Results 5,161-5,180 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — Detention Centres: Detention Centres (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 14 together. In March 2008, the Government approved the development of new national children detention facilities on the Oberstown campus near Lusk, Co. Dublin. This campus is already the site of 3 of the 4 existing children detention schools, the 4th is located at Finglas, Dublin 11. The Government decision was informed by the report of the Expert...

Written Answers — Prison Inspection Reports: Prison Inspection Reports (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The recent report on Mountjoy Prison by the Inspector of Prisons has been considered by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service and his Senior Management Team. A number of the Inspector's recommendations have been implemented or are in the course of being implemented, subject to the availability of resources. The Government has been acutely aware of the limitations of the existing...

Written Answers — Cross-Border Policing Co-operation: Cross-Border Policing Co-operation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I would like to begin by stating that co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI has never been better, both in terms of range and quality. The two police forces on the island are working more closely together than ever in the service of the Irish people. I know that the Deputy met with the Garda Commissioner and with officials of my own Department as part of the British-Irish...

Written Answers — Commissions of Investigation: Commissions of Investigation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: When I received the report last July, I immediately sent it to the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Since then, I have discussed the matter at length with the Commissioner. A number of the perpetrators discussed in the report have already been brought to justice, proceedings are pending against others and a number of investigations are ongoing. The Garda...

Written Answers — Capital Projects: Capital Projects (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: A key element of the criminal justice sector building programme is the provision of a new facility for the Forensic Science Laboratory. Notwithstanding current budgetary constraints, I can assure the House that the project remains a top priority, which is being advanced as expeditiously as possible by the Office of Public Works on behalf of my Department. Having considered the various...

Written Answers — Garda Investigations: Garda Investigations (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 23 together. As the Deputy may be aware, Section 62 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 was enacted for the purpose of specifically prohibiting a person who is or was a member of the Garda Síochána or of its civilian staff from disclosing information obtained in the course of his or her duties if the person knows the disclosure of that information is...

Written Answers — Prison Building Programme: Prison Building Programme (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The new prison campus at Thornton Hall, County Dublin will have a design capacity of 1,400 with operational flexibility to accommodate up to 2,200 offenders in a range of security settings. The revised plan for the new prison campus aims to protect the taxpayers' interests and provide good quality, regime focused accommodation and programmes to prepare offenders for re-integration back into...

Written Answers — Tobacco Smuggling: Tobacco Smuggling (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to advise the Deputy that Operation Samhna resulted in the seizure of contraband cigarettes with an estimated retail value of €46.7 million at Greenore Port Co. Louth in October 2009. The Operation was led by the Revenue Customs Service, and supported by An Garda Síochána, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Irish Naval Service, and the Air Corps. Officers from Her Majesty's Revenue...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to my replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos 204 and 205 of 1 December 2009 and my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 171 of 9 December 2009 in which I outlined progress on the review of gambling being undertaken by my Department.

Written Answers — Drug Courts: Drug Courts (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 63 together. My Department has been carrying out a review of the operation of the Drug Treatment Court which is nearing completion. I will arrange to have its outcome communicated to the Deputies in due course.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Amendments to the Road Traffic Act 1961 are the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Transport.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Members of the Garda Síochána are called upon to interact with members of the public on a twenty four hour basis in a wide variety of situations - many of which are unavoidably stressful and contentious. In the vast majority of cases these interactions are handled in an exemplary and professional manner and do not give rise to subsequent difficulty from a litigation point of view....

Written Answers — Legal Services Ombudsman: Legal Services Ombudsman (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: My Department is making arrangements to facilitate the appointment by the Government of a Legal Services Ombudsman in the near future.

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following table contains the number of cases of murder in which a firearm was used, proceedings commenced and convictions secured from 1998 to 2008 and in 2009 up 7 December. Of these murders, 21 took place in 2009. As the Deputy is aware, these statistics, by their nature, carry a significant health warning. The detection rate for murders by...

Written Answers — Commissions of Investigation: Commissions of Investigation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The Government earlier this year requested the Commission of Investigation to extend its work to deal with the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne because of concerns which had arisen in relation to that Diocese. I believe that the work of the Commission in relation to the Archdiocese of Dublin and its forthcoming report on the Diocese of Cloyne will serve the primary purpose of establishing how...

Written Answers — Prison Accommodation: Prison Accommodation (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to inform the Deputy that on 4 December 2009 there were 4,041 prisoners in custody. The breakdown of the population per prison is listed in the table below: Prison/Place of Detention Persons in Custody Number ofcells with 1 person Number of cells with 2 persons Number of cells with 3 persons Number of cells with 4 persons Number of cells with more than 4 persons Arbour Hill Prison...

Written Answers — Detention Centres: Detention Centres (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I wish to inform the Deputy that on 7 December, 2009 there were 203 persons in custody in St. Patrick's Institution which has a bed capacity of 217. Of the 203 persons in custody, 49 persons were aged either 16 or 17 years of age and 154 persons were aged between 18 and 21 years of age. St. Patrick's Institution is a closed, medium security place of detention for males aged 16 to 21 years...

Written Answers — Organised Crime: Organised Crime (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda Authorities that where there is justification and a legal basis, those suspected of criminal activity are arrested, detained and questioned in relation to specific crimes. As the Deputy is aware the Government has introduced extensive legislation in 2009 to target those involved in serious and organised crime including; The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous...

Written Answers — Drug Treatment Programme: Drug Treatment Programme (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The confiscation of drugs (or suspected drugs) was recorded by our prisons under the generic description of "prohibited articles/substances" in 2007 and 2008. Therefore an accurate breakdown of those statistics as requested by the Deputy for that period could not be obtained without the manual examination of records going back over a considerable time period. However, in 2009 to date, St....

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (10 Dec 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to the reply to Questions Nos. 195 and 196 of 1 December 2009 and to Question No. 216 of 2 December 2009. I have nothing to add to the details of those replies.