Results 8,421-8,440 of 15,429 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: The role of the inspectorate is to benchmark overall policing performance of the gardaí. It is not just the work they do in the community and how they engage with people, but it is also about looking at the structure to see where there is need for improvement and to make sure the core operations and how they carry out their work are improved. As I mentioned earlier, I just came from an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: It is important to be clear that if people sign up to become members of An Garda Síochána, they have signed up to the rules and regulations and have to adhere to them. The Garda Commissioner has been clear about making sure all members of An Garda Síochána understand and adhere to them. If people retire, they are entitled, within the law, to continue working or engaging...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Garda Síochána Inspectorate was established in 2006 and is supported by the Department to ensure that adequate financial resources are provided each year through the Estimates process.  The inspectorate is entirely independent in the performance of its functions and the three inspectors are supported by a small team seconded from my Department.  The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: We all know the local gardaí in our community. We have probably, over the past couple of years, gotten to know some of the members of the DPSUs and those who deal with very difficult and quite severe cases on a day-to-day basis. However, that is not necessarily the first place that a person will go. It is making sure that people know the garda in the local station is there to support...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: The recommendations contained in the Garda Síochána Inspectorate report, Countering the Threat of Internal Corruption – A review of counter-corruption structures, strategies and processes in the Garda Síochána, are extremely important. They are positive recommendations which have the potential to greatly strengthen how the threat of corruption is dealt with in An...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inquiry into the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I want to place on the record again that, as Minister, I have absolutely no objection to a full public inquiry, nor does my Department. The Taoiseach has put on the record that he has no objection on behalf of the Government to such an inquiry. I have not seen the work done to date and I do not know what is in the report. I have not begun any scoping exercise because I have not seen the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: This is an area I have prioritised and in respect of which I have been doing a huge amount of work, in conjunction with a large number of agencies, front-line workers and colleagues across the House, to try to improve the services and supports and put victims at the very centre of everything we do. An Garda Síochána plays a vital role in all of that. Gardaí are hugely...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I agree that it is about improving the criminal justice system, providing resources for the Garda and making sure we have stronger laws, but there also are educational and information aspects. For the Deputy's daughter or anybody else going out, it is about knowing who one can turn to and the resources and supports that are available. Knowing the Garda is there to support people is hugely...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: The premise of the Deputy's question is how we can have more Garda visibility within our communities. This is number one about ensuring that we have more gardaí and, obviously, the more we have, the more we have in our communities, towns and villages, be it behind the desk, on front-line duties, working in the specialist units that are being developed, economic crime, online fraud, the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I agree with the Deputy that we need to protect the gardaí and to ensure that when they go about their business and actively put themselves in harm's way to protect us, they need to be supported. We can do that in many ways. We can ensure that they have the stations and the areas to work in appropriately, that they have the technology and equipment that they need, that they have the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inquiry into the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy will be aware, the retired judge, Judge Gerard Haughton, has been conducting a scoping exercise into the tragic circumstances surrounding Shane O'Farrell's death. The purpose of this exercise is to advise as to whether any further investigation or inquiry beyond those already carried out is necessary and, if so, to advise on the form...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Inquiry into the Death of Mr. Shane O'Farrell (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for her contribution. The very fact that this is an independent inquiry and that the retired judge, Judge Haughton, is independent in the work that he is doing means that I am not able to give the Deputy the timeframe because I do not have it. I know, however, that the report is at its final stages. I am aware that this may not be much comfort at the moment without...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Delivering family justice more effectively is a priority for me and is a major element of my Justice Plan 2022. The report of the joint Oireachtas committee, to which the Deputy referred, made 38 recommendations across a range of areas in family justice relating to the family court structure; the specialisation and training of professionals,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I absolutely agree. Unfortunately, when it gets to a court setting, there are situations where the process has most likely become adversarial, and in many cases - although, not always - other avenues, such as mediation, have been tried. Before Covid, people would sit across from each other in tight spaces, many of whom would be waiting all day for their case to be heard. At the end of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Priorities (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: On the Deputy's final point, and it is a significant point, we need to make sure that the system is well resourced. We can introduce legislation, but we also need to ensure that the structures and the judges are in place. I believe that in the Deputy's own county recently, a number of sittings had to be cancelled simply because the judge was sick. We need to ensure that through the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I assure him that along with the Government, I am particularly committed to ensuring there is strong, visible policing throughout the country. The budget provided by Government to the Garda this year is the largest to date, with an allocation of more than €2 billion for 2022.  I have just come from an event in the Gresham Hotel to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Sentencing Policy (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: It is important to put on the record that the average length of time a life sentence prisoner will serve is approximately 20 years. The length of time before such prisoners can come before the parole board is now 12 years, which has increased from nine years. The period of 20 years acknowledges that people do serve this length of time. For me what is important is not only making sure the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Sentencing Policy (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: There is a balance with restorative justice and making sure we are focused on trying to reform people, particularly where heinous crimes have been committed. At the same time I believe the punishment should match the crime. This is why I want to give greater discretion to judges. We have also seen changes in recent times for burglary. The maximum sentence is 14 years but for aggravated...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Sentencing Policy (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The programme for Government contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more safe and just society. To deliver a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland, we must have a system that has all the necessary tools to ensure that, after due process has been served, the sentence handed down...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Policy (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: My Department opened the once-in-a generation scheme for the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants in the State on 31 January 2022 for a six month period. The scheme is designed, following detailed engagement with the people affected, to give long-term undocumented people without a current immigration permission the chance to regularise their status,...