Results 11,441-11,460 of 15,638 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The accelerated procedure also has an appeals system and to date, approximately 80% of those appeals have been upheld. It is important that the system works for those who need it. If we have people who are economic migrants, as has been the case for a number of people in recent years, there are legal routes and pathways. Parallel to the pact, work is happening whereby we, as a European...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: In what way?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: This is about the movement of children who are non-EU citizens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: They absolutely can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The difference is that we are talking about citizens who do not have a right to free movement across borders. We have an interconnected police system and the Garda works closely with police organisations across Europe and with Europol and Interpol. When it comes to trafficking, we have significant operations and mechanisms by which we work with each other.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: That is absolutely not the case. I do not think I am suggesting that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: There are situations where children may be coming from a war-torn country. Significant numbers have been coming from Ukraine recently. In that scenario, there is the potential that somebody who is not a European citizen will be trafficked by those claiming to be parents or relatives. We need to understand and know who people are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Anybody can be taken and that is why the Garda works to try-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: We are talking about people coming into Europe. We are talking about reducing risks for children. We are talking about trying to ensure that children are not used by other people who are trying to get into the country to claim asylum. We are trying to ensure, for example, that children are not being brought into forced prostitution, which perhaps we do not realise is a massive problem. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I do not think so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: This will not be facial recognition. People's photographs will be taken and that is it. They will then be on a system. Any form of facial recognition is separate and has nothing to do with it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Facial recognition will not be applied in this instance. It will involve photographs. If a person arrives and we identify them on the Eurodac system, we will simply have a picture. We will be able to confirm it is the person in question and that the documents match those that have been uploaded.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Not in this country, no. Not that I am aware of. We are talking about taking photos of people simply to upload to a database that can then be accessed by other member states.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: It will be a photograph as a form of identification.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: EU Directives (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Temporary Protection Directive – which provides immediate protection in EU countries for people displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – was extended to March 2025 at a meeting of the European Council last September. I wish to acknowledge again the enormous goodwill and welcome shown by communities across the country to those who have arrived. The Government will...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Reviews (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: My Department commissioned an independent consultant to undertake the statutory review of Part 4 of the Act but, due to a number of reasons, it was not possible for the review to be completed within the desired timeframe. I acknowledge that the report is now significantly overdue and the Deputy is aware, from previous questions, of the circumstances that have delayed its completion. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: Road safety is a shared responsibility, and while led by the Department of Transport, it is one which is taken very seriously across Government. We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer. I continue to engage with colleagues across Government, in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 27 together. As the Deputy may be aware, the Judicial Council Act 2019 provided for the establishment of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee of the Judicial Council. Its functions include the preparation of draft sentencing guidelines and the monitoring of the operation of those guidelines, together with the collation of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Drug Dealing (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: I want to assure the Deputy that I am conscious of, and hugely committed to, tackling the devastating impact that illegal drugs have on communities across the country. My Department is steadfast in working in many ways to address the harms caused to families and communities by the activities of transnational organised crime groups and, as part of this, all the laws and powers available to An...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Inspector of Prisons (23 Apr 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) was established under the Prisons Act 2007 and is independent in how it carries out its functions. The Inspector's role is to carry out regular inspections of prisons. The Inspector's three day monitoring report of the Dóchas Centre was received in my office in August 2020, and it was deemed possible following...