Results 8,901-8,920 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1276 and 1294 together. I am advised by my officials in the Irish Prison Service that they continue to review and modify Covid-19 restrictions which have been in place as a result of the pandemic. Restrictive measures have been modified in line with the various announcements made by Government and in line with advice from Public Health/HSE and the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Policy (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will appreciate, every State has a duty to protect its borders and to refuse entry to people not entitled to enter the State. This is a fundamental exercise of State sovereignty, which is  necessary to protect the security of the State and to prevent illegal immigration. The exercise of powers in this area is at all times subject to the law and to respect for individual...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available for the entire period in question. Its preparation would require the expenditure of a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff resources and time, which could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources. More generally, all applicants must show that they have the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: Any visa required national, including students, that wish to enter the State, and remain, for up to 90 days must have a Type C Short Stay Visa. For periods greater than 90 days they must have a Type D Long Stay Visa. For those staying longer than 90 days they are also required to register their permission to be in the State. Statistics are not held in the manner requested by the Deputy. The...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: A person seeking a visa to study English in the State is not required to have proof of secure accommodation in place in order to make an application.  The conditions that prospective English language students must meet in order to be granted permission to remain in Ireland as a student are set out on my Department's immigration website...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, with an unprecedented allocation provided in Budget 2022 of over €2 billion. As the Deputy will be aware, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Energy Usage (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: Justice Plan 2022, which I published recently, commits to delivering on our climate and sustainability obligations and responsibilities, with the development of the Justice Climate Policy Statement being a key priority for 2022. My Department will continue to work reduce the carbon footprint of Justice projects by integrated climate impact awareness into our Project Management Frameworks, as...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Data Protection (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: As outlined to the Deputy in response to Parliamentary Question No. 731 of 22 March 2022, on 23 September 2020, the Data Protection Commission wrote to my Department indicating that there were problems with the administration of CCTV schemes across Ireland. There was no particular mention of schemes in County Limerick. In that letter, the DPC offered observations on the draft general scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: Entitlement to Irish citizenship is determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which Irish citizenship may be obtained either by birth, by descent, or by way of naturalisation. The requirements for foreign births registration are set out in section 27 of the Act. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) manages the application process for these...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Victim Support Services (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Implementing the recommendations of the Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witnesses in the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Offences, known as The O'Malley Review, has been a priority for me since I published the review in August of 2020. As I know the Deputy is aware, in October 2020 I published and commenced implementation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm that I have received the correspondence referred to and can assure the Deputy that tackling these heinous crimes is a priority for me, my Department and this Government. As the Deputy will be aware, I am leading on the preparation of a new national strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The strategy has been developed in partnership with the sector to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy that the review is due to be finalised shortly and the updated scorecards are expected to issue in the coming weeks. The slight delay in introducing the updated scorecards partly reflects my Department's desire to take on board additional stakeholder feedback that has been received in recent weeks. The scorecard was introduced to help applicants to complete...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I can assure the Deputy that supporting staff and managers in this important field is a key priority for the Irish Prison Service. I am advised by the Director General of the Prison Service that Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Dignity at Work Policy is the mechanism by which complaints received from staff where bullying, harassment or sexual harassment is alleged...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Charitable and Voluntary Organisations (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I am informed by the Director of the Probation Service that it was formally notified in March 2022 of the Board’s intention to wind down the organisation referred to by the Deputy. The Probation Service has provided funding to the community organisation in question for the delivery of programmes and services to individuals and their families in Waterford.  I am informed that the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: The application for naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy, continues to be processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation and will be submitted to me for decision in due course. The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Staff (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: I can inform the Deputy that there are no staff within my Department who availed of a secondment from January 2019 to date, on the basis that it was not the intention of the given staff member to return to their position within my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: Based on the information supplied by the Deputy, it has unfortunately not been possible to locate the application for the persons referred to. More generally, in relation to the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme, as of 24 April 2022, my Department has received 4068 applications in respect of  5294 applicants and 148 positive decisions have been issued, with...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Ukraine War (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: As of 14 April 2022, a total of 23,205 people had arrived in Ireland from Ukraine and my Department had issued approximately 20,950 temporary protection permission letters.   There is a coordinated whole-of-Government response to support people arriving in Ireland who have fled the violence in Ukraine. Government Departments and services are working together to implement...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Alcohol Sales (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Programme for Government commits to modernising our licensing laws and application processes, and my Justice Plan 2022 commits to publishing and enacting new laws to update and modernise licensing laws. I am delivering on that commitment by preparing Heads of a General Scheme of a Sale of Alcohol Bill. The objective of the proposed Bill is to repeal the Licensing Acts 1833 to 2018, the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (26 Apr 2022)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, I have recently published Justice Plan 2022, which sets out 159 actions to continue building a justice system that works for everyone.  Action 22 of the Justice Plan refers to the publication of the General Scheme of a Bill to update certain provisions linked to the Budapest Convention on cybercrime, as well as specific access to data requests (if not dealt...