Results 5,021-5,040 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: Amendment No. 4 inserts a new provision into the Bill to repeal two sections of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, which are being expanded upon in this Bill. This is a technical amendment to ensure the smooth commencement of provisions of the 2017 Act and in this Bill, some of which are both amending the same provisions of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992. Nothing in this amendment...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: I thank Senators for their work on this. This Bill is quite unusual in that it focuses squarely on the victims of crime rather than the perpetrators. For the first time in legislation, it sets out the rights of victims and focuses on the victims as individuals with different needs and vulnerabilities. The rights provided for in this Bill are valuable and practical rights which would make a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: It defines the term "investigative authority" but does not make any provision for the use of the word in the body of the Bill. The term does not appear in the body of the Bill so the definition is effectively meaningless.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: I am dealing with what is before me. Amendment No. 3 aims to apply all the provisions of Part 2 to an authorised person on whose functions relating to the investigation or bringing the prosecution of offences or both are conferred by an enactment. The definition proposed is overly broad, capturing all statutory bodies with a power to investigate and prosecute any offence including those of...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: I do acknowledge that there are other bodies who investigate and prosecute. There are many of these, about 30 altogether. The majority investigate and prosecute offences of a more regulatory nature which, as the Senator said, do not have direct victims in the same way as offences investigated by the Garda Síochána. The approach we are taking in this Bill is to focus on offences...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: This amendment makes a change to the commencement provisions of the Bill to allow that certain provisions, particularly provisions relating to the use of screens in courtrooms to prevent a victim from having visual contact with the accused person, may be commenced for different courts or areas at different times. The purpose of the amendment is to allow for a phased roll-out of the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The Senator is correct and we are proposing 30 amendments today. The majority of these are technical amendments, updating the Bill for criminal evidence provisions introduced by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017. We passed another Bill recently and we are just updating the Bill to take account of that. We are doing much stuff at the same time. A small number of other amendments...

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: It is not so much promised legislation as that we are awaiting the interdepartmental task force report. This is quite a complex issue but, rest assured, we will have that report available on time and we will have action proposed on this issue to meet the Supreme Court deadline.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: Is that in the Deputy's script as well?

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (26 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The wellbeing of residents in direct provision is an absolute priority for the Reception and Integration Agency, which is the agency of my Department tasked with overseeing the provision of full board accommodation and certain ancillary services to persons in the protection process. Since the direct provision system was established in 2000 some 60,000 persons have benefited from these...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Employment Rights (21 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: While I have no ministerial responsibility for retirement ages, in either the public or private sector, I can indicate that the government has under consideration proposals that would facilitate persons remaining in the work place beyond the age of 65 where they have a wish to do so. In my role in the Department of Justice and Equality, I have responsibility for equality legislation which...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Asylum Seeker Accommodation (20 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The Department of Justice and Equality has a contract in place with the owners of the premises in question to provide accommodation to those seeking international protection. This contract is scheduled to expire on 22nd May 2018. At that time it is expected that all new accommodation contracts will be awarded through an open competitive tendering competition to comply with EU Directive...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Resettlement Programme (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 548 and 643 together. The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government Decision on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the humanitarian crisis that developed in Southern Europe as a consequence of mass migration from areas of conflict in the Middle East and Africa. Under this programme, the Government has pledged to accept a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The need to establish a comprehensive system for the provision of accommodation and related services arose from the increasing number of asylum seekers arriving into the State in 1999. Prior to this, asylum seekers were treated as homeless under the structures then in place. These proved unsuited to the situation facing Ireland in 1999 and subsequent years, when the number of asylum...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The system of Direct Provision was established in 2000 when the then health boards, which were responsible for homeless people, found themselves unable to cope with a large number of individuals who were claiming asylum in Ireland. The Direct Provision system is a whole of Government system which delivers a wide range of services to those seeking international protection in Ireland....

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The following table details the duration of stay by applicants in state provided accommodation at the 31st August 2017. These figures are based on latest entry into state provided accommodation. Less than 3 years More than 3 years and less than 5 years More than 5 years and less than 7 years More than 7 years 3844 541 214 208By comparison, the statistics for the duration of stay for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: All accommodation centres for those persons seeking protection, whether State-owned or privately owned, are operated by commercial companies. There are currently 32 accommodation centres being operated under the direct provision system. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to details of current centre location and contractor is set out below: Contractors for Accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The Direct Provision system is a whole of Government system which delivers a wide range of State services to those seeking international protection in Ireland. These services include health services as provided by the HSE, education services as provided by primary and post-primary schools and, for adults, Education and Training Boards across the country. The Reception and Integration Agency,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: It is worth noting that the Direct Provision system is a whole of Government system which delivers a wide range of services to those seeking international protection in Ireland. These services include for example health services as provided by the HSE, education services as provided in primary and post-primary schools and, for adults, Education and Training Boards across the country. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision Data (11 Sep 2017)

David Stanton: The Direct Provision system is a whole of Government system which delivers a wide range of State services to those seeking international protection in Ireland. These services include health services as provided by the HSE, education services as provided by primary and post-primary schools and, for adults, Education and Training Boards across the country. The Reception and Integration Agency,...