Results 5,221-5,240 of 9,144 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth, by descent, or by naturalisation. The requirements for foreign births registration are set out in section 27 of the Act, and are administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs. That Department manages the process for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Courts Service (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I have contacted the Courts Service to obtain the information requested by the Deputy and have been informed of the following. There are two offences relating to the possession of a knife or other article in a public place without reasonable excuse or lawful authority under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 (as amended). Section 9(1) and 9(4) offences may be tried summarily or on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: Government advice is that everyone, regardless of their nationality or visa/preclearance status, or where they started from, who cannot provide proof of an essential purpose to travel to, should not travel to Ireland. To support that position, my Department is not currently accepting any short stay visa applications, except for cases that fall under the Emergency/Priority criteria set out...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: My Department has no record of having received an application for citizenship from the person referred to by the Deputy. The person concerned submitted an application for a residence card as a family member of an EU citizen on 4 October 2016. This application was examined in detail and a decision was made to refuse their application on 4 July 2017. A review of this decision to refuse...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Work Permits (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: The Atypical Working Scheme was established as a cross Departmental response to address the matter of non-EEA workers on certain categories of vessels in the Irish fishing fleet, who are not currently eligible for permission under the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) employment permit system. The Scheme provided, for the first time, a framework for the employment of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Correspondence (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: The person referred to by the Deputy has instituted Judicial Review proceedings. These Judicial Review proceedings are ongoing at present and therefore, as the matter is sub judice, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: Two recommendations were made under section 21(3) of the International Protection Act 2015 between January and the end May 2021. These applications for international protection were deemed inadmissible under section 21(2)(a) of the International Protection Act 2015, as another EU Member State had already granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status to the person. This precludes...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Protection (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I can confirm that no Return Orders have been issued to date in 2021, under the relevant Section of the International Protection Act 2015 (as amended). The 2015 Act was amended by Part 18 of the Brexit Omnibus Act 2020, and the relevant provisions came into effect from 1 January 2021. This means that the amendments do not apply to people whose applications were deemed inadmissible in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sport and Recreational Development (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: The process whereby a charitable or philanthropic organisation can apply to the District Court for a lottery licence is set out in the new Section 28 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, as inserted by the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2019. Applications for lottery licences should be made to the District Court of the district in which it is proposed to promote the lottery,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (15 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I can confirm that the entry and transit visa restrictions which were brought into effect on 28 January 2021, as a necessary interim measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect public health are being lifted with effect from tomorrow, 16 June 2021. This move is in line with the Government’s Resilience and Recovery Plan for Living with COVID-19 and will be welcome news for...

Seanad: Counterfeiting Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I welcome the opportunity to present the Bill to the House. The euro is the second most widely used global currency after the US dollar. Figures released by the European Central Bank this year show there are 25 billion euro banknotes in circulation, with a value of over €1.4 trillion. Responsibility for protecting the euro currency against counterfeiting is shared between the EU...

Seanad: Counterfeiting Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

James Browne: Section 15 provides for regulation-making powers for the CBI. Section 16 provides that where it is necessary for the purpose of the performance of its functions under this Part, the CBI may require a relevant person to provide information, records, plans, etc. Sections 17 and 18 provide for the appointment of authorised officers by the CBI to perform the functions under section 13. ...

Seanad: Counterfeiting Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Senators for their valuable contributions to the debate. While the Bill, for the most part, is technical in nature, its subject matter is very important and it also tangentially touches on very important issues. Regarding the delay in bringing forward the Bill, when I was appointed as Minister of State last September, a significant number of EU directives needed to be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising an important matter encountered by people who seek international protection. I am very conscious of the difficulties and trauma encountered by people who seek international protection and I am glad that, throughout the pandemic, my Department's international protection office has remained open to allow people the opportunity to do so in line with our...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy. I am aware of his genuine interest in this matter. My Department is committed to implementing the key recommendations of the expert advisory group report to reduce processing times of both first instance decisions and appeals to six months, as outlined in the White Paper to end direct provision and establish a new international protection support service. Work is under...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Protection (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: The Deputy is correct. People who seek refuge in this country have often experienced traumatic events that have led them to seek the protection of another state. The White Paper proposes that the new system should be operational by 2023. My Department will be represented on a programme board to be established and chaired by my colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I again thank the Deputies for raising an important issue around citizenship. As a Minister of State, I am a great believer in plain English. In everything we are doing I want to see that there is a simple and clear process, especially so that people can engage with the system and get those simple and clear answers when necessary. I will be visiting Burgh Quay in the afternoon and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: On the issue of costs, when the Department increased the costs around the citizenship process, one thing it found was that the quality of applications significantly increased and in turn the processing was far more effective and quicker. The costs reflect the cost of processing the applications. I know it impinges on people, however. I have dealt with a lot of British citizens in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Naturalisation Applications (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this important matter. As the Deputy is aware, the atypical working scheme was established as a cross-departmental response to address the matter of non-European Economic Area, EEA, workers on certain categories of vessels in the Irish fishing fleet who are not currently eligible for permission under the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Naturalisation Applications (3 Jun 2021)

James Browne: Again, I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this important matter. I do not have figures on how many, if any, scheme participants have applied for naturalisation but will endeavour to get them for the Deputy. It is important that we make those people aware that they can apply for naturalisation and that the period under a stamp 1 permit is reckonable, which they may not know. I will engage...