Results 7,741-7,760 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I have contacted the Garda authorities for the information requested by the Deputy. Regrettably this was not available within the time available. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Joint Policing Committees (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Community safety is about people being safe, and feeling safe within their communities. Ireland is generally regarded as a safe country in international terms, with relatively low crime rates and a general feeling of safety and security. However, we recognise that this is not the case in every community and that people living in disadvantaged areas can experience a different reality. The...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including the purchase, allocation, and effective and efficient use of Garda vehicles. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters. I am advised, however, that Garda management keeps the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes Garda training. As Minister, I have no role in such matters. The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of public order training courses held for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I have requested the information sought by the Deputy, which regrettably was not available in the timeframe available. I will write to the Deputy when this information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Budget 2023 (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Government is committed to ensuring that adequate resources are provided to support the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in targeting the proceeds of crime. As the Deputy may be aware, CAB's financial allocation for 2022 was just under €11 million. This represents an increase of around €0.7m on its 2021 allocation. If a further increase of 15% was applied in 2023...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Programmes (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was introduced by Government Decision in April 2012, to encourage inward investment and to create business and employment opportunities in the State. The Programme was introduced at a time when Ireland was going through a very significant economic downturn and Departments were tasked with initiating innovative programmes to attract investment and create...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm that an application for renewal of permission to remain from the person referred to by the Deputy was approved by my Department on 13 July 2022. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility at INISOireachtasMail@justice.ie, which has been specifically established for this...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The immigration case of the person referred to by the Deputy is impacted by the European Court of Justice judgment in the Chenchooliah case. My Department has, this week, issued the person concerned with a short-term permission on Stamp 1 conditions, which allows them to work without the need for an employment permit. Their longer-term position in the State is expected to be decided on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (14 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy was granted a renewal of their permission to remain in the State by letter dated 28 January 2019. I am advised that they can renew their permission at their local registration office and should seek to do so immediately. As it appears that the person concerned is resident in Dublin, they can apply to renew their permission on the online renewal system...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I assure the Deputy that this is an issue we are prioritising. We had a budget of €2 billion for An Garda Síochána last year. A significant amount of that went to increase Garda numbers. Templemore college has reopened. We have had three attestations this year already and from September and October we will have 200 gardaí coming out of Templemore every 12 weeks....

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank Senator Ward. The Senator made many of my responses and clarified them. From the outset, we have not defined either "security of the State" or "threat to the security of the State" anywhere. If one thinks of the most recent legislation, the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act, which we re-enacted only in the past few weeks, in that there is no clear definition of "security...

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It would have to be decided by a judge in order to be able to retain those particular data, namely, the Schedule 2 data. A judge would have to decide on that.

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It will. I stress that what we have proposed here in terms of this emergency legislation reduces the amount of data that can be retained and puts additional safeguards in place that do not exist in the principal Act. There are more safeguards here. Specifically, when it comes to a threat or security, the type of data that now we are able to retain is still on a very restricted basis with...

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Let me get into some of the detail. First, on amendment No. 4, the recent ruling and the 2020 ruling essentially state user data were not classified as serious in that they do not show the traffic or location details. Retention and access to these data can be justified by the objective of dealing with criminal offences in general. There is no requirement for a specific time-limited...

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: Yes. It is in relation to time and not the actual data or case. It is the time itself overall for the data. The provision will apply to all general data irrespective of whether they are for a specific case or reason. It is the timeline we are referring to here.

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It depends on which the Senator is referring to. The general data are not viewed as impeding on somebody’s rights in the same way as Schedule 2 data. When talking about what is strictly necessary, we are referring to the time limit, not the potential crime or the reason for it.

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: It does, but it does not give where a person is at a particular time or where he or she might have been. As with a given name and address, it does not necessarily tell anything more than one’s IP address. It is no different from having knowledge of a person’s name. In the case that brought a lot of this about, it was the location data that made the significant difference. We...

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: One still has to set out the reason-----

Seanad: Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2022)

Helen McEntee: -----one was looking for it. It is there, but one cannot just access it for no reason. The 12 months is because it is not seen as being as significant as accessing someone’s location.