Results 61-80 of 11,939 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy is the Government has approved that a single permit for work and immigration permissions should be developed and implemented, subject to the consideration of an Inter-Departmental Working Group (IDWG). This group was established to examine the implications of a single permit; and to develop an implementation plan which would allow for the possibility of opting in to the Single...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: We have all been shocked by the recent loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer. Road safety is a shared responsibility and one which this Government takes very seriously. Road traffic legislation is enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of all members of An Garda Síochána, as...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Process (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The Communications (Retention of Data) (Amendment) Act 2022 was enacted in July 2022, with the majority of the provisions commenced in June 2023 and remaining provisions commenced in August 2023. That Act amended and updated the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 on an urgent basis, to take account of rulings of the European Court of Justice. An important consideration in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department. I am advised by the Citizenship division of my Department that an eVetting invitation was issued to the applicant on the 15 May 2024. I understand the extended wait times can be frustrating for applicants and my Department has been working hard to clear backlogs. My...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Data Protection (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the primary purpose of the employment vetting carried out by the National Vetting Bureau is to seek to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. It is carried out by An Garda Síochána in accordance with the provisions of the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012-2016. Garda vetting is conducted on behalf of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Process (21 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The primary purpose of vetting carried out by the National Vetting Bureau is to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate the importance of this task and the need for it to be carried out thoroughly and correctly. As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Vetting Review Group was established in April 2021 and meets regularly to discuss potential...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Ministerial Appointments (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 was signed into law by the President in February 2024. Part 4 of the Act provides for the establishment of the new Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA), An tÚdarás Póilíneachta agus Sábháilteachta Pobail. The establishment of the Authority is an important element of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (16 May 2024)

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 for the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff. As Minister, I have no role in such matters. However, to be of assistance I sought the information from the Garda authorities...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Data (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: I understand that the ban referred to falls under the provisions of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 to 2006, which falls under the remit of the Minister for Transport. The Regulations provide that the Local Authorities are the competent authority for the ban. As the Deputy will be aware, as Minister for Justice I have no role in the operations, functions,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Road Traffic Offences (16 May 2024)

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, which includes the enforcement of road traffic legislation and the recording of information on Garda IT systems. As Minister, I have no role in such matters. I am advised by the Garda authorities...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: I can advise that the Certificate of naturalisation for the person referred to by the Deputy has printed and they can expect to receive it shortly. In a little over two years the Citizenship Division of my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year to processing over 20,000 applications. This 66% increase in processing has been achieved through digitising and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, the current maximum retirement age of 60 for Prison Officers and members of An Garda Síochána is set out in Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 and the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 and in related secondary legislation. Recently the Government, approved increasing the mandatory...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (16 May 2024)

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 managing the deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in these matters. I am assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy continues to be processed by my Department. It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. However, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The naturalisation application from the person referred to by the Deputy has been approved and the Citizenship Division are now awaiting payment of fees from the applicant. In a little over two years the Citizenship Division of my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year to processing over 20,000 applications. This 66% increase in processing has been achieved...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Deportation Orders (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to has made a request to have their deportation order revoked, pursuant to the provisions of section 3(11) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). This request was received on the 26 March 2024 and will be considered as soon as it is possible to do so. The decision to ensue from the consideration of this request will be that the existing deportation orders will be...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: An appeal by the person concerned under the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants scheme has been received and continues to be processed. It is not possible to provide a guideline as to when processing of all appeals will be completed. It should be noted that processing times may vary depending on the complexity of the application and the number of appeals received. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Appointments to State Boards (16 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: An open application process to select lay members of the Judicial Appointments Commission is currently being run under the State Boards unit of the Public Appointments Service (PAS). I expect the Judicial Appointments Commission to be formally established later this year.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (15 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: I again thank the Deputy for raising this. The most important thing here is that it makes sense. Sometimes we just have to apply common sense to a situation that clearly does not work. It might be a small number but there are thousands of people living here who want to work but cannot and there are people here whose spouses or partners have not come with them because of the fact they...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (15 May 2024)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He has been raising it for some time, for all the reasons that he outlined and the particular cases he just mentioned in respect of people working in the State already whose spouses or partners who want to work unfortunately cannot. Some spouses and partners want to be here and some of them are not with them here because they cannot work. As the...