Results 481-500 of 1,776 for speaker:Derek Nolan

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: I will leave the lease issue until later on, and will take the Vote issue first. I was not going to refer to the asylum and immigration process but I will react because it is something with which I am familiar and deal with a lot. When the history of this period is written, we will look back at the institutionalisation of people for five or six years, whereby they suffer from mental health...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: No, but the language used at the time was similar to the language we are using now. The language used to justify those cases is similar to the language we use today to justify keeping families of poor people in a small hotel room for six years, not knowing what is going on, with no money or resources and very little educational standards coming out of it. That is what I think.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: My question was whether direct provision was initially introduced with a maximum envisaged time limit of six months.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: If a time limit of six months was put on it, it was obviously done for a reason. I am straying into policy issues that we are not really supposed to go into, so I am happy to leave it there. I have one factual question that I would like to ask. The current system through which most people go is that they apply and are refused. When they appeal, they are normally refused and then they...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: How many cases were dealt with in 2012?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: How many are outstanding in total?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Will Mr. Purcell supply to the clerk to the committee later the current rate of cases with which the High Court is dealing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: That would be appreciated. I have a constituent who applied for citizenship nearly four and a half years ago but has still not received a decision. The six month target in some cases is certainly being well missed.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Actually, my case involves a citizenship application.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Turning to Ms Creedon's accounts, subhead A6, the 2011 figure for office premises expenses on furniture and fittings was €72,000, yet the office spent €148,000. Why was there such an increase in expenses on office furniture?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Most Departments and Government-funded offices were in complete financial lockdown in 2011. Not many went and undertook a vast reorganisation of their office spaces when there were budget cuts of €6 billion the year before.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Was the refurbishment necessary or was it a discretionary decision?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: Therefore, it was obligatory. Ms Creedon has stated maintaining and keeping high calibre staff is a challenge for her office. Is the office losing staff regularly?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: What is the starting salary?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: In effect, qualified solicitors are choosing to stay unemployed rather than to work for the office.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: The office's counsel bill is down by 46%, which must be acknowledged. Is that as a result of the office reducing the fees it is paying by a straight cut or is it through skill mixes such as hiring a junior counsel when once a senior counsel was hired? As a result of this reduction, do senior or junior counsel refuse to work for the office as the fees are too low?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: In summary, despite having cut fees by 50%, is the Chief State Solicitor encountering no problems in getting barristers to do the work?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: There is a guaranteed payment. Does it indicate that perhaps the Chief State Solicitor was paying too much in previous years?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: This chapter is of great concern. It states that the State has spent €2 million, €1 million on furbishing and €1 million on leases for premises in Dublin that have never been used. In addition, other premises have had to be sought so additional rent is being paid on top of that. We have been left with this chapter 15 outturn. Ms Creedon sent us correspondence quoting...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Derek Nolan: I am making the point chiefly because Ms Creedon is the Chief State Solicitor. She quoted an Act that is not applicable.