Results 9,461-9,480 of 10,346 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The suspension of a requirement for re-entry visas for children under 16 was introduced in 2022. The processing of these applications required applicants to submit their passports, which, at times, resulted in significant processing times, delays and other issues arising. Suspending re-entry visa requirements for children under 16 allowed the Department to minimise potential disruption to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Schemes (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am acutely aware of the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza and my Department has worked closely with colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs to ensure a coordinated national response to this volatile and evolving situation. This includes work to evacuate Irish citizens and their families who may require visa assistance. Visa applications for family members of Palestinian nationals...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Services Regulation (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) is the body responsible for the regulation of the legal professions, both solicitors and barristers, under the provisions of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. Section 9(4)(d) of the 2015 Act states that of the 11 members appointed to the LSRA by the Government, one person shall be nominated by the King’s Inns and I can confirm that...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Contracts (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 444 and 445 together. Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to international protection applicants is a requirement of Irish and EU law. The State is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people who have applied for international protection in Ireland, over 9,000 of whom are children. The International...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The naturalisation applications from the people referred to by the Deputy continue to be processed by my Department. I can also assure the Deputy that the Citizenship Division of my Department is doing everything possible to progress applications as quickly as possible. I understand that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, however, Citizenship Division have taken a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: As the Deputy may be aware, my Department is unable to publish any information that would identify any person as being an international protection applicant. This is a separate matter to the law dealing with data protection matters more generally.? My officials and I are legally obliged, under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, to ensure that the identity of any person who...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Deportation Orders (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 448, 449 and 450 together. I can assure the Deputy that I am fully committed to ensuring that Ireland’s immigration system is robust and rules based. The enforcement aspects of our laws, including deportation orders, are an essential requirement for the system to work effectively and to ensure that there is confidence in the application of our...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Department of Justice is leading an ambitious programme of reform outlined in the first Family Justice Strategy which sets out a vision for a system refocused on the needs and rights of children, who are central to many family justice matters. One of the aims of the Strategy is to assist families to resolve their family justice issues in as straightforward a manner as possible. The...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Family Courts Act 2024 is a key component of my Department's Family Justice Strategy and contains a number of provisions designed to make the family court process more user-friendly and less costly. For example, Part 2 of the Act provides for guiding principles for the Family Courts which includes encouraging and facilitating as far as possible, the resolution of issues in dispute by...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: As the Deputy will be aware, management of the courts, including matters related to the administration of the courts, is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, is independent in exercising its functions. The conduct of court cases is furthermore a matter for the presiding judges, who are independent in the exercise of their...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am informed by the Garda authorities that as of 30 April 2025, there were 3,660 vehicles attached to the Garda fleet. This is the highest total of vehicles ever in use by An Garda Síochána, and represents an increase of over 17% since the end of December 2020. The purchase and allocation of vehicles by An Garda Síochána is made on the basis of identified operational...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I can inform the Deputy that it is not possible to provide statistics on the number of applications and decisions based on Section 16 'Irish Association' received each year, during the past ten years. This would require the manual examination of thousands of cases. Such an examination would require a disproportionate amount of time to compile. Following the recent introduction of the new...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Properties (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 456 and 457 together. Providing reception conditions – accommodation and other basic supports – to international protection applicants is a requirement of Irish and EU law. The State is currently accommodating almost 33,000 people who have applied for international protection in Ireland, over 9000 of whom are children with their families. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Consultations (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 458 and 464 together. The complex referred to has successfully supported accommodation and decision-processing by the State for a number of years, and currently accommodates over 2,000 people, with both international protection applicants and people from Ukraine resident on the site. The Government is committed to moving away from its reliance on the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Legal Aid Board is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”) and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. Section 3(3) of the 1995 Act states that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 460, 461, 462 and 463 together. As part of my Department’s continued commitment to improving its services, an online citizenship application portal was made available in October 2023. This portal is a separate system to the Customer Service Portal and has made the application process easier for applicants, allowing them to easily fill in relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Public Procurement Contracts (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Public procurement is governed by EU and national rules and my Department ensures that appropriate procedures are followed for procurement activity. Departments are obliged to ensure that public procurement is discharged in line with the standard accounting and procurement rules and that contract prices represent best value for money. Public procurement practices are subject to audit and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Public Procurement Contracts (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 466 and 467 together. It has not been possible to collate the information requested by the Deputy in the time available. I will write to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Public Procurement Contracts (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It has not been possible to collate the information requested in the time available. I will write to the Deputy in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (27 May 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the visa applications referred to have been granted and a visa sticker was issued to their passports on 22 April 2025. As an Oireachtas member, you can also request the status of individual immigration cases by e-mail, using the Oireachtas Mail facility at: IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This...