Results 11,901-11,920 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Investigations (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am advised by the Garda authorities that the examination surrounding the circumstances of the death of Father Niall Molloy is almost complete and that a report of this examination will be submitted to the Commissioner in the coming weeks. Upon receipt of a report from the Commissioner I will review the situation. I understand that the officers carrying out the examination are continuing to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Transport (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 28, 40 and 50 together. Decisions in relation to the provision and deployment of Garda vehicles are a matter, in the first instance, for the Garda Commissioner in the context of his identified operational requirements and in the light of available resources. The Garda transport fleet consisted of 2,414 vehicles in December 2012. The comparative figure...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I have no immediate plans to introduce such legislation though, as I have indicated in the past, serious consideration is being given to this issue. I am aware of the long standing wish of many Travellers that such status be granted but there are also some divergent views. I am also aware that the previous Government was of the view that Travellers are not an ethnic minority. Dialogue...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Budgets (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: Among the many headaches I inherited when I was appointed Minister for Justice and Equality in March 2011 was the need to unravel the expenditure for the Justice Sector contained in the Fianna Fáil-led Government's National Recovery Plan 2011-2014, which, if applied, would have resulted in devastating cuts in Garda services which I would not, and could not, stand over. The budgetary...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: EU Directives (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: The European Commission has indicated that it will during the course of 2013 publish some guidelines on the interpretation of Council Directive 2003/86/EC on the Right to Family Reunification. Since Ireland, like the UK, does not participate in the Directive it would not be in a position to contribute formally to the development of the guidelines. Nevertheless Ireland did participate in the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: Operation Fiacla is the subject of regular monitoring and review by senior Garda management and is focused on identifying and targeting gangs involved in burglaries around the country so as to disrupt their activities and bring them before the Courts. The operation is intelligence driven, and specific burglary initiatives have been implemented in each Garda Region to target suspect...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Industrial Relations Issues (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: Working conditions for members of the Garda Síochána are the subject of discussions under the Garda Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme. The scheme, which is similar to schemes operating elsewhere in the public service, provides for a Conciliation Council, an Arbitration Board and an Adjudicator, all of which are designed to deal with conditions of service of members of all ranks of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Station Closures (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: At the end of 2013 there will be 564 Garda stations in the State. By comparison with other similar jurisdictions this is still a high number. By way of comparison, there are 83 police stations in Northern Ireland for its population of 1.4 million and 340 stations in Scotland for its population of 5.2 million. In the London Metropolitan area, 66 police stations are due to close, leaving 73...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Visiting Committees Remit (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I announced plans some time ago to strengthen the independent oversight of our prisons. To this end, the Government has approved the drafting of a General Scheme of an Inspection of Places of Detention Bill which will include provisions to make Visiting Committees more effective while they continue their role of visiting prisons, meeting with prisoners, and liaising on their behalf with...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Retirements (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: Members of An Garda Síochána may retire on a voluntary basis once they have reached 50 years of age and have accrued 30 years service. Members must retire on compulsory age grounds on reaching the age of 60. In actual fact, most Gardaí take voluntary retirement ahead of their compulsory retirement age and it is not possible to predict with any certainty the number of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Complaints Procedures (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy is aware, the new prisoner complaints procedure was introduced with effect from the 1 November 2012. The new procedure allows for all complaints made by prisoners alleging serious ill treatment, use of excessive force, serious intimidation/discrimination or threats by a member of staff of the Irish Prison Service to be investigated by an independent investigator. The Inspector...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Overtime (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the number of overtime hours worked by members of An Garda Síochána during 2010, 2011 and 2012 was: 2010, 2,462,484 hours; 2011, 2,565,684 hours; and 2012, 1,310,954 hours. The 2011 figure also includes overtime in respect of duties carried out during the State Visits of President Obama and Queen Elizabeth II which amounted in total to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 43 together. The Deputy will appreciate that judges are independent in the matter of sentencing, as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. In accordance with this principle, the role of the Oireachtas has been to specify in law a maximum penalty and a court, having considered all...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I wish to inform the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service provides a comprehensive range of drug treatment services tiered to meet the needs of the prison population. The nine beds referred to by the Deputy are allocated specifically for the therapeutic Drug Treatment Programme (DTP) based in the Medical Unit, Mountjoy Prison. This programme is 8 weeks in duration and the model used is a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Agreements (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy will be aware that in March last year the Government decided to extend for a four year period the Irish Short-stay Visa Waiver Programme to the end of October, 2016. The programme, which was devised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department, was originally scheduled to run on a pilot basis until last October. The Programme allows tourists or...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Investigations (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: The murder of Garda Richard Fallon was a terrible tragedy for his family and I want to, again, express my deepest sympathy to them. On top of that personal tragedy, his murder was also an event that can only be described as a heinous crime carried out by ruthless individuals. As the Deputy will be aware, this case is currently being reviewed by An Garda Síochána’s Serious...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: As I indicated in response to Question No. 789 of 16 January 2013, I am presently engaged in the preparation of a Family Relationships and Children Bill, which will, among other matters, deal with parentage issues arising from surrogacy. I intend to publish the Heads of the Bill as soon as possible in 2013 having regard to the need for consultations and the need to dispose of urgent...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Transport (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am advised by the Garda authorities that the strength of the Garda fleet for the years 2010 to date is as outlined in the table below: YEAR FLEET TOTAL 2010 2,740 2011 2,623 2012 2,414 31st January 2013 2,402 The Deputy will be aware that an additional 213 new vehicles were purchased in 2012 on foot of an investment of €4 million. These new vehicles are currently...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Numbers (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: The number of programme refugees accepted by the State during each of the past ten years is as follows: 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total 28 50 58 115 184 114 101 192 20 45 49 956

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Career Breaks (6 Feb 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that there are currently 40 members on a career break and there are no applications pending.