Results 3,541-3,560 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — Garda Investigations: Garda Investigations (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to my response to Parliamentary Question No. 42 of 4 February 2010. The position remains unchanged.

Written Answers — Legal Aid Service: Legal Aid Service (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: This question relates to a publication issued recently by the Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) on the Government's direct provision system, the means by which the State discharges its obligations to provide accommodation and sustenance to asylum seekers while their applications are considered. My general response to this publication was given in my reply to Dáil Questions 217, 218 and 219 on...

Written Answers — Prison Committals: Prison Committals (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I am advised that the prison population stood at 4,228 on the 18th March 2010 and that the first time the number of prisoners in custody exceeded 4,000 was in October 2009. As the Deputy and the House will be aware, the Irish Prison Service has been proactively engaged in an ongoing extensive programme of investment in prisons infrastructure which has involved both the modernisation of the...

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I am circulating with my reply a tabular statement giving the latest available information in relation to drug seizures for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Seizure data in respect of 2010 is not available as yet from An Garda Síochána. Due to the covert nature of the activity, it is not possible to give a reliable estimate of the proportion of drugs coming into the country that these figures...

Written Answers — Organised Crime: Organised Crime (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: As the Deputy is aware the Criminal Justice Surveillance Act 2009, the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 entered into force in July last year. The legislation in question represents additional legislative resources that the Oireachtas has made available to An Garda Síochána to facilitate them in their fight against serious...

Written Answers — Legal Services Regulation: Legal Services Regulation (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: What the independent Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman primarily provides for is better regulation of the system under which the complaints of clients of barristers and solicitors are investigated. This is the policy as contained in the Legal Services Ombudsman Act 2009. The overall systems under which the legal professions are regulated continue to be reviewed in my Department.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: There is a number of offences on the statute book which address the question of withholding information about serious offences, but let me first of all clarify what is meant by misprision of felony. As the Deputy may be aware, misprision of felony was a misdemeanour under the common law. It was committed by a person who knew that a felony had been committed and who could give information...

Written Answers — Restorative Justice Provisions: Restorative Justice Provisions (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The comprehensive report on Restorative Justice provided to me by the National Commission continues to be examined by my Department. I will bring my proposals to Government in due course once we have looked at all the issues, including the resource implications. Our focus is to encourage the use, to the greatest extent possible, of the menu of non-custodial options available to the courts....

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: My speech to the Annual Conference of the Law Reform Commission on 18 November, 2009 was significantly influenced by the Consultation Paper on Personal Debt Management and Debt Enforcement, which the Commission had just published in September 2009. The Consultation Paper contains a very extensive list of provisional recommendations for reform of the law on personal debt. The Commission is...

Written Answers — Community Policing: Community Policing (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: Joint Policing Committees are provided for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Their purpose is to provide a forum where An Garda Síochána and the local authority - the two organisations which make the most significant contribution to preventing and tackling crime in a specific area - can come together, with the participation of members of the Oireachtas and community and voluntary...

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I regret that the information requested by the Deputy is not readily to hand. I will write to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Commercial Rent Reviews: Commercial Rent Reviews (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The proposed terms of reference of the Working Group to address the issue of transparency in the area of commercial rent reviews are as follows: "To consider the operation of the current system for determining the rent payable on foot of a rent review clause, with particular emphasis on the arbitration process and the adequacy of the information available to all parties and, if necessary, to...

Written Answers — Criminal Prosecutions: Criminal Prosecutions (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: As I indicated in my response to Parliamentary Question No. 5591/10 of 4 February, 2010, I am aware of the report on the study commissioned by Rape Crisis Network Ireland entitled Rape and Justice in Ireland. The study relates to attrition in rape cases, that is, the lack of progress on to completion of criminal cases and, more specifically, to the stages at which cases drop out from the...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The laws governing prostitution provide a robust regime aimed at protecting society from the more intrusive aspects of prostitution while also protecting prostitutes from exploitation. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 makes it an offence to solicit or importune another person on a street or public place for the purpose of prostitution. The offence can be committed by the...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The UK and Ireland operate separate visa regimes and it is the case, therefore, that a person who obtains a visa to enter Ireland may also require a separate visa to enter the United Kingdom. While there could be tourism benefits from operating, for instance, a common visa policy, the issue is not as simple as it might appear. Comparisons are sometimes made with the Schengen area. It...

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I regret that the information requested by the Deputy is not readily to hand. I will write to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 188 of 21 January, 2010.

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The latest report of the Inspectorate concerns the allocation of Garda resources and contains a range of positive recommendations on how the fluctuating demand for policing services can be better measured and how Garda resources can be efficiently deployed to meet that demand. Key to this will be the use of technology, such as command and control, computer aided dispatch, and HR systems, and...

Written Answers — Garda Operations: Garda Operations (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the number of times the Garda Síochána called on the assistance of the Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team for the years 2007 to 2010 (to 19 March) are as set out in the following table. 2007 2008 2009 2010 98 180 196 34 I am further informed by the Garda authorities that the figures for the number of detections, proceedings commenced and...

Written Answers — Gambling Laws: Gambling Laws (25 Mar 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I have already indicated, in reply to recent Questions on this matter, that I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval of policy proposals for a new gambling architecture in the State. The policy proposals, which I would intend to publish, will be based on an examination of the 70 submissions received to date as part of the review process as well as the recommendations contained...