Results 16,841-16,860 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, a Day of Action under 'Operation Egg Shell' took place on Wednesday 5th October concentrating on the ports of Castletownbere and Howth. I am informed by An Garda Síochána that 'Operation Egg Shell' was carried out as part of the North Atlantic Maritime Project of the Santa Marta Group. The Santa Marta Group is a global alliance of international Police...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sexual Offences Data (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I understand that the Deputy is referring to detection rates highlighted in the 'Garda Recorded Crime Statistics 2010-2014', which was published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week. The first thing that needs to be said is that this publication provides an analysis of data up to the end of 2014 only, and it would be incorrect to suggest that it represents an assessment of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: Ireland signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and since then, successive Governments have emphasised Ireland’s strong commitment to proceed to ratification as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure all necessary legislative and administrative requirements under the Convention are met. This Government remains committed to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: To coincide with the first anniversary of the publication of the McMahon Report last June 30th, a comprehensive account of progress on the implementation of the recommendations was compiled. I was pleased to publish and note the considerable progress made at that stage. I can confirm that a further half-yearly analysis of progress is currently under way in my Department who are also...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Fines Administration (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to advise the Deputy that I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has provided the statistics set out below in relation to the value of uncollected fines as recorded on the Courts Service Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS). Year No. of Fines due Value of Fines due Jan – Dec 2013 13,132 €4,241,239.29 Jan - Dec 2014 16,533 €5,852,055.11 Jan –...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Justice and Home Affairs Council met on 8 and 9 of December 2016. An informal meeting of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs is scheduled to take place on 26 and 27 January, 2017 in Valletta, Malta. This will be the first meeting of the Council under the Maltese Presidency. Following that, the next scheduled meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council will take place in Brussels...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Brexit Issues (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 57 together. Substantial preparations in relation to the impact of a UK vote to leave the EU on the Department's areas of responsibility have been underway for some time now. A working group, chaired by an Assistant Secretary, was set up in the Department in April 2016 to examine these issues, and weekly progress updates are provided to the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Discipline (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will be aware the Private Members Bill, the Prisons (Solitary Confinement) (Amendment) Bill 2016, was debated in the House on 1 December 2016 where it passed second stage. As was explained during the Second Stage Debate, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) had already committed in its current Strategic Plan to compliance with international human rights obligations and this plan...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Gangland Crime (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, the Government is pursuing a comprehensive and robust response to gang-related violence and crime. We have enacted new legislation to further target criminal activities including the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2016 which provides additional powers for Gardaí; in particular, powers to allow in certain circumstances for the immediate seizure of assets...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Strength (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Organised Crime (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can assure the Deputy that targeting organised crime activity and those involved is an ongoing priority for the Government and An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána is tackling such activity through a range of targeted measures designed to disrupt and dismantle the operations of criminal organisations. This involves targeting serious criminals and organised...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Measures (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I would like to assure the Deputy that any level of racist incidents and particularly racist crime are a matter of concern and An Garda Síochána monitors this type of crime very carefully. It is of course essential that anyone with information in relation to hate crimes provides full details to An Garda Síochána. The Garda Racial Intercultural and Diversity Office...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence Policy (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have secured an additional increase in funding of €250,000 in Budget 2017 for services to victims of crime - an increase of 17% on the 2016 amount. This funding which is administered by the Victims of Crime office of my Department, is allocated to organisations working with victims. A significant part of the monies allocated relate to court accompaniment - including for victims...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Policing Authority (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will be aware that the Policing Authority is an independent statutory body established on 1 January 2016 to oversee the performance of the Garda Síochána in relation to policing services, to promote public awareness of policing matters and to promote and support the continuous improvements in policing in Ireland. The statutory basis and functions of the Authority are...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Protected Disclosures (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, following advice received from the Attorney General, I appointed Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill to undertake a review of certain protected disclosures which were made to me. In essence, Judge O’Neill was asked to review allegations of wrongdoing contained in the disclosures; to make whatever inquiries he considered appropriate in relation to the review and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Strength (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including the Traffic Corps, among the various Garda Regions, Divisions and Districts, and I as Minister, I have no direct role in the matter. I am informed by the Garda authorities that, as of 31 October 2016, the latest date which figures are readily available, the strength of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, 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 regard to sentencing, the approach of the Oireachtas has generally been to specify in law a maximum penalty for an offence, so that a court, having considered all the circumstances of a case, may...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Measures (16 Dec 2016)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 69 and 70 together. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, which was published in September 2015, includes measures to significantly strengthen existing criminal law in combatting child exploitation and, in particular, address the use of modern communication technologies as a tool which may lead to child sexual exploitation. The Bill has completed passage...