Results 11,621-11,640 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table contains the number of cases of murder in which a firearm was used, proceedings commenced and convictions secured from 1998 to 2008 and in 2009 up 7 December. Of these murders, 21 took place in 2009. As the Deputy is aware, these statistics, by their nature, carry a significant health warning. The detection rate for murders by...

Written Answers — Commissions of Investigation: Commissions of Investigation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The Government earlier this year requested the Commission of Investigation to extend its work to deal with the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne because of concerns which had arisen in relation to that Diocese. I believe that the work of the Commission in relation to the Archdiocese of Dublin and its forthcoming report on the Diocese of Cloyne will serve the primary purpose of establishing how...

Written Answers — Prison Accommodation: Prison Accommodation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to inform the Deputy that on 4 December 2009 there were 4,041 prisoners in custody. The breakdown of the population per prison is listed in the table below: Prison/Place of Detention Persons in Custody Number ofcells with 1 person Number of cells with 2 persons Number of cells with 3 persons Number of cells with 4 persons Number of cells with more than 4 persons Arbour Hill Prison...

Written Answers — Detention Centres: Detention Centres (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to inform the Deputy that on 7 December, 2009 there were 203 persons in custody in St. Patrick's Institution which has a bed capacity of 217. Of the 203 persons in custody, 49 persons were aged either 16 or 17 years of age and 154 persons were aged between 18 and 21 years of age. St. Patrick's Institution is a closed, medium security place of detention for males aged 16 to 21 years...

Written Answers — Organised Crime: Organised Crime (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda Authorities that where there is justification and a legal basis, those suspected of criminal activity are arrested, detained and questioned in relation to specific crimes. As the Deputy is aware the Government has introduced extensive legislation in 2009 to target those involved in serious and organised crime including; The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous...

Written Answers — Drug Treatment Programme: Drug Treatment Programme (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The confiscation of drugs (or suspected drugs) was recorded by our prisons under the generic description of "prohibited articles/substances" in 2007 and 2008. Therefore an accurate breakdown of those statistics as requested by the Deputy for that period could not be obtained without the manual examination of records going back over a considerable time period. However, in 2009 to date, St....

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to the reply to Questions Nos. 195 and 196 of 1 December 2009 and to Question No. 216 of 2 December 2009. I have nothing to add to the details of those replies.

Written Answers — Child Protection: Child Protection (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The Garda Commissioner has accepted the findings of the Monageer Inquiry and is committed to ensuring that the safety and protection of children is a key priority for An Garda Síochána. Following receipt of the Monageer Inquiry Report, the Commissioner said that its findings would be utilised to refine the practices and procedures of An Garda Síochána to ensure that they complement the...

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that there are 56 members of An Garda Síochána permanently assigned duties as Garda Protection Officers to 27 designated persons including current Office holders and former Taoisigh. Included in the duties of the Protection Officer is a requirement to drive the Protected Person. There are no protection officers assigned to former Ministers....

Written Answers — Garda Retirement: Garda Retirement (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I have requested the latest information on the number of retirements, including late applications, from the Commissioner and I will revert to the Deputy immediately on receipt of that information.

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 112 of 10 November 2009. The updated figure for such incidents in 2009 (to 5 December) is 186 incidents; in respect of the incidents that occurred in 2008 and 2009 (to 30 November) there has been a total of 91 arrests, there have been four convictions and in another 58 cases the matters are currently before the courts or files are with the DPP....

Written Answers — Prison Accommodation: Prison Accommodation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to inform the Deputy that on 7 December 2009 there were 4,051 prisoners in custody. I can confirm that on several occasions recently the prison population has exceeded 4,000, the first instance of which was on 9 October 2009. As the Deputy will appreciate the Irish Prison Service must accept all prisoners committed by the Courts into its custody and does not have the option of...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The closure of Fort Mitchell Prison, on Spike Island, and Curragh Place of Detention in early 2004 occurred against the backdrop of the need to make significant savings in prison expenditure through reductions in overtime. The closure of these two institutions led to savings on the paybill that was previously associated with these prisons and the utilisation of the staff formerly assigned to...

Written Answers — Garda Investigations: Garda Investigations (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 42, 51 and 56 together. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the investigation into the death of the person referred to by the Deputies was the subject of an intense review in 2004. I am further informed that the Commissioner recently appointed the Assistant Commissioner, Northern Region to examine the investigation file, which remains open, and is...

Written Answers — Human Trafficking: Human Trafficking (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: An extensive range of legislative and administrative measures have been undertaken to address this concern. Many of these are set out in the National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings which I published on 10 June 2009. The measures include the following:- 1. Legislative measures Under the Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Act 1996 it is an offence for an Irish...

Written Answers — Garda Procedures: Garda Procedures (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: As I indicated to Deputy Rabbitte in my reply to Question 307 on 17th November, an Garda Síochána are at an advanced stage in developing proposals for the operational aspects of a new system. Because of the complexities involved, it is likely that any new system will be introduced on a pilot basis to allow all the operational and legal aspects to be fully tested and evaluated. This is a...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: My Department has responsibility for seven EU Directives which have to be implemented. There are four Directives which are currently overdue as follows: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status. The minimum standards on procedures required by this Directive are operated by the State in its...

Written Answers — Commissions of Investigation: Commissions of Investigation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The examination by the Commission of Investigation of the handling of child sex abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne is underway. I expect to receive the Commission's report in mid 2010.

Written Answers — Detention Centres: Detention Centres (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: St Patrick's Institution is currently subject to two different systems of independent inspection, the Inspector of Prisons and the Prison Visiting Committee. The Inspector of Prisons is a statutory office holder and is independent in the performance of his functions. The current Inspector, Judge Michael Reilly, has taken a particular interest in the circumstances of under-18s in our system...

Written Answers — Garda Strength: Garda Strength (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that on 31 October, the latest date for which completed returns are available, the personnel strength of An Garda Síochána was 14,634. This figure includes 1,098 probationer Gardaí who have been attested and will graduate over the next six months. On that date there were also 326 unattested students in training. A total of 200 students - 100 in...