Results 3,121-3,140 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: One of the key actions of the Third National Strategy is doubling the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the Strategy to 280 refuge spaces. As the Deputy is aware, prior to the establishment of Cuan on 1 January 2024, a Steering Committee for Inter-Departmental Group proposals was set up to manage and oversee progress on the delivery of additional refuge units. This Committee...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Undefined (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Citizenship Division of my Department have advised that a 28 day extension will be granted to the person referred to by the Deputy to produce the requested documents in support of their application for Naturalisation. If the applicant requires additional time to obtain the requested documents, they can contact the Citizenship Division directly to request same at...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the Irish Prison Service must accept into custody all people committed to prison by the Courts. As such, the Irish Prison Service has no control over the numbers committed to custody at any given time. For various reasons, including population growth, an increase in the numbers of judges and the increased size of the Garda workforce, numbers in custody have...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Defence Forces (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: I can advise the Deputy that the Irish Prison Service has held exploratory talks with the Department of Defence on the potential use of the Curragh Camp Military Prison. The Service has engaged technical consultants to undertake a conditional survey and examination of the fabric of the buildings to identify any essential works which would be required to allow the prison to be used as a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: Officials in the Irish Prison Service are civil servants and fall under the same regulations as general civil servants regarding dismissals. The dismissal of an employee from the Irish Prison Service is decided by the Appropriate Authority as outlined in the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Act 2005; which amended the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956. The identity of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, the Office of the Inspector of Prisons (OIP) was established under the Prisons Act 2007 and is independent in how it carries out its functions. The Inspector's role is to carry out regular inspections of prisons. The Inspector's three day monitoring report of the Dóchas Centre, conducted in April and May 2020, was received in my office in August 2020, and it...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: The persons referred to by the Deputy have no valid immigration permission to remain in the State. Change of Status applications from the persons concerned were received by the Domestic Residence and Permissions Division of my Department on 28 February 2024 and continue to be processed by my Department. To be fair to all applicants, applications are dealt with in chronological order...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department. The Citizenship Division have advised that they requested further documentation from the applicant on 24 June 2024. Once these documents are received, the application will progress to the eVetting stage of the Naturalisation process. I understand the extended wait times...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is aware, my Department is leading a programme of family justice reform set out in the first Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025. The Strategy outlines the steps needed to create a more efficient and user-friendly family court system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work. A key component of the Strategy is the enactment of a Family Courts Bill which...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: Community safety is a top priority for my Department and everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their communities. Community CCTV plays a vital role in achieving this goal. As the Deputy may be aware, since 2017 my Department has administered a grant-aid scheme supporting groups wishing to establish a community-based CCTV system in their area. The CCTV grant scheme was...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (2 Jul 2024)

Helen McEntee: One of the key actions of the Third National Strategy is doubling the number of refuge spaces available during the lifetime of the Strategy to 280 refuge spaces. As the Deputy is aware, prior to the establishment of Cuan on 1 January 2024, a Steering Committee for Inter-Departmental Group proposals was set up to manage and oversee progress on the delivery of additional refuge units. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Programme for Government (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Programme for Government 2020 contains a broad range of commitments that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a safe, secure and inclusive Ireland. My Department remains steadfast in its efforts to deliver on the commitments laid out in the Programme over its lifetime. The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016, provides for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I can advise the Deputy, if a parent or guardian wishes for a non-EEA student to take up residence in Ireland to attend a primary or secondary school, they must: Register the child in an appropriate private fee paying school Pay the appropriate school fees before their arrival in Ireland In the case of a boarding school student, they must provide a letter from the school confirming that it...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the Judiciary are independent in their functions subject only to the constitution and the law, and this of course includes determining what sentence is handed down in any case. The constitutionally protected separation of powers is a corner stone of our systems of criminal justice and of democracy and something that no elected official can interfere with. When...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Ceremonies (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, over 10,000 people were naturalised at the Citizenship Ceremonies held across June 2024. I can advise the Deputy that all Certificates of Naturalisation for the attendees of these ceremonies are currently in the process of being printed and will be issued via registered post. I am aware that following some previous ceremonies there were delays in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Schemes (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Community Return Scheme is an incentivised early release scheme, co-managed by the Irish Prison Service and the Probation Service, whereby people can be approved for reviewable temporary release coupled with a requirement to complete community service work in a supervised group setting under the supervision of the Probation Service. Decisions regarding temporary release to take part in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Court Judgments (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, all judges are independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and subject in those functions only to the Constitution and the law. As the Deputy will also be aware, it is open to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal any sentence that, in the opinion of the DPP, is unduly lenient. The DPP is fully independent in her functions under the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is governed by the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed and assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Act. It is open to anyone to make an application for citizenship once they meet the criteria as set out in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that on 26th June 2024, there were 12 people held in prison custody solely on a remand or trial warrant for between two and three years, three and four years, four and five years and five years plus. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table below: Years held on Remand/Trial Total 5 years...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (27 Jun 2024)

Helen McEntee: Road safety is a shared responsibility, and while led by the Department of Transport, it is one which is taken very seriously across Government. We have all been shocked by the loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer. I continue to engage with colleagues across Government to ensure that every...