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Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 242, if accepted, would mean a patent of precedence would not be conferrable with the title of senior counsel on a solicitor. The purpose of the patents of precedence provision in the Bill is to codify the process of becoming a senior counsel while also making it amenable to legal practitioners, whether barrister or solicitor, who have the requisite excellence in advocacy,...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is another of the numbering amendments.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As a result of the introduction of the new regulatory framework being put in place by the enactment of the Bill, a series of amendments need to be made to the existing provisions of the Solicitors Acts. We have a new framework here. We already have a series of Solicitors Acts in place. The new legal services regulatory authority will change the various issues regarding solicitors and...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 278 proposes to insert a new section 150 in the Bill to provide a standard immunity clause which relates in general to acts and omissions of the new authority in the performance of its functions with regard to inspections and complaints against legal practitioners unless the act or omission was done in bad faith. It provides immunity in damages to the authority and its staff...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is the normal consequential implication of new amendments. That is why that has been done. It is the same as page 41 last night. It was not about amendments, as Senator Norris said, to one page. That was literally the virtual location of where the amendments started. They went from page 41 and were being inserted because they were new amendments. I just wanted to explain that.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a technical amendment to delete Part 6 and substituting Part 5. It is because we have amalgamated Part 5 and Part 6.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Protected Disclosures Act of 2014, which was steered by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, is intended to provide a statutory framework within which public and private sector workers can raise concerns regarding potential wrongdoing that has come to their attention in the workplace, with the comfort of employment and other protections if they are penalised or otherwise...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As I indicated on Committee Stage, I cannot accept amendment No. 283 as it would negate an intended regulatory power of the new authority on movement between the professions of solicitor and barrister. Barristers and solicitors can already move between professions and it is intended that the authority can look at ways to enhance this. The fusion of the two professions will be looked at...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I introduced this amendment to Schedule 1 on the third additional list. This makes changes to section 2 of Schedule 1. In determining whether legal costs are reasonable, a legal costs adjudicator shall consider the listed matters where applicable. This safeguards the adjudicator's discretion on the matters listed, which will not all be applicable to every case.The amendments have all been...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Recruitment (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Recruitment to An Garda Síochána is governed by the Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) Regulations 2013. The Public Appointments Service (PAS) manage the recruitment process on behalf of the Garda Commissioner and I have no direct involvement in the matter. Payroll costs for new Garda recruits include a basic allowance of €184 per week plus a living...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Registration of Title (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can inform the Deputy that under the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006, the Property Registration Authority (PRA) was established as and from 4 November 2006. The PRA replaces the Registrar of Deeds and Titles as the registering authority in relation to property registration in Ireland and, subject to the above Act, is independent in the performance of its functions. The Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Operation Vantage was established on the 10 August 2015 by the Garda National Immigration Bureau to investigate illegal immigration with a particular focus on marriages of convenience as defined under the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act, 2014. There has been increasing concern about the growth in so called 'sham marriages' as evidenced by statistically improbable patterns of marriages...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I have requested the CSO to provide the available statistical information directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed that Operation Trivium is a multi-agency European initiative focused on foreign and indigenous mobile groups and offenders who utilise road networks to target local communities. Most recently, Operation Trivium V was conducted in a number of EU Member States, including Ireland, from 23 to 28 November, 2015. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the operation was...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Equipment (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the update in respect of Section 12 of the Road Traffic Act 2014 will be contained in a future release of PULSE on a date yet to be determined.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Strength (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 to 90, inclusive, together. The overall number of personnel available to the Garda Commissioner is close to 16,000. This figure comprises 12,866 members, 978 reserve members, and 2,012 civilians as of 31 October. This Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the capacity to provide effective, visible policing...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Station Closures (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 to 93, inclusive, together. The formulation of proposals in relation to the opening and closing of Garda Stations is a matter, in the first instance, for the Garda Commissioner in the context of annual policing plans, as provided for in section 22 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The Garda District and Station Rationalisation Programme...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the records indicate that the person referred to by the Deputy was presented with a Certificate of Naturalisation at a citizenship ceremony held at the Convention Centre, Dublin on 4 July 2013. The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Data (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed by the Irish Prison Service that the number of persons imprisoned for sentences less than six months for each years 2011 to 2014 is set out in the table; figures for 2015 are not yet available. Year Number of persons imprisoned for sentences less than six months 2014 9,421 2013 8,891 2012 9,213 2011 8,270

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Data (2 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised that the average annual cost of an available staffed prison space is calculated for inclusion in the Annual Report of the Irish Prison Service. For 2014, the latest year for which a figure is available, the cost was €68,959 which equates to an average monthly cost of €5,747 per available staffed prison space.