Results 10,461-10,480 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Youth Justice Strategy (5 Mar 2020)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 394 to 397, inclusive, together. The Garda Youth Diversion Programme is supported by a network of Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs). The projects are community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiatives which seek to divert young people who have become involved in crime or anti-social behaviour and to support wider preventative work within the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (5 Mar 2020)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, residents who have been granted an international protection status (refugee status or subsidiary protection status) or a permission to remain have the same access to housing supports and services as Irish and EEA nationals.  My Department has a specific team who work in collaboration with Depaul Ireland,  the Jesuit Refugee Service, the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Expenditure (5 Mar 2020)

David Stanton: All accommodation centres for people seeking international protection, whether State-owned or privately owned, are operated by commercial companies. There are currently 39 accommodation centres being operated under the direct provision system. My Department contracts for a fully inclusive service, which includes catering, cleaning, maintenance and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (5 Mar 2020)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, the State has a legal obligation to offer accommodation, food and a range of other services (including utilities and healthcare etc.) to any person who claims a right to international protection in Ireland where he or she does not have sufficient means to have an adequate standard of living while their claim for protection is being examined...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Migrant Integration (5 Mar 2020)

David Stanton: I wish to inform the Deputy that service provision to migrants is mainstreamed across all Government Departments.  As part of the Transformation Process in the Department of Justice and Equality, the work of the Office of the Promotion of Migrant Integration is now being carried out within the Civil Justice and Equality Policy function, with funding streams administered collaboratively...

Covid-19 (Justice and Equality): Statements (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: The issue of direct provision has taken up a significant amount of my time, that of the Minister and that of the Department in recent years. Many improvements have been made. A significant number of people are now in own-door or self-catering accommodation. We have been moving in that direction but it is very difficult, as colleagues are aware. There are 69 residents, including nine...

Covid-19 (Justice and Equality): Statements (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: There have been calls for many years to close direct provision but many improvements have been made. What happens now is that when people arrive in the country and look for international protection, as a State we are obliged to offer them accommodation, heat, food, a bed, education and so on. That is what people get. Many people move through each centre. There are over 1,000 people now in...

Covid-19 (Justice and Equality): Statements (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: I inquired today about the health of people in direct provision centres who have contracted this virus, as have many citizens of Ireland, and I am told that none of them is very seriously ill. I wanted to report that good news. Some people have symptoms only and others have no symptoms. Anybody who has been tested has been moved to an isolating facility. The HSE has confirmed to us...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Adoptive Leave (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: On 22 October 2019, the Government approved the priority drafting of provisions on adoptive leave with a view to their inclusion in the earliest appropriate bill. These provisions will give all adopting couples, whether same sex or opposite sex, the right to select which of them will be the qualified adopter, i.e. which of them will get adoptive leave and benefit. Drafting of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, Minister Flanagan and I launched Ireland’s National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019 – 2021 on 28 November last. The Strategy contains over 100 actions that are aimed at promoting inclusion, protecting rights and improving the quality of life and wellbeing of LGBTI+ people. It reflects the commitment in the Programme for Government to create an...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Data (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: I established the Community Sponsorship Programme on 15 November 2019 following a successful pilot programme, which commenced in December 2018. Under the pilot phase, five communities (Dunshaughlin, Midleton, Carrigtwohill, Kells and Lismore) welcomed refugee families to their areas. The five refugee families comprised of 17 people in total and both the refugees and local communities have...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Resettlement Programme (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: I can inform the Deputy that the person concerned attended an IRPP (Irish Refugee Protection Programme) clinic in January 2020 and conveyed their concerns. They were informed that their extended family had been resettled several years earlier, prior to the arrival of the applicant's family in the State in December 2019. They were further informed that the Westmeath Refugee Resettlement...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: I can inform the Deputy that intensive work has been underway in the Department since the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis to ensure that, to the best of our ability, we protect the health and welfare of asylum seekers and refugees availing of our accommodation services. In all measures we are taking, we are guided by the HSE and the National Public Health Emergency Team. We are working in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (13 May 2020)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will appreciate, this is a public health situation, the response to which is being led by HSE Public Health, as is appropriate. My Department and centre management are working closely with the HSE to implement their public health advice. Testing of residents and staff has been completed in Cahersiveen by HSE Public Health. In line with our agreed policy with the HSE,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Maternity Leave (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 408 to 413, inclusive, 415 to 418, inclusive, 421, 423, 425, 426 and 445 together. I am conscious of demands on parents at this time and hope that the additional measures to support working parents that I have introduced in recent years, including the new parent’s leave scheme and an extension of parental leave, are helping to ease some of these...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is doing everything it can to protect the health and welfare of residents and staff in our accommodation centres, as well as that of the wider community. My Department is working closely with the HSE in doing so, and while the HSE advice has evolved over time, we have been assured by both it and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer that our...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: I can inform the Deputy that sadly three deaths have been notified to the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) of my Department since the introduction of its Critical Incident Policy on 29 November 2019. The policy provides that once notified of a death, IPAS will record the incident. The Critical Incident Policy also sets out the guidelines for centre managers...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will appreciate, the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis, the response to which is being led by HSE Public Health, as is appropriate. My Department and management across our network of accommodation centres (both permanent and temporary) are working closely with the HSE to implement their public health advice. With regard to medical information such as testing, test...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is doing everything it can to protect the health and welfare of residents and staff in our accommodation centres, as well as that of the wider community. My Department is working closely with the HSE in doing so, and while the HSE advice has evolved over time, we have been assured by both it and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer that our...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (20 May 2020)

David Stanton: I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide the Deputy with an update on the full range of measures that we, the HSE and centre management are taking to support residents and staff in Direct Provision accommodation at this time.  We are doing everything that we can to protect the health and welfare of our residents and centre staff as well as that of the...