Results 2,021-2,040 of 15,062 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. It is for the reason he has outlined and I have outlined, which is a significant increase in the number of international protection applicants, that a second centre has been opened. Almost 50% of applicants who would have been going to Mount Street are now going to Citywest. I believe it is a more appropriate location, particularly when women and children are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: This is not an issue that we can deal with alone and that is why An Garda Síochána has significant engagement and very strong links with Interpol and Europol. We have worked very closely with the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre - Narcotics, based in Lisbon. We have deployed Garda liaison officers to specific countries which we know are problematic where drugs are coming...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: We need to come at this from a number of different angles. There is not one single solution to resolve what is a problem not just in Ireland but right across the world. We need to continue to invest in and support An Garda Síochána to work with its partners across the globe to try to tackle at source the organised crime groups and those who are responsible for producing this. We...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree that the impact organised crime and those involved in organised crime can have on our communities is devastating. They intimidate and inflict violence and misery on all parts of our community. It is a top priority for me, my Government and this Department to take swift action supported by and supporting the Garda Commissioner and his team. This includes increasing the maximum...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Visa Applications (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy rightly said, a great deal of work is being done but we can always improve the service overall and the timelines for people. We are responding and trying to make these changes while at the same time seeing an increase in the number of applications overall. In 2023, we had over 166,000 visa applications submitted and approximately 140,000 of those were granted. These figures...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Visa Applications (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: To the latter question, as the Deputy rightly said, last May I jointly announced with my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke, that a project to adopt the single permit to work and live in Ireland would be developed. There is a two-stream process now. The outcome of this initiative will streamline this process for applicants coming to Ireland to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Visa Applications (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: Depending on the country, there are differences in the numbers of applications and ways in which embassies in the original countries are operating. While I do not have the exact times, I can tell the Deputy that the top ten nationalities in terms of the short-stay visa grants are India, China, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, the Philippines, Egypt, Colombia and Saudi...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Visa Applications (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: One of the important ways we will do this is through investment in technology.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Visa Applications (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: We have already seen the investment in the normal visa structures but also in the international protection system and how this has allowed us to process many more applications.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for his interest in this very important issue. As he has mentioned, one of the overarching goals of the Zero Tolerance strategy is to ensure that everyone across the country who needs a refuge space will have access to one. Our commitment to double what we currently have represents the fastest ever expansion of refuge accommodation in this country. Earlier this month,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The ambition is to double the number in the lifetime of the strategy, which is only two years into its progress. We have not achieved that yet but I am confident that we will achieve it over the lifetime of the strategy. We are also developing safe houses. This is not just about providing wraparound support within the refuge itself. It is also about making sure that there are step-down...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputies. I have said this many times and I will say it again; I believe we are dealing with an epidemic. It is in every town, village and corner of our society. More women are coming forward. It is mainly women although men are, of course, also victims. It is a very positive thing. We need to be able to respond with resources and supports. It is not just about providing...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. All of us in recent times have seen far too many incidents like the one referred to by the Deputy. This is why my Department undertook a review of familicide. This report was published in May 2023. It was commissioned by my Department to effectively respond to a very challenging but also complex area and one that I feel we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: If it were that simple it would be done already but unfortunately it is not that simple. It is the case that for somebody else to become a guardian they will have had to shown that they were for the previous 12 months a part of that child's life and a part of the day-to-day of that child's life. If both parents had been in that scenario and one is since deceased and the other is potentially...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I wish to clarify that there is no delay in any report. Any report that I have been given I am acting on. With the familicide report actions are already being taken. This specific one-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: No. What I said was at the end of the year there were recommendations specifically on this. The familicide report does not set how one does this. The Deputy is suggesting that there would be an automatic removal of guardianship. To do that would impact on the cases that I am speaking about. We need to have an understanding of the individual cases. For that we need to change the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: No, this is not a report that is being undertaken as part of this. It is not mine. This is separate. At the end of the year there will be proposals as to how we enact this specific recommendation from the familicide report. They are two different things. We are not talking about that.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the unbelievable work of the members of An Garda Síochána and those from the many other emergency support services who responded to the appalling scenes last November after the tragic event earlier in the day. There are ongoing investigations into this matter. In the days, weeks and months since those events, 51 people have been arrested. There...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Tánaiste's comments relate to the difference between the British and Irish systems subsequent to days of riots in multiple cities across the UK. I am saying clearly that the difference between the United Kingdom and Ireland is that police over there had access to evidence and information which allowed them to obtain early guilty pleas when bringing people before the courts and to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (26 Sep 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy asked a number of questions. In the past four years, the Garda budget has increased by 25%. It now stands at €2.35 billion. We have 14,100-plus Garda members and 3,200 Garda staff. The Garda Reserve has been established, and 1,800 applications were received as part of the first recruitment campaign. Every garda on the beat has a hand-held device. This means that they...