Results 9,281-9,300 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Station Closures (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Gardaí are investigating burglaries, prosecutions are going to the District Court and people are being jailed for periods. Clearly, what we have to do is focus on those recidivists, those repeat burglars and serious offenders who we specifically need to ensure are not free to commit burglaries as they do. That is the focus of the work between the Prison Service, the Garda...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Station Closures (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The whole focus now is to have what the Deputy decries, namely, the kind of effective and smart policing that is necessary. It is that kind of policing we need, policing that is out there patrolling, gathering intelligence and interrupting these crimes. 10 o’clock This is the approach being taken by An Garda Síochána.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gambling Legislation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy is aware that there are detailed proposals in the general scheme of the gambling control Bill for the licensing of casinos in Ireland for the first time. This is the first Government to bring forward legislative proposals for changes in this area. My colleague, the Minister for Finance, is bringing forward the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 which was debated in the Seanad...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gambling Legislation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The legislation is seriously out of date, about which there is no question. The betting laws date from 1931, while those on gambling date from 1956. Increasingly, gambling is carried on by remote means and is not regulated. I agree with the Deputy that enforcement has suffered as authorities grapple with outdated laws and constant technological changes. A large and growing section of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gambling Legislation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The proposals made by Mr. Galvin, an expert in the area, will certainly be examined. I will take serious note of his suggestions. The Department is working on the legislation which is with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and on which I want to make progress as quickly as possible. It must, howver, take its place among the Department's priorities, but I understand the urgency in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Operations (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The point made by the Deputy about criminal gangs involved in diesel laundering, cigarette smuggling and petrol stretching throughout the island but concentrated to a degree along the Border is an extremely serious one. The issue is receiving the attention of the PSNI and An Garda Síochána which work in close co-operation through the joint policing strategy and the North-South...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Operations (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a very serious crime. Organised crime gangs are involved in it and they have tried to spread their activities throughout the island. It is clear that a combined approach by the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda Síochána and the PSNI is being used to deal with this issue. These crimes are being interrupted and the figures show this. We will take every action we need to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Operations (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I agree fully with the Deputy. This is absolutely serious criminal activity which has very serious implications for people's lives in this country. Everything possible will be done to interrupt this activity. There are links to paramilitary groups. I take the Deputy's points. These are criminal gangs and are being dealt with clearly as such by the PSNI and an Garda Síochána....

Other Questions: Redress for Women in Certain Institutions (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for her question and her interest in this area and the support last night for the passage of the Bill which provides for medical services for women who were in the Magdalen homes. I am very pleased to say the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill was passed in the Dáil without a division and I thank all Deputies on the opposite side of the...

Other Questions: Redress for Women in Certain Institutions (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Approximately 40 women in this situation have been identified. These women need to be helped as envisaged by the provisions in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill. They may need support and there will be a range of options. The Bill provides for decision-making assistants, co-decision makers and decision-making representatives and the public guardian. I wish to reassure the...

Other Questions: Redress for Women in Certain Institutions (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy. I want to ensure that the health legislation we passed in the Dáil will progress through the Seanad in order that the relevant health services will be made available to the women as quickly as possible.

Other Questions: Drugs in Prisons (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy's question relates to the report of the Penal Policy Review Group. Some of the group's recommendations can be implemented in the short to medium term but others will require a more long-term approach. As an initial step, last November - shortly after the report was published - I obtained permission from the Government to follow through with some very key recommendations. These...

Other Questions: Drugs in Prisons (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As already stated, the issues of both drug addiction and the availability of drugs in our prisons are receiving the most serious attention. I have spoken to the director general of the Irish Prison Service in respect of this matter and he assures me that addressing it will be a key strategic action which will involve the introduction of the range of measures I outlined earlier. This issue...

Other Questions: Drugs in Prisons (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Key components of the new drive will include an increase in the number of drug detection dog teams. Training in this regard is ongoing and all teams will be fully operational by the end of May. The introduction of a standardised screening procedure across the prison estate will ensure a consistent response to this issue in all of our institutions. The confidential telephone line to which I...

Other Questions: Terrorism Threats (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We take the opportunity to express our sympathy with to those impacted by the appalling terrorist activity in Europe in recent days, weeks and months. Considerable concern has been expressed at the meetings of the Justice and Home Affairs Council where this item is top of the agenda for discussion in terms of security across Europe. Hundreds of young Europeans have gone to fight and some...

Other Questions: Terrorism Threats (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Let me repeat what I said because we want to be accurate in regard to this. Like any country with democratic values, Ireland is not immune to a threat from international terrorism. An attack on Ireland is possible, but it is not assessed as likely and there is no specific information on a threat to Ireland. However, as I have said and as all other Minsters at the Justice and Home Affairs...

Other Questions: Online Defamation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, the law on defamation in the State was reformed in the Defamation Act 2009. It is important to say the Act draws no distinction between online, print or broadcast media and provides for a number of remedies. The primary relief under the Act is an award of damages with a jury deciding the amount to be awarded if the defamation action is successful. Either nominal or...

Other Questions: Online Defamation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is an increasing focus among the providers. They are taking many more initiatives than people are aware of, where there is any indication of criminal activity online. For example, more efforts are being made to keep the online evidence, which can effectively be, as the Deputy describes it, a crime scene - we have to think about it like that. There are more and more initiatives coming...

Other Questions: Spent Convictions Legislation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I recognise the interest in this House in the Bill and the need to have it enacted. I intend to bring the amendments to the House before the summer. There was a new situation, following on from the case to which the Deputy referred, before the Bill could be taken on Report Stage. A 2013 UK Court of Appeal judgment necessitated a review of the disclosure provisions in both the National...

Other Questions: Spent Convictions Legislation (19 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I agree with the Deputy. This is a very important Bill, particularly for people who may have been convicted of a minor offence many years ago in a District Court, which has hung over their entire life. That is why we have brought in this legislation and I will have the amendments before the House in this term. Section 3 provides that certain employments are exempt from the Bill. These...