Results 12,881-12,900 of 15,908 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (18 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The visa applications referred to by the Deputy were refused by the Visa Office on 23 March 2024. The reasons for this decision were set out in the refusal letter sent to the applicants at that time. An appeal of this decision was launched on 7 June 2024. Appeals for applications of this type are processed in the order in which they are received, to be fair to all applicants. While every...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Policies (18 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: Irish citizens are subject to normal immigration checks upon re-entering the State, including being requested to provide documentation to verify they hold Irish citizenship. I can advise the Deputy that Section 4 of the Immigration Act 2004, sets out the full range of grounds under which a person may be refused permission to enter the State, however, these provisions are not applicable to...

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

Helen McEntee: I have contacted the Garda authorities for the information requested by the Deputy. Regrettably, this information was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy directly when it is to hand.

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the distribution of resources, including the Garda fleet, across the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters. The Government is committed to providing An Garda...

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the distribution of resources, including Garda staff, across the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters. The Government is committed to providing An Garda...

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the distribution of resources across the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters. The Government is committed to providing An Garda Síochána with the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Policies (18 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I have contacted the Garda authorities for information on the issues raised by the Deputy. Regrettably, this information was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy directly when it is to hand.

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the distribution of resources, including the Garda fleet, across the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in this matter. The Government is committed to providing An Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Victim Support Services (18 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The case referred to by the Deputy relates to an individual convicted for attempted murder, who has served the sentence handed down for that crime, but is now being separately detained, for a concurrent, but longer period of detention in the Central Mental Hospital on foot of an unrelated criminal offence. This means that while the victim in the attempted murder case was entitled to be...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (18 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I can inform the Deputy that following full consideration by a Visa Officer, the visa application referred to was refused. A letter issued to the applicant on 6 September 2024 outlines the reasons for this refusal. An appeals process is available which allows applicants, in the event of a refusal of the application at first instance, to address the factors which gave rise to that decision....

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

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will understand, my Department is responsible for a wide range of operational, 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 operations, policies and legislation under...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge and thank him and the members of the committee for waiving pre-legislative scrutiny and acknowledging this is very specific and very much responding to the High Court ruling and the need to ensure equality between children and children who have aged out when it comes to the sentencing and the timeline. There are two elements to the amendment. The first...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: To the second point, the amendment itself specifically references the aged-out child and references murder. Again, the legal advice I have is the Children Act 2001 disapplied any specific sentence specific to murder. While there may be a general sentence, there is no specific statutory sentence for children relating to murder, whereas this would place a specific statutory sentence on the...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The discrepancy we are trying to remove inserts this on the other side. There is a second element to this. There is a Supreme Court case which is looking at murder as it applies to a child. Apologies that I did not say this earlier but this particular case has the potential to require further changes in legislation. The Children Act is being worked on at the moment, and there is an...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The objective of the Bill is to provide that level playing field and that equality. Where the 2001 Act is silent is specific to murder, so by including the amendment, where we are specifically referencing murder to the aged-out child, where it is not specifically referenced to children in the 2001 Children Act, and I appreciate this is where we are talking about-----

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: There is no specific reference. The 2001 Act is silent on murder.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: It is the use of that. It does not exist, so to disapply it for the aged-out child brings it onto a level playing field and brings it back to where it was. I am not saying we should not have on the Statute Book something specific about murder as it relates to children but it does not currently exist. Applying the amendment as it stands inserts something specific to murder for the aged-out...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: By using and specifically referencing murder where it does not exist at the moment, there is the potential to put in place a discrepancy on the other side of things. Our objectives are the same, but the legal advice I have is to comply with the High Court ruling. We need to change it.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The fact that it is silent on the type of offence in the 2001 Act, by disapplying it to aged-out persons they automatically fall under that category. However, by inserting the words "when he or she committed the murder", there is a specific-----

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (25 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: By disapplying the mandatory life sentence of murder to this person, the person automatically falls back under this.