Results 6,601-6,620 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree with the Deputy. There is always more we can do. One of the biggest challenges in providing training over recent years has been ensuring gardaí have the time to take up courses, either during their working time or outside of that. It is about investment in Garda members and ensuring we have the capacity and the ability for members to take time off. This is hugely important....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree with both Deputies. It is absolutely vital that people at senior levels, such as sergeants, inspectors, superintendents, chief superintendents and those at the top or the higher end of the organisation, have the ability to lead and have those qualities and skills. Members often have to make split-second decisions. Obviously, this is easier for those who have the training and have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Alcohol Sales (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy and the organisations I have mentioned, some of which he may have spoken to. Many of them have put forward the facts from their research. All that information is being taken into account. There is a perception that this is legislation to allow every bar and club in the country to stay open late and serve alcohol late. That is not what this legislation is about. In...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Alcohol Sales (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: All of the facts the Deputies have outlined occur in an environment where we have a restrictive regime, where pubs are closing every week. We have about 70 nightclubs left in the country. A couple of years ago there might have been that number in three or four counties. Alcohol is a problem for many people but we need to invest in education to change people's behaviours and attitudes....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: An Garda Síochána is committed to investing in leadership at all levels of the organisation through a clear understanding of requirements and focused development. Effective leadership enables the organisation to respond to changing demands with agility and to positively impact the culture of the organisation, obviously filtering down through it. Extensive provision is made for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Government is committed to taking measures to combat and prevent fraud and cybercrime. As we know, this is a crime that is on the increase. The more technology we use, the more likely we are to be susceptible to it. The close co-operation across government on this issue, and between An Garda Síochána and the National Cyber Security Centre, is key in this regard. We are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: As part of our budget last year for 2024, there was an unprecedented allocation of €155 million specifically for digital capital investment and IT. This was coupled with the sustained increased investment in Garda numbers. The more members we have in the technical bureaus and the more investment we have in ICT, the more we can increase our capacity and capabilities to prevent,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: To respond to the initial question from Deputy Burke, as a workforce we are highly skilled and our members are extremely sought after because of the training they have and their ability to do this type of work. We are working very closely with Interpol and Europol. For example, one of these programmes is Operation Skein, as we call it here. This tackles criminal organisations and has led...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Alcohol Sales (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Public health is a key consideration for me and my Department in developing this legislation. The intention of this Bill is to try to modernise our existing licensing laws to bring them in line with the expectations and needs of today and a modern society, to bring us into line with other jurisdictions, and to encourage the development of a modern and diverse night-time economy. This...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge he is passionate about it and wants to see reform in the area, especially when it relates to the impact relationships breaking down can have on children in families. As he will know, I have been leading a programme of family justice reform set out in the first Family Justice Strategy, which was published in November 2022. I set...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Specifically on the concept of parental alienation, the report clearly showed that where there is a system that does not work as effectively as it should and where the structures are not as effective as they could be, it allows the potential for abuse to continue and particular abuses to continue in respect of parental alienation, even into the courts. That is the finding from much of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Family Law Cases (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy. Like him, this is an issue that has come to my door as a TD for many years, since I was first elected. Families will always come who are going through a very difficult situation. With these structural changes, I hope to provide a less adversarial approach and, where it is not possible to remove that, the structures to support families to get the right outcome so that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I agree with the Deputy's initial point. As a country, we have been and will continue to be extremely welcoming. All of us in this House should reject some of the commentary by and actions of certain individuals who want to send a different message. We need to ensure that we have a system that functions, that people get answers as quickly as possible and that those who do not have a right...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy that this is on the agenda for all of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meetings that I attend. I will be at one again next week. I was at one only a couple of weeks ago. We have spent years debating and seeking to agree the new migration pact, which I am pleased to say has finally been agreed. The pact will allow an approach where we have a better, more transparent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that we not just have the required number of gardaí, but that they have the resources they need to protect us and themselves in order that Ireland is a safe and secure country. In 2024, I have provided a budget allocation of €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána, an increase of 25% since 2020. This will allow for the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: Of the 6,300 who recently applied.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy is right, in that the figures show that many gardaí from recent intakes have gone to Dublin, particularly when there has been a greater need. What we do not see in those figures is that transfers are now taking place, with some gardaí based in Dublin transferring out to other counties. The figures show one or two going directly from Templemore to those counties, but I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: We always said that there would be five classes last year. The first class was slightly earlier than this year's class. While the December class came out a few weeks earlier, that was to ensure that we had a presence. It was always going to be before the end of the year, though. There were always going to be the five intakes, and we had factored that in from the beginning of the year....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Protection (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: My Department and I are taking every necessary step to manage the international protection process as efficiently and effectively as we can while ensuring that the integrity of the process is maintained at all times. During 2023, the number of applications was 13,277. While this was a slight decrease of 3% on 2022, it still represented an increase of 177% on the number that was received pre...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Immigration Support Services (22 Feb 2024)

Helen McEntee: The simple answer is that the service will continue to engage. The service has operated since 2008 to assist Oireachtas Members to make representations on behalf of their constituents in respect of individual immigration applications. Since its establishment, the service has dealt with almost 80,000 requests. Last year alone, it answered more than 6,600 queries with more than 90% of these...