approach with the PPPs, which the Deputy has referred to. When the three elements of the PPP are combined they are more likely to be of a scale sufficient to attract the private sector parties and competition, where such interests and competition might not be generated if projects are progressed individually. The specific projects are often capable of being...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (5 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The issue of resources is a major factor. It was explored in the pre-legislative scrutiny and was highlighted in the wider report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. I am pleased to say GSOC has had unprecedented levels of resources in recent years, with a total allocation of €13.4 million for 2022, marking an increase of more than €2 million in comparison...