Results 2,641-2,660 of 7,003 for speaker:James Browne

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their comments. Section 5(2), while a short provision, is very important for the broader context of the Bill. It provides that a person does not for the purposes of the offences in sections 6 and 7 unlawfully assist presence in the State when providing goods or services in the ordinary course of his or her business trade or profession. It is important to emphasise...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their comments. As I have made clear throughout the debate on the Bill, we do not intend to criminalise people who are being smuggled, and I think that extends properly to parents travelling with their children, for example. I believe that, as it stands, that would fall under humanitarian assistance. I appreciate that Senator Higgins and I differ on that being...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their proposals. Amendments Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, and 11 are similar in that they would effectively reframe the humanitarian assistance defence as being elements of the offence and accordingly it would be for the prosecution to prove the contrary. Amendment No. 10 provides for a bar to prosecution under similar circumstances. The question of where the burden of...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators. I will speak to amendments Nos. 16 and 17 together because they are closely related. I acknowledged in our discussions in the House last week that there is a fine line between people smuggling and human trafficking. The Senator made some poignant points about the difficulties the most vulnerable people face when seeking safe passage for themselves and their loved...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank Senators for their engagement on this matter. I look forward to engaging further regarding some of those issues.

Seanad: EU Regulations: Motion (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for agreeing to debate this motion at relatively short notice. I request the House to approve Ireland’s opting into a new proposal on facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences. Ireland has an option, provided for in Article 3.1 of Protocol 21 annexed to the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their comments. As I made clear when discussing the previous group of amendments in respect of family members, we do not intend to criminalise people who are being smuggled. However, given how the offences are already phrased, I do not believe a blanket provision is necessary as it would tend to create more uncertainty.The issue is that the bar for someone being...

Seanad: EU Regulations: Motion (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank Senators Ward, Boyhan, Gallagher, Boylan, Sherlock and Martin for their contributions. Unfortunately, under the protocol there is only ever a three-month window for opting in, and passing it requires a recommendation to the Government, Government approval and passage in both Houses. I regret that it will always be a tight timeline in dealing with options for the protocol. I thank...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: This application for a certificate of naturalisation continues to be processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision in due course. The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The person referred to by the Deputy holds a Stamp 1G Graduate permission, which has been extended until 15 January 2022, under the final automatic extension of immigration permissions I announced on 15 September 2021. A Stamp 1G indicates that a person has permission to look for employment in the State under the Third Level Graduate Programme. The Stamp 1G is granted for 12 months to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Data (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together. My Department continued to accept and process immigration and citizenship applications throughout the pandemic. As the Deputy will appreciate, the figures for 2020 and to date in 2021, reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for and processing of applications. The processing timeline for standard applications has...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Policy (20 Oct 2021)

James Browne: As outlined to the Deputy in my reply to Parliamentary Question no. 428, my Department is aware that there have been issues in the past around the securing of registration appointments. My Department has continually introduced software fixes designed to prevent such abuses of the system. These new measures have been partly successful in preventing the block booking of appointments by...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fishing Industry (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I again thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this matter on the atypical scheme. I am pleased to confirm that a review of the scheme is being put in place. Coming from a fishing county myself, Wexford, I know how hard and dangerous the fishing sector is for skippers and their employees. The fishing sector is under huge pressure at the moment. I felt that this is something on which the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: International Protection (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for direct provision centres falls to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and not the Department of Justice. I repeat what I said in the opening, which is that I cannot comment on individual cases. A negative decision on an appeal by the independent International Protection Appeals Tribunal...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fishing Industry (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of the atypical working scheme. I know the fishing industry and community is hugely important to the Deputy and he has raised this matter with me on a number of occasions. I have always been struck by his compassion for the industry, the fishermen, the employees and the communities. As a result of the Deputy and other Deputies raising this...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: International Protection (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As the Deputy is aware, I cannot comment on any individual cases. However, I can assure the Deputy that each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account. The permission to remain process includes a full consideration of their private and family rights in...

Access of Competent Authorities to Centralised Bank Account Registries: Motion (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Transport (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: 346. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding services included within the youth travel card scheme here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51192/21]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (19 Oct 2021)

James Browne: An application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy on 1 October 2019. This application is currently being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible. ...