Results 2,661-2,680 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: Officials in the Citizenship section of my Department inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's question. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain...

Written Answers — Refugee Status: Refugee Status (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: Arising from the refusal of her asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 5th January, 2005, that the Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of her. She was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, sets out the law governing citizenship of Ireland. The Act distinguishes between the right to citizenship by birth and descent and the acquisition of citizenship through the naturalisation process. The provisions of the Act have been amended with due regard to the Good Friday Agreement and I have no plans to further amend the Act.

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department is not responsible for the provision of medical supports and services in the community generally. Arrangements were made some time ago to respond to any outstanding counselling or medical needs arising from the Stardust fire disaster and the Stardust Victims Committee was made aware of how individuals could express an interest in availing of those...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The average processing time from application to decision is now at 25 months. More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average, while an element of straightforward cases can be dealt with in less than that timescale. I am unhappy with the length of time it takes to process citizenship applications. I have initiated steps within my Department to provide for a speedier...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Personnel: Defence Forces Personnel (13 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: There are no plans to introduce a redundancy scheme for the Defence Forces; in fact, limited recruitment has been taking place since 2010 in the context of the Employment Control Framework (ECF) for the Defence Forces. The Government is focused firmly on maintaining the operational efficiency of the Permanent Defence Force within the resource envelope made available by Government. I am...

Written Answers — Garda Equipment: Garda Equipment (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 84 together. Information on these questions has been requested from the Garda authorities and I will revert to the Deputy when it is to hand.

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: Following the submission in 2004 of a report and recommendations by an expert group on crime statistics, it was decided that the compilation and publication of crime statistics should be taken over by the Central Statistics Office, as the national statistical agency, from An Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána Act 2005 consequently makes provision for this and the CSO has established a...

Written Answers — Liquor Licensing Laws: Liquor Licensing Laws (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table shows the number of premises in each Garda Division within the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) in respect of which An Garda Síochána lodged an objection against the issue of a special exemption order in each year from 2007 to 2010 and in 2011 to 13 April. Number of premises in each Garda Division within DMR in respect of...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The purpose of the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2011, to be published by the Minister for Finance, is to bring internet and telephone betting within the licensing provisions of the Betting Act, 1931. Provision has already been made in the Finance Act 2011 to tax such forms of betting, subject to the adoption of a licensing procedure. The Deputy may also be aware that a document entitled Options...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The number of whole-time equivalent staff in my Department, broken down by grade, for each of the years referred to by the Deputy is set out in the following table. As well as the usual mix of administrative grades found across the Civil Service, my Department has a range of professional and technical grades and these staff have been included under the heading "other" in the table. Grade...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (14 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: I have set out in the following table the number by grade and rank of civil servants in the Department: Grade Title Number of Staff 1995 2000 2005 2010 Secretary General 1 1 1 1 Assistant Secretary 2 2 2 2 Head of Corporate Services / Director 1 1 1 1 Principal 8 11 12.8 11.6 Chief Technical Officer 1 1 0 0 Professional Accountant 1 1 0 1 Assistant Principal 25 25 30.5 29.7...

Army Barracks (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: I cannot give a commitment that there will not be further programmes of barrack consolidation. The defence property portfolio is kept under review to ensure the most effective use of military resources having regard to the roles assigned by Government to the Defence Forces. The consolidation of the Defence Forces formations into a smaller number of locations is a key objective for me as we...

Army Barracks (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy may know, a total of €85 million was received in respect of the sale of seven barracks at Ballincollig, Fermoy, Naas, Castleblayney, Monaghan, Longford and Islandbridge - latterly called Clancy Barracks - which has been closed for over 12 years. Only part of Longford Barracks was closed. Should barrack closures occur in the future, I would be anxious that we should continue...

Army Barracks (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: There is no list of potential barrack closures. In the context of the overall resource limitations within which the Government is operating and by which my Department is affected, we are considering how best to use the resources available in order to maintain the Defence Forces at the very high level at which they currently operate and provide an efficient and streamlined defence...

Defence Forces Personnel (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: Lariam is a chemo prophylactic agent first authorised for use in 1989 by the Irish Medicines Board which is the statutory body charged with regulating the use of medicines to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines available in Ireland. It remains the medication of choice for the Defence Forces for overseas missions to certain malarious areas. While certain risks associated...

Defence Forces Personnel (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The reason we use the drug is not it is the cheapest on the market. Three other anti-malaria medications are available: Chloroquine, Malarone and Doxycycline. However, there are specific reasons each of these products is not suitable for use by the Defence Forces in sub-Saharan Africa, the area in which the drug has been used. Chloroquine is no longer in use because of the development of...

Defence Forces Personnel (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: I am unaware of a suicide by any member of the Defence Forces linked to this medicine. The US defence forces stopped using Lariam because they had not undertaken medical examinations to ascertain whether there were contra-indications, as are undertaken in this state before soldiers are posted abroad on UN missions. The US defence forces mass-prescribed it without undertaking any checks....

Decentralisation Programme (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: The previous Government's decision on decentralisation provided for the transfer of the Department's Dublin-based Civil Service staff, together with a number of military personnel, to Newbridge, County Kildare and the decentralisation of the Defence Forces headquarters to the Curragh. Decentralisation to Newbridge took place in November 2010. There are now approximately 170 civil servants...

Decentralisation Programme (19 Apr 2011)

Alan Shatter: Despite my concerns about Army headquarters and Defence Forces headquarters being dispersed through five different locations, I have no doubt about the capacity of the Defence Forces to fulfil their duties and meet requirements. I am very impressed by their commitment. The senior military managers, the directors of specific corps such as transport, ordnance, communications, and so on, and...