Results 3,101-3,120 of 15,298 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (25 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: An appeal under the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme by the first and second named persons referred to by the Deputy was refused on 13 March 2024. A separate appeal from the third named person was refused on 23 February 2024. The persons concerned are the subject of a Deportation Order and any person subject to a Deportation Order can apply to the Minister, under...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I am interested in meeting the Deputy to go through the details and see what options are available.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I would like to see more gardaí in Cork, as I would like to see more gardaí across the country. I want to see the numbers we have increase regardless of what the overall figure is now. As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the deployment of personnel. Having said that, the unprecedented allocation of more than €2 billion for 2023 and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: We find ourselves in a position across the country where we have approximately 1,000 fewer gardaí than we should have. This is because the impact of Covid-19 meant no new recruits went into the college in Templemore for two years. We had gathered momentum in the recruitment campaigns at that stage and they had been producing significant numbers of new members. We are only back to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: Competitions are run on an ongoing basis. Panels are developed and then positions are filled. Where new Garda members go or where serving members are redirected must be a matter for the Garda Commissioner. My job is to ensure the Garda and its members have the resources they need, the support they need and, as far as I can ensure it, that more people are going through Templemore to train...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: The US model of community courts received consideration within the Department some years ago and the concept has some similarities with the drug court which has operated in the Dublin District Court since 2001. Several jurisdictions have developed what are sometimes referred to as "problem-solving" courts. Models include community courts, drug courts and restorative programmes. These...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy of my commitment and that of the Garda to dealing with all forms of drug dealing, be it individuals in the estates he mentioned or the larger organised crime groups. Of course, to deal with this on a national level, the Garda needs to make sure it does what it can, working with international partners. It also needs the resources to try and stop these loads coming into...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: A form of vetting takes place where people are being placed in particular types of local authority housing. Beyond that, anybody can move into an area and this problem can arise. It is really important that the Garda is alerted to any issues that arise within the community. If people within the community have suspicions or indeed have evidence to show that drug dealing is taking place and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I say this from experience. In our own constituencies, we have all come across situations of families with children involved and there are different scenarios. It is therefore not as straightforward as moving people out of communities. However, where somebody is creating that level of fear and intimidation within an estate or a community, it is really important that the Garda responds and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Gangland Crime (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I too commend the gardaí in the Deputy's area. I met them and appreciate, like in a lot of areas, that they are under pressure. They are doing everything they can in the interim, as we focus on getting more gardaí. There has been significant investment in resources to support gardaí in their work, whether that is more vehicles, more technology or ways to reduce the workload...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: The most important thing is that people know that crime does not pay, whether you are a drug dealer or involved in any type of crime. That is why the work of CAB is so important. Some of my changes will make it easier and quicker for CAB to confiscate, identify and disburse the proceeds of the crime it has confiscated. It will also help to prevent criminals from frustrating the system,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Gangland Crime (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: First, I assure the Deputy, as he has probably heard, that tackling serious and organised crime is a priority for me and An Garda Síochána. I am committed to ensuring that communities right across the country have the resources and supports that they need, and most importantly people are safe and feel safe. While it is welcome that serious attacks involving firearms have fallen...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Gangland Crime (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. It is important to say that work is ongoing but I appreciate that more needs to be done. If you look at the activity of An Garda Síochána - obviously there is a limited amount of information that can be provided - so far this year, between January and May, drugs valued in excess of €12 million were seized in that region. There were 106 seizures of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Community Safety Partnerships (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: A number of measures had to be taken before the partnerships could be established, accounting for how the current three pilots have operated. I am establishing a national office for community safety, which will have the overarching objective of managing and, above all, supporting and delivering the objectives of the national strategy. There will be training, guidance and other supports for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Community Safety Partnerships (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: Each partnership will be supported by a dedicated community safety co-ordinator, at administrative officer grade VII, and an administrator, at assistant staff officer grade IV. Both of these will be full-time positions. The individuals will be recruited through the local authority and they will provide the support. They will be full-time staff working on the ground in the office, wherever...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He has done so consistently, particularly in his own area. He has also raised the need for us all to do more and actively deal with the threat posed to our communities, particularly young people, by organised crime groups and those who are buying, dealing and engaging with drug dealers. The Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Drug Dealing (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree. To reduce supply, we need to ensure we are working on an international basis and stopping the large shipments. What is clear is that the drugs seized are the tip of the iceberg, but obviously the more work the Garda can do, the more we will be seen as a country into which it is not easy to bring this level of drugs. There is work that can be done on a lower level by An Garda...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I appreciate that this has been for a long time extremely difficult for the families. In many of the Deputy's questions he has sought information as to why no Garda files relating to this case at all can be given to the families. This is an open case. This is still an open file. This is information the Garda has relating to an ongoing case. Irrespective of whether it is something as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: What has been made very clear is that the Garda is engaging. In fact, as regards the structures that needed to be put in place to allow the Garda to provide information where it could not with the ongoing investigation, those measures were implemented and changed in order that gardaí could provide the information they have. It has been made very clear to me that the information is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Community Safety Partnerships (20 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for his ongoing interest in the development of the local partnerships. The Government's community safety plan is about people being safe and feeling safe in their own communities, and both of those are equally important. At the heart of this policy is the principle that every community has the right to be safe and to feel safe in order for individuals and communities to...