Results 5,361-5,380 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Direct Provision: Statements (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I welcome the opportunity to put aside some misconceptions about the direct provision system and to listen to the views of colleagues from across the political spectrum on the system as it operates today. The structure of the debate means I will not be able to respond at the end, unfortunately. I will try to get in contact with colleagues after the debate to respond to the issues they...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: Services for all protection applicants (those in State provided accommodation or those who live in the community) are delivered under the Government policies of direct provision and dispersal. The Government commissioned retired Judge Dr. Bryan McMahon to Chair a Working Group to carry out a report into the protection process and the system of direct provision and that report was published...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Gambling Legislation (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 62 together. Section 36 on the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 provides that gaming and wagering contracts are void and no action shall lie for the recovery of money alleged to have been won or lost. This is a long standing provision of public policy. In the case of Sporting Index Limited v John O'Shea[2015] INEC 407, the High Court found that the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Traveller Community (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will know, the Taoiseach announced State recognition of Travellers as an ethnic group in Ireland on 1 March 2017. I would like to thank Deputy Martin and all of the other Deputies who spoke on that occasion for supporting that statement. This event was historic and memorable. I was delighted to note that there was an all-party consensus on the issue and I take the opportunity...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Anti-Racism Measures (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I am of course concerned about any level of racist incidents and particularly racist crime. There are mechanisms in place to deal with hate crime. Where a criminal offence such as assault, criminal damage or a public order offence is committed against a person based on their race, religion, colour, ethnicity or some other ground, the offence is prosecuted through the wider criminal...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Funding (30 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: The underspend referred to in the Question was for the whole period of the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals 2007 to 2013 (but with the eligibility period ending on 30 June 2015), not for each year. This underspend was mainly due to an insufficiency of suitable projects with the required level of matching funding. This Fund, together with the European Refugee...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Reports (29 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: As the Deputy is aware, the Interdepartmental Working Group on Fuller Working Lives was chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; an official from the Equality Division of my Department participated in that Group along with representatives of other relevant Departments. The Interdepartmental Working Group issued its report in August 2016 and, in that report, made a number...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Resettlement Programme (28 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: As the Deputy will be aware, 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 total of 4,000 persons into...

Intoxicating Liquor (Breweries and Distilleries) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (23 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I have listened carefully to all the points made by Deputy Kelly and others during this debate and as I sat here I was thinking about the town of Cobh in my own constituency, to be parochial, which is to be visited by 67 cruise liners this year. There were 136,000 visitors to the Jameson Experience in Midleton last year. That number will increase again in the current year. The whole...

Intoxicating Liquor (Breweries and Distilleries) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (23 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: The Deputy would be surprised.

Intoxicating Liquor (Breweries and Distilleries) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (23 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I thank Deputy Kelly for publishing this Bill. At the outset, and on behalf of the Tánaiste, let me state clearly that the Government will not oppose the Bill. I am personally quite supportive of it. However, in order to address certain shortcomings, the Government will propose appropriate amendments to the Bill in due course on Committee Stage. It goes without saying that the...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Resources (23 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter yet again. I am here on behalf of the Tánaiste who cannot be here this evening. She sends her apologies. In its Programme for a Partnership Government, the Government has recognised community policing as the embodiment of An Garda Síochána, providing a means of recognising that every community, both urban and rural, has...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Resources (23 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: The Garda Inspectorate, at the request of the Policing Authority, is carrying out a wider review into the operation of the Garda Síochána. The key structural change to the operation of the Garda will be the replacement of the current district model of policing with a divisional model where responsibility will be allocated on a functional rather than a geographical basis subject to...

Mediation Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: 8 o’clock I thank Deputies for their constructive comments on this important Bill. As mentioned at the outset, its general objective is to promote mediation as a viable, effective and efficient alternative to court proceedings. Its enactment will help to reduce legal costs, speed up the resolution of disputes and reduce stress levels for all the parties. The Bill is also part...

Mediation Bill 2017: Referral to Select Committee (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice and Equality pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 149(1).

Mediation Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: Is Deputy Micheál Martin leaving?

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cearta Eacnamaíochta, Sóisialacha agus Cultúir), 2016: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I thank Deputies for the wide range of arguments and analyses put forward in this debate. This is an important debate which addresses our common desire to see the economic, social and cultural well-being of all our citizens looked after. There is no doubt that this is a priority for all parties represented in the House. The advancement of human rights is at the centre of Ireland's...

Questions on Promised Legislation (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: Since the committee report was produced many changes in the technology around gambling have taken place. We commissioned a report on that, which has been published on the website and which I am sure Deputy Howlin has seen. That has led to changes being required to the Bill, on which we are working very hard. In the meantime, we have identified a number of areas which will be included in...

Questions on Promised Legislation (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: I hope to publish the main Bill before the end of the year.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Human Rights (22 Mar 2017)

David Stanton: Whilst I have no ministerial responsibility in relation to the issue raised by the Deputy, I do have ministerial responsibility for the coordination of Ireland's United Nations Human Rights reporting, in the course of which issues in relation to the relationship between church and state are frequently raised and I am answering the Question on that basis. I refer the Deputy to Article...