Results 7,281-7,300 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (25 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: Where a person has received documentation or can otherwise support their claim as having been born in Ireland to an Irish citizen parent, that person is entitled to Irish citizenship from birth, whether or not he or she was subsequently adopted. Additionally, a person born outside the island of Ireland can also become an Irish citizen if one of their parents was an Irish citizen at the time...

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: I have to go, I am afraid.

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: Part 7 amends the Judicial Council Act 2019. The purpose of these amendments is twofold. First, they allow for the temporary replacement of a member of the complaints review committee by providing for an alternate member of the committee to substitute for the absence of a member in additional circumstances. The amendment also provides for the recusal and replacement of a judicial member of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Coverage (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: This is a priority for me. There are 66 actions contained in the action plan on insurance reform. Thirty-four of these are the responsibility of my Department. The specific change required is probably one of the last key changes required. The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 was introduced last night and I will be continuing my speech on it in the next hour or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Insurance Coverage (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: It affects not only businesses but also community groups, individuals and landowners, as the Deputy has said. The intention is that once the legislation is passed, in the same way as with the judicial council guidelines, we will start to see that impact into the overall payments in the courts. Working with the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, and others in the Department, I hope that in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legal Aid (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: I stress the important work of the Legal Aid Board. A review is under way to identify how the board can support even more people and examine the structures in place, which have never been amended, to increase the number of people who can access the support among those who need it. This new legislation will require additional resources and will require us to ensure legal support is available...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legal Aid (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: While I am not aware of the exact details of the case, I know the Minister intends to have the legislation enacted in the coming month. While there might be a lead-in period, the Deputy is right that this legislation will be in place and should be implemented in the early new year, at the latest. Without knowing the details of the case, I am not sure why that would be progressing in that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: We welcome anyone who wants to come to Ireland to study, spend time, live here and pursue a course of study, whether part time or full time. When a non-EEA person comes to Ireland to undertake an English language course, or a course at level 6 or above on the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, a stamp 2 student permission will be granted. It was always envisaged that time spent in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: We receive between 12,000 and 13,000 citizenship applications per year. We had challenges through the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically where the in-person citizenship ceremonies could not take place. To try to respond to that, we have made a number of different changes to the process itself to try to speed it up and make it easier for people to apply and go through the system. We have also...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: There is work that needs to be done on reporting policy. There is currently a strong focus on the modernisation programme in the Courts Service and one of the biggest challenges in moving to a more digital courts system is the fact the information we have is difficult to collate, is not collected in the same way everywhere and is not necessarily reported on in the same way. Investment and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: It is important that we have information on anything we do. Any policy decisions we make have to be backed up by facts. That applies in any Department or role. The focus of the modernisation programme is to ensure we have a more efficient system that people can use online, rather than the paper-based system on which the justice sector is still reliant, and one that it allows us to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sentencing Policy (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: I probably should have stressed that, while we are working on the modernisation programme and while we need to have a more effective way to gather data in the courts, information and data are available. For example, with regard to the increase in the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from five to ten years has come about through reflecting on other sentencing, working with the DPP...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legal Aid (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: We continue to support the Legal Aid Board through allocated funding. The board delivers services through directly employed solicitors in its network of law centres around the country and private solicitors from its private practitioner panels. The board operates a total of 34 full-time law centres along with a number of part-time centres and 20 family mediation centres. Eight of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: More broadly, the Judicial Council is looking at sentencing in general and trying to provide guidelines. It has started this work and is looking at a number of areas, one of which is sexual offences, and is making sure there are guidelines set out for the Judiciary. Our role here in the Oireachtas is, more generally, to set the upper limit. We have some crimes where there is a minimum...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: If we look at the crime trends overall, which are based on pre-Covid numbers, most cases, including theft, burglary and assault, are actually down. Where we have seen crime increase is around sexual offences and domestic violence cases. That said, any type of antisocial behaviour or crime is something we need to be able to respond to. We are trying to look at antisocial behaviour in a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Deputy mentioned wardens. This was a successful application through the community safety innovation fund where inner-city gardaí went to Derry and looked at how things operated there. These are wardens based on O'Connell Street and surrounding streets who will identify where issues are emerging. They will engage with groups and work with gardaí to try to prevent incidents or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: I agree with Deputy Bruton. The community safety partnerships have somebody working full-time on that. It should be the case that when gardaí come across an issue, they can feed it directly back to the person in the office, who can then deal directly with the local authority which deals directly with the local businesses. It can be used in that way. That is something I will take back...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Antisocial Behaviour (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: The JPCs will be developing into community safety partnerships. I appreciate that not everybody will welcome that change. They have served a fantastic purpose to date. They have worked very well but we need to have that multi-agency approach where it is not just the local authorities. Regarding the reserve, unfortunately, the reason it will be the latter half of next year is that we are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: Whether it is antisocial behaviour, crime or wider issues we are dealing with, we need to ensure we have that multi-agency approach. We have seen this in the task force in the north inner city, the Vivian Guerin report on Drogheda and, more recently, the piloting of community safety partnerships. This is a structure that works. With the support of Government, it brings State agencies...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Priorities (20 Oct 2022)

Helen McEntee: With specific regard to victims, the victims' forum was established in the past year. It brings together quite a number of different representative groups and organisations that support victims and survivors and considers what more we can do through policy, legislation or funding supports. That work is ongoing. We have identified a number of key strands to work on initially. Domestic...