Results 9,181-9,200 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence Policy (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department has received a number of proposals in relation to the reform of our domestic violence legislative provisions including the extension of the availability of orders to other classes of applicants. All such proposals will be carefully considered in the finalisation of the General Scheme of a Bill to consolidate and reform our domestic violence legislation. I intend to bring the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide such relevant information as may be available directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Promotions (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: One of the primary functions of the Garda Commissioner under the Garda Síochána Acts is to direct and control An Garda Síochána. The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence Policy (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department has received a number of proposals in relation to the reform of our domestic violence legislative provisions including the extension of the availability of orders to other classes of applicants. All such proposals will be carefully considered in the finalisation of the General Scheme of a Bill to consolidate and reform our domestic violence legislation. I intend to bring the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned is a sibling of an Irish citizen child of non-EEA national parents, born in the State before 1st January, 2005, whose mother was granted temporary permission to remain in the State on 24th January, 2006 under the Revised Arrangements for the non-EEA national parents of children...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I advised the Deputy on Second Stage that the departmental review of the insolvency legislation had taken place towards the end of last year. The Department met with all the key stakeholders in terms of the commitment we gave in May to review the legislation. I intend to bring forward proposals to the Government shortly based on that review to ensure the insolvency legislation can work...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I see why Deputy Mac Lochlainn is saying this and perhaps he might take note of what I said about the review. I have an open mind on this issue and take the point he is making on the amount. A number of organisations working with debtors have made this point and I believe it is very relevant. In terms of the amendment, could I suggest to the Deputy that this is part of the review and will...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The effect of the Deputy's amendment is to reduce the proportion of debt required to approve a personal insolvency arrangement, from 65% to just 30%. That proposal, as the Deputy says, was made on Report Stage of the Bill in 2012 and it was opposed at that point on the basis that it seems unlikely that creditors would accept or agree to be bound by a solution which was only approved by a...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That was what I was suggesting when I referred to the review and seeking further changes. I can envisage a situation where it might be possible to draft changes to consider a court review of the reasonableness of bank decisions on debt settlement arrangement, DSA, or personal insolvency arrangement, PIA, proposals. We will consider it further to see if we can examine the court's powers to...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have already provided for a complete waiver of all fees payable to the ISI by a person wishing to apply for any of the three statutory debt solutions offered by the ISI introduced by the Personal Insolvency Act. These include the debt relief notice, the debt settlement arrangement or the personal insolvency arrangement. The waiver is in force since October. That being the case, the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: There is not a set scale at present. I am concerned to ensure no one is denied access to the personal insolvency practitioner service because of concerns about fees. I will examine what action we can take in that area.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We have waived upfront fees and made it much easier to access the service in the first place. We have reduced fees considerably. Personal insolvency practitioner fees are not fixed but must be set out in writing in the personal insolvency agreement or the debt settlement agreement. They must be agreed by the debtors and creditors. There is considerable variability in terms of whether...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate his intention of providing for a review of the Personal Insolvency Act 2013. The amendment is not necessary because the Act provides for a statutory review. Section 141 requires the Minister for Justice and Equality to carry out a full review of the operation of insolvency arrangements under the Act, including DNRs, DSAs and PIAs within three years of its...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is what I hope to do and I will take account of what members said today. I will table as many amendments as is feasible at the time.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is a departmental review, which I have not discussed with the Cabinet, but I am not sure that I will be able to publish the review in full. I will undertake to provide as many details as possible and to outline the main aspects of the review.

Topical Issue Debate: Stardust Fire (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Irrespective of any differences of opinion, no one disputes the magnitude of this tragedy or the impact it had on the families concerned and, as the Deputy said, the wider community. We are all conscious that the 34th anniversary of the fire falls this weekend and that this must be a particularly difficult time of year for all affected. As the...

Topical Issue Debate: Stardust Fire (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am aware there remains dissatisfaction over the fact that it has not been possible to determine the true cause of the fire with certainty. I entirely sympathise with the concerns of the victims committee in this regard and I sympathise with all those who continue to be affected by the tragedy. However, the position is that an independent examination by Mr. Coffey was put in place to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Vetting Applications (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) provides employment vetting to organisations registered with the Gardaí for this purpose and which employ persons in a full-time, part-time, voluntary or training capacity to positions where they would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults. Garda Vetting is presently conducted under policy as opposed to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Mental Health Awareness (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: My Department flies the National and EU Flags in accordance with the protocol set by the Department of the Taoiseach. My Department will consider this request in accordance with this Protocol.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed Circuit Television Systems (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: A community-based CCTV Scheme was launched in 2005. This scheme provided financial assistance to qualifying local organisations towards meeting the capital costs associated with the establishment of a local community CCTV system. Two major rounds of funding were advertised under that scheme. The current position is that all available funding provided under the previous two rounds has been...