Results 3,941-3,960 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (24 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, the State has a legal obligation to offer accommodation, food and a range of other services (including meals, utilities, healthcare etc.) and allowances to any person who claims a right to international protection in Ireland while their legal claim is being examined. The number of applicants has been steadily increasing (up 36% since the start of the year) and to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (24 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, while a claim for International Protection is being examined, the State is legally obliged to offer accommodation and related services to anyone without means - which includes all meals, medical care and utilities. A weekly personal allowance is paid to each person in a centre and exceptional needs are covered by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (24 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department is experiencing significant upward pressure on its accommodation portfolio due to an increase in the number of people claiming international protection and an associated demand for accommodation and related services. In the first half of this year alone, we have seen a 36% increase in the number of applications received. Our 38 existing...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (24 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department does not use a preferred supplier list in procuring accommodation centres for people seeking international protection. My Department is currently engaged in a number of regional procurement processes. A Request for Tender (RFT) is issued through the Government’s procurement portal E-tenders for the provision of accommodation centres,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Garda Resources (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, who sends his apologies, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I remind the House that, by law, the deployment of Garda resources is solely the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner and his management team. The Minister is assured, however, that the distribution of Garda resources is constantly...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Garda Resources (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I thank the Deputy again on behalf of the Minister for raising this important matter in the House. The Deputy noted the importance of juvenile justice. As I have stated previously in the House, I am responsible for national youth justice and I am developing a new national youth justice strategy. We have pulled together an advisory group, which is doing some very interesting work and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: My Department is responsible for offering accommodation and related services to international protection applicants while their claim for protection is being examined. As of 8 September 2019, 7,306 persons were being provided with accommodation by my Department. Currently, there are 6,056 persons residing in the 38 accommodation centres located nationwide. As the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: My Department currently has two separate ongoing procurement processes to identify and contract with privately owned properties for the provision of accommodation and ancillary services to persons seeking international protection – an expressions of interest process to meet immediate short-term demand and a full tender process to meet medium to long-term demand. The expressions of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, the State has a legal obligation to offer accommodation, food, a range of other services (including utilities, healthcare etc.) and a weekly allowance to any person who claims a right to international protection in Ireland while their legal claim is being examined. The number of applications for international protection has been steadily...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (18 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I can inform the Deputy that the specifications detailed in my Department's regional procurement processes, done through the eTenders online system, require that all bids must provide for independent living, i.e. that all residents are able to cook meals of their own choosing as well as providing designated living room space for families. Any bidder that is successful in being...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (17 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, on 23 April 2019, the Government announced that it had approved the priority drafting of the Parent's Leave and Benefit Bill 2019. My officials are working with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in the Attorney General's Office to draft the Bill. It is envisaged that legislation will provide for two weeks of parental leave and benefit for all...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parental Leave (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: On 23 April, the Government announced that it had approved the priority drafting of the Parental Leave and Benefit Bill 2019.  This will facilitate new parents in spending more time with their babies during their first year.  The leave and benefit will be set at two weeks for each parent initially. The Government is committed to increasing both leave and benefit to seven...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 531 and 532 together. The Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of my Department is experiencing significant upward pressure on its accommodation portfolio due to an increase in the numbers of persons claiming international protection and a growth in the percentage of protection applicants who require assistance with accommodation. In order to ensure that...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: There are currently five accommodation centres under contract to my Department to provide accommodation and ancillary services in the South East region (counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford).  Details of the these are given in tabular form below. Name  Location Capacity  Atlantic House Tramore, Co. Waterford 82 Birchwood House Waterford 145...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As of 11th August 2019, the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) of the Department was accommodating 6,045 people in its 38 accommodation centres. A further 1,087 people were accommodated by RIA in emergency accommodation in hotels and guesthouses.  This figure has increased from 289 people in emergency accommodation on 31st December 2018.  The use of emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parental Leave (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Parental Leave Act 1998 “a ‘disability’, in relation to a child, is defined as “an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment of the child such that the level of care required for the child is substantially more than the level of care that is generally required for children of the same age who do not...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Asylum Support Services (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I can advise the Deputy that my Department is in discussions with a number of parties regarding potential premises in a number of locations to meet our obligations to persons seeking international protection and requiring accommodation. In the first half of this year alone, we have seen a 36% annual increase in the number of applications received. Furthermore, there...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: As of 25 August 2019, 7,170 persons were residing in accommodation provided by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).  Of this total, there were 1,182 applicants residing in 31 Emergency Accommodation locations. Of the 1,182 applicants in emergency accommodation, 834 reside in hotels and the remaining 348 applicants reside in guest houses.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 668 and 669 together. As of 2 September 2019, 7241 people were residing in accommodation provided by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).  Of this total, there were 1,200 applicants residing in 31 Emergency Accommodation locations. The contractual obligation on the providers of emergency accommodation is...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (6 Sep 2019)

David Stanton: On 15 August 2019, the Spending Review on Direct Provision 2019 was published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as is the normal practice for Spending Reviews. The Review was prepared  by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) unit of my Department with key input from the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) and the Irish Naturalisation and...