Results 11,321-11,340 of 15,638 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Policy (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy appears to be eligible to become an Irish citizen through naturalisation, considering their reckonable residence in the state. The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is governed by the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed and assessed...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes all recruitment and training matters. As Minister I have no role in these matters. I am committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to deliver on their mission of 'Keep People Safe'. This is reflected in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Reviews (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will understand, my Department is responsible for a wide range of policy and legislative matters in relation to civil and criminal justice and the immigration system and has responsibility for a large number of statutory and non-statutory bodies. In the normal course of business the Department keeps all aspects of our policies and legislation under review in order to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Expenditure (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, in 2021 I announced the creation of the Community Safety Innovation Fund (CSIF) to reinvest proceeds of crime funds returned to the exchequer by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) back into communities, in order to fund innovative local projects aimed at building stronger, safer communities. The fund had an initial allocation of €2m in 2022, which increased to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Section 9 of the Immigration Act 2004 provides that a register of non-nationals who have permission to be in the State (in general for a period of 3 months or longer) shall be established and maintained by registration officers and also provides that a non-national is required to pay a fee to the registration officer for the issue of a registration certificate. This fee is set by regulations...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities. Unfortunately, the information was not received in time. I will contact the Deputy directly once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: 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 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. The Board engages private solicitors to supplement the services provided by Board solicitors in certain areas of law on a case-by-case...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: 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 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. The 1995 Act was amended by Section 54 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 which gave the Board the additional...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) is a non-statutory executive agency of the Department of Justice responsible for the secure custody, care and rehabilitation of people serving a sentence in each of Ireland’s twelve prisons. The IPS is the second largest agency in the criminal justice system, with a budget of €453m in 2024 and €422m in 2023....

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Restorative Justice (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, restorative justice is a criminal justice process which has been shown, through mediation, to help victims recover from crime, reduce reoffending and save public resources. It is one of a suite of measures available to the criminal justice system. It is delivered by the Probation Service, both pre and post-sentence; by An Garda Síochána within the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department. A letter was issued to the person concerned from the Citizenship Division on 19 April 2022 regarding ongoing matters related to their application for naturalisation, whereby it was requested the applicant make direct contact with the Division. However, no return...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 4 immigration permission valid until 18 May 2025. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by email using the Oireachtas Mail facility at IMoireachtasmail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department. It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Family Reunification (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Family Reunification application for the person referred to by the Deputy has been received by my Department and continues to be processed at this time. All applications are processed in chronological order. I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and all applicants for Family Reunification would wish to have a decision on their application without...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (18 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 1 immigration permission valid until 9 November 2024. It is open to the person concerned to apply to the Immigration Service of my Department for a change of immigration status if they meet the criteria for doing so. Detailed information on how to change immigration permission is available on the Immigration Service website at:...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Court Accommodation (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy will be aware that the provision of improved court facilities at Tralee is one of the Courts Service projects included in the national development plan, NDP. The existing courthouse on Ashe Street in Tralee comprises only two courtrooms and it lacks the facilities one would expect to find in a modern county town courthouse. I am informed the plan is for a new courthouse...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Court Accommodation (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy has raised this with me recently in relation to the An Post site. I have inquired and have been informed by the Courts Service that the search for a suitable site has been ongoing. It has been challenging. This was prior to the completion of the sale of the Island of Geese site, which was back in December last year. It had been ongoing for many years stretching back to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Court Accommodation (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The challenge here is that the search for a site has been going on since the early 2000s. The site referred to by the Deputy was not for sale and it is actually not up for sale now. I appreciate that it might come up for sale at some point in the future. It is not up for sale now and we do have a site that has actually been acquired. It is a portion of the site and the decision was taken...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Court Accommodation (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: But it is not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: EU Agreements (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: We have just had a good debate and a number of questions at the Joint Committee on Justice on this matter. I start by assuring the Deputy that I am keenly aware that the right to asylum is a fundamental right in the EU guaranteed by the treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and confirmed by the proposals under the pact on migration and asylum. The EU asylum and migration pact will...