Results 14,421-14,440 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation Provision (11 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy is aware the Thornton Hall site was purchased in 2005 with the intention of constructing a large scale prison campus to replace the 19th century complex at Mountjoy Prison which the then Government planned to sell to fund the development. Due to the downturn in the economy, the scale of the project could not be accommodated within the capital allocation available and the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Staff Data (11 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 253 to 255, inclusive, together. The figures in the following tables include staff in my Department as of 3rd of December 2018. It also includes the bodies under the aegis of my Department with the exception of An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. I have asked these organisations to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service Expenditure (11 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy was previously advised in Parliamentary Question No 186 of 5 December 2018, I am informed that there are two former prison governors, currently employed to carry out business process reviews in the Irish Prison Service. The purpose of the review is to implement a quality improvement programme for effective financial, administrative and other operational processes across the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (11 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The establishment by the Garda Commissioner of Divisional Protective Services Units are one of the actions outlined in the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. Under the existing Garda reform programme,divisional units of Garda National Protective Services Bureau are being rolled-out in two phases. The Bureau and its divisional units are tasked with...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Rural Crime (11 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. As part of the Garda approach special targeted patrols are carried out with the assistance of Garda National Support Services against criminals who are...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parliamentary Questions Data (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: My Department has answered 10,895 parliamentary questions from January 2016 to 6 December 2018. This figure includes linked questions where a single comprehensive answer is provided to a number of questions on the same subject. It does not include questions which have been withdrawn, disallowed or transferred to another Department. When information is sought which is in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Correspondence (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy is aware, the High Court has jurisdiction in Wards of Court matters and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998. The correspondence referred to by the Deputy has been received and is currently being addressed by my...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Vetting (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Deputy will appreciate that the primary purpose of the employment vetting carried out by the National Vetting Bureau is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults.  It is carried out by An Garda Síochána primarily in accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016 and is, as I am sure you will...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Data Retention (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Government approved the revision of existing data retention legislation to take account of evolving ECJ jurisprudence in this area in October 2017. Drafting of the Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2018 is well advanced and I would expect to publish the Bill in early 2019.   I am aware of the recent High Court case to which the Deputy refers. The judgment will be examined by my...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Court Accommodation Refurbishment (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions. However, a number of developments in relation to Courts Service accommodation requirements are outlined in the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I have been advised by my officials of the Irish Prison Service that plans to place the first prisoner in the National Violence Reduction Unit (NVRU) are nearing completion and the intention is that the new facility will commence operations in the short term. The Deputy will appreciate that the development of the NVRU represents a new departure in the management of violent...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Security (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Director General of the Irish Prison Service (IPS) was asked to provide a full report on all of the circumstances surrounding the escape of the prisoner (details supplied) during a hospital appointment at Tallaght Hospital on 17th February 2015. This report was received in March 2015 and it sets out the security and operational circumstances of the incident and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: General Data Protection Regulation (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware from the detailed response which I gave to previous Parliamentary Questions from the Deputy, in particular Questions  623 and 628 on 24 July last, concerning commencement of section 30 of the Data Protection Act 2018, Article 58 of the GDPR already confers a far reaching power on supervisory authorities such as the Data Protection...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Recruitment (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner has responsibility to manage and control generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including by arranging for the recruitment, training and appointment of its members. The Commissioner has indicated that there will be three attestations in 2019, most likely in March, June and November, though these dates...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Data Retention (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 Act already provides for a number of the requirements identified by the European Court of Justice.  The current Act provides that data can only be accessed by specific agencies where the data is required for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of a serious offence, the safeguarding of the security of the State or the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I have requested a report from the Garda authorities on the information sought by the Deputy and I will contact him directly when the report is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service Administration (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As outlined in responses to previous parliamentary questions, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department became aware in September of customers experiencing difficulties booking registration appointments. Some of these difficulties had arisen because third party agents had been able to secure multiple appointments through the use of automatic...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Referendum Campaigns (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy is aware, the Government has agreed to hold a referendum on divorce together with the European Parliament and local elections in May 2019. I am currently considering the question of the scope of the amendment on divorce that might be proposed for the referendum. I intend to bring proposals to Government early in the New Year to ensure adequate time for parliamentary and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Referendum Campaigns (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy is aware, the Government has agreed to hold a referendum on divorce together with the European Parliament and local elections in May 2019. I am currently considering the question of the scope of the amendment on divorce that might be proposed for the referendum. I intend to bring proposals to Government early in the New Year to ensure adequate time for parliamentary and...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I do not wish to disturb Senators in any way but I am on record as having said that I will be coming back on Report Stage with appropriate provisions in respect of dealing with section 44 appointments. I am giving appropriate consideration as to whether it might be expanded and further developed. I want a framework for dealing with what may be regarded as the three most senior appointments....