Results 5,381-5,400 of 6,728 for speaker:John Curran

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (2 Jul 2009)

John Curran: I thank Senators for their contributions today and during the debate on Second Stage. I acknowledge the support from all sides for this legislation. I do not view the amendments as opposition but as attempts to tease out the contents of the Bill and to be satisfied that it is effective and robust. I view the amendments in that spirit. The Bill pushes out the boundaries but we face a very...

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (1 Jul 2009)

John Curran: The Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) is a series of measures that are designed to counter disadvantage and to promote equality and social and economic inclusion. The programme is implemented locally by 37 Integrated Local Development Companies and 17 Urban Partnerships. These are not-for-profit companies that target the areas of greatest need in the country, to provide...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (30 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I thank the many Senators who contributed to the debate on the Bill. Many important points were made and I will deal with many of them, if not all. I am sure several of these points will be raised again and debated in detail on Committee Stage and Report Stage. I thank Senators for generally supporting the Bill. It is important legislation which will be very useful to the Garda Síochána,...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (30 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I am pleased to have the opportunity to open this Second Stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009. This is an important Bill and one which will provide further support to the Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners in their continuing drive against serious and organised crime. The objectives of the Bill are clear-cut - to allow material gained...

Fiscal Policy. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: The Deputy has raised a matter on the Adjournment that has been the subject of much comment in recent days. There are two aspects to the matter. First, the question of amending the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009 to make the Judiciary subject to the deduction, commonly known as the public service pension levy, introduced by section 2 of the Act. Second, the...

Special Educational Needs. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I will reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I wish to reaffirm the Government's commitment to people with disabilities and to the national disability strategy and its long-term goals and objectives which we will continue to pursue in the coming years in partnership with all the key stakeholders. The early childhood care and education...

Rural Transport Programme. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I thank Deputy Ring for raising this important issue. The safety alarm scheme is under review. Before the recent elections, Deputy Ring asked me if the scheme was an election gimmick. We are now on the far side of the elections. The review is ongoing and the scheme will be reintroduced after the summer with new guidelines and criteria. I am glad to be able to say this after the elections.

Rural Transport Programme. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I am sure the Deputy will. Applications on hand before the suspension of the scheme will continue to be processed. Deputy Ring might have noticed that approximately half of those have been cleared. I hope that gives him some confidence in the future of that scheme. To return to the matter in hand, all of us here with an interest in rural development issues know how important an issue...

Special Educational Needs. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I thank Deputy Tom Sheahan for raising this matter and apologise on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who could not be present. I am pleased to have the opportunity to clarify the position on the matter raised by the Deputy. The Deputy will be aware that allocations to schools typically increase or decrease depending on pupil enrolment. In the case of...

Special Educational Needs. (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: However, it would appear that some of the children who are enrolled in the MGLD classes in the school in question may fall within the low incidence disability category and may qualify for resource teaching support through the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. Officials in the Department have been in contact with the NCSE and I understand that the school has initiated contact with...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: The Department of Health and Children has the main responsibility in this area. Under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, the importation, exportation, production, supply and possession of a range of named narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are regulated and controlled. The list of scheduled substances is kept under review on an ongoing basis. In particular, the Department of Health &...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: As with many Government Programmes and initiatives, the economic realities reflected in the recent supplementary budget allocations inevitably mean that the amount of funding available for my Department's Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP) will be considerably less in 2009 than in recent years. In the context of a reduced budget allocation, companies have been advised that...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: The Government approved the new National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 on Tuesday 16th June 2009. Arrangements are now being made for publication and I expect to launch it in July. Arising from the earlier Government decision of 31 March 2009 to include alcohol and drugs in a combined National Substance Misuse Policy, the new National Drugs Strategy will be an "interim" policy pending the...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (23 Jun 2009)

John Curran: The new National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016, which was approved by Government last week, includes a commitment to develop an overall performance management framework to assess and monitor progress. In this context, and with the imminent establishment of the Office of the Minister for Drugs, it is intended that there will be a greater focus on the effectiveness of projects being funded under...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (18 Jun 2009)

John Curran: The position is that I intend to seek the approval of the Government for publication of the Civil Partnership Bill in the current session in line with the commitment in the Government Legislation Programme.

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (17 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35, 56, 61 and 73 together. The Dial-to-Stop Drug Dealing Campaign was officially launched on 30 September 2008. The first phase ran across the following five Task Force areas in late 2008: · Blanchardstown LDTF; · Tallaght LDTF; · Dublin North East LDTF; · Dublin North Inner City LDTF; · South-Western RDTF; Following Government approval, funding was...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (17 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I have had regular meetings with the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform (D/JE&LR) since my appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy and the Deputy will be aware that I also hold office at that Department in the context of my appointment as Minister for Integration. In their overall co-ordinating role in respect of the Strategy, my...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (17 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I propose to take Questions 40 and 71 together. I am very much aware of the issue of drug-related intimidation and I accept that we must re-double our efforts to deal effectively with this problem. The issue of intimidation was consistently raised during the consultation process undertaken in regard to the development of proposals for a new National Drugs Strategy. The increased levels of...

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (17 Jun 2009)

John Curran: Following the recent supplementary budget, the allocation for the Community Development Programme for 2009 is €20.9m. As the Deputy may be aware, a review of the Community Development Programme is currently underway and I anticipate findings in this regard in due course. There is an ongoing need to ensure that resources are directed in a targeted and effective manner and activities funded...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (17 Jun 2009)

John Curran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 59 together. Community and voluntary organisations have an important role to play in the National Drugs Strategy at a number of levels. At a local level, through the Drugs Task Force network, they are involved in planning and developing community services. Nationally, they also make a valuable contribution to policy development through the input of...