Results 281-300 of 11,583 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The salary for the Garda Commissioner role, with effect from 1 August 2025, is €301,744 (non-PPC)/€317,657 (PPC). This salary reflects the size and unique complexity of leading An Garda Síochána, an organisation of over 18,000 employees, including lead responsibility for the security of the State. The current Garda Commissioner is remunerated in line with the above...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, this includes all operational matters. In relation to the specific information sought by the Deputy, I am advised by the Garda authorities that it is not possible to provide information specific to ‘domestic/gender/sexual-based...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Combatting domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) is a priority for me and for the Government, and ensuring reliable data on service use is central to this work. In January 2024, Cuan, the new statutory agency dedicated to tackling DSGBV was established. Cuan’s role is to coordinate our national response and Government actions in the Third National Strategy on DSGBV and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Personal Injury Claims (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The possibility of introducing a no-fault insurance system in Ireland has been examined before by Government. The Second and Final Report of Personal Injuries Commission in 2018, commissioned by the then Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, considered this issue and concluded that it would be difficult to envisage a no-fault system, such as exists in New Zealand, being applied in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Huge strides have been made over recent months in regularising the IPAS accommodation portfolio. New systems and procedures in place are already having an impact and this will improve incrementally over the coming months and into 2026. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG)'s recent annual report for 2024 looked at overall processes and 20 sample international protection...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The International Protection Procurement Service (IPPS) received an offer of accommodation for people seeking international protection at this property. However, the offer is no longer under consideration. All offers of international protection accommodation are reviewed by the Department under a standardised appraisal procedure. Factors in the appraisal of international protection...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Private Security Authority (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Private Security Authority (PSA) considers the suitability of applicants to work in the private security industry on the basis of competence, criminality and general suitability. The PSA has guidelines on the assessment of what constitutes a fit and proper person. The guidelines are available on the website of the PSA. Where an applicant for a licence has a criminal conviction, the PSA...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: In the interest of transparency, An Garda Síochána publishes data on the allocation of Gardaí by Division, Station and rank. This can be found at the following link: www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and -people-development/garda-hr-directorate/garda-strength-brea kdown-2025/. The Deputy should select the Garda Workforce figures for August 2025 (the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I would like to assure the Deputy, that preventing access to contraband into prisons continues to be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. It is estimated that up to 70% of the people in custody have addiction issues and the reality is that some of those with active addiction issues may continue their drug-seeking behaviour inside prison, notwithstanding the supports that are...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Irish Prison Service has confirmed that statistics available regarding prisoners on a restricted regime are collated by the Irish Prison Service Statistics Unit and published quarterly on its website (www.irishprisons.ie). This information can be found in the Information Centre under Statistics & Information, Census Reports. I am advised that it is not possible to provide the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the courts and has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time. Where the number of people in custody exceeds the maximum capacity in any prison, officials in the Irish Prison Service make every effort to deal with this through Temporary Release. Decisions in relation to temporary...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I can assure the Deputy that Irish Prison Service staff work tirelessly to take steps to reduce the flow of illicit substances into our prisons. The prevention of access to contraband including illegal drugs into prisons will always be a high priority for the Irish Prison Service. The Irish Prison Service has committed to continuing to invest in new technologies and measures to support our...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I have been advised that, the healthcare records of prisoners in the custody of the Irish Prison Service are recorded on an individual basis on the Prisoner Healthcare Management System (PHMS). Each individual's record is recorded in a narrative fashion and it is not possible to extract a global report from PHMS to produce a summary of medical conditions or issues for which people have...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Legal Aid Board is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”) and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021. Section 3(3) of the 1995 Act states that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act, be...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Cybersecurity Policy (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I can assure the Deputy that Ireland remains fully committed to ratification of the Council of Europe ‘Budapest’ Convention on Cybercrime. The Convention is divided into three main sections: criminalisation of listed offences; measures for the gathering of evidence in relation to the listed offences and from computer systems generally; and international cooperation. A...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 284 together. Management of the courts, along with related operational matters and logistical functions, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and the Constitution. It should be noted that the Department does not record data relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Data Protection (8 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The issue of selling precise location data generated by mobile phones – brought to light by the recent RTÉ Prime Time programme – raises serious privacy, data protection and security concerns. The processing of personal data is regulated at EU level by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This affords the most appropriate level of protection to individuals,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Offices (7 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: My Department has an office in Killarney and any vacancies are filled on a case-by case basis. At present, my Department has no plans to expand the number of staff working in this office. Public Jobs is the primary recruiter for the Civil Service and any open recruitment competitions are typically advertised on publicjobs.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Local Community Safety Partnerships (7 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, which I commenced on Wednesday 2 April 2025, provides for the establishment of Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSP) within each local authority area. The regulations for these Safety Partnerships came into operation on Monday 30 June. 36 Partnerships are in the process of being established in local authority areas across the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (7 Oct 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I understand that the Deputy has been in contact with my Department's Immigration Oireachtas service regarding the person cited and a status update was recently provided. This application continues to be processed by the citizenship division of my Department. I am aware that extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants, particularly considering the current processing times. I...