Results 2,701-2,720 of 7,003 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: An application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy on 4 February 2020. 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. The granting of Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The application for a certificate of naturalisation for the person referred to by the Deputy 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. It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The application of the person referred to by the Deputy has been received by my Department and I am advised that their passport will be returned to them in the coming days. My Department has not suspended the receipt or processing of citizenship applications at any stage during the pandemic. However, processing rates have unfortunately been negatively impacted by the attendant health and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: For reasons of confidentiality I am unable to comment on any individual international protection cases. However, more generally, where a person does not wish to continue in the international protection process, they should personally write to the International Protection Office at: Customer Service Centre, International Protection Office, 79-83 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, outlining...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: In response to a notification pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), written representations have been submitted on behalf of the person concerned. These representations, together with all other information and documentation on file, will be fully considered, under Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and all other applicable...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Gambling Sector (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2019 was commenced on 1 December 2020, with all sections coming into effect. As the Deputy will recall, there was extensive debate on this Act during its passage through the Oireachtas. The then Minister of State received many representations from a range of stakeholders at the time and these were extensively discussed and publicised. The 2019...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Programmes (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was introduced in April 2012 to encourage inward investment and create business and employment opportunities in the State. The programme provides investors with the opportunity to invest in Ireland. Key to the programme is that the investments are beneficial for Ireland, generate or sustain employment and are generally in the public interest. To date,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: An application for a certificate of naturalisation was received from the person referred to by the Deputy on 26 February 2021. 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. The granting of Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: The person referred to by the Deputy has permission to remain in the State, on immigration stamp 1 conditions, without a requirement to obtain an employment permit, up to 21 January 2022. Future renewals of the permission to remain granted should be applied for six weeks in advance of the permission expiring to the Acknowledgments Unit, Repatriation Division, Immigration Service Delivery,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 460 and 461 together. As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible, by law, for the administration and management of Garda business, including the operation of the statutory Garda Youth Diversion Programme. As Minister, I play no role in these independent functions. The aim of the Garda Youth Diversion Programme is to prevent...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (12 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 463 and 464 together. I am deeply conscious of how important the granting of naturalisation is to those who apply for it and my Department has continued to accept and process citizenship applications throughout the pandemic and at all levels of public health restrictions. However, the combined impact of the 2019 Jones judgment and the necessary health and...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their proposal. I recognise the desire to increase clarity in this area. In providing a general defence of humanitarian assistance, we are going well beyond what most other member states have done in the implementation of the same directive.The discretion in Article 1(2) to exclude humanitarian assistance from the scope of the offence has been taken up by only seven...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their comments. There are two aspects to the amendment: adding a definition of "people smuggling" in the first place and including in that new definition a qualification that it is for the purposes of obtaining a financial or other material benefit. In terms of having a definition at all, the specific term of "smuggling of people" is not used in the offences as...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their comments and I appreciate why this amendment is being sought. It is important to emphasise that the State protects the rights of all of those who come into the State, whether they have been smuggled or not, and those rights arise under the Constitution as well as the 1951 convention, the ECHR and other instruments. Both the ECHR and the 1951 convention are...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I am happy to facilitate the conversation with the Department. I did that with the Conveyancing Act and will certainly make sure that happens again with this legislation. I understand the Senator's concerns. I have seen videos of what is happening on the border of the European Union with Belarus. Our duty is to ensure that these rights are upheld. I do not think the proper approach is to...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: These amendments would include financial and material benefit as an element of the offence to be proved by the prosecution. I have discussed this at some length in respect of the previous amendments and it is, of course, something which has been considered in-depth by officials in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. I do acknowledge that there is a difference between the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: One of the reasons we have not had prosecutions is that the DPP is of the view that it cannot secure prosecutions. This is because of the almost impossibility of proving material or financial gain in a situation where that has occurred somewhere outside of the State. It is not open to the DPP to run test cases. It has to make decisions on whether or not to prosecute, based on principles...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their suggested change in this regard but, unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment. The elements of defence have been considered carefully with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General. Removing the phrase, "having reasonable cause to believe" would significantly weaken the offence and would inevitably create issues in...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senator and I understand where she is coming from but making it almost impossible to prosecute smugglers is not going to help those people in the sea who are dying or at risk of dying. Of course, we want to protect the humanitarian organisations and the individuals who rescue people and this is why we have sought to strike a balance here. Effectively, nullifying the legislation...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senator. We discussed the definition of "humanitarian assistance" at length, and I do not propose to go over that again. The conduct that has been outlined in the amendment would be covered by the humanitarian assistance defence, as provided, and the phrasing of the defence in general terms is more appropriate than identifying specific instances where that assistance defence...