Results 11,261-11,280 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person referred to is the subject of a Deportation Order and therefore has no entitlement to residency in the State. Representations were received on behalf of the person concerned pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 (11) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), to have her Deportation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Family Reunification Applications (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department that there is no current application for family reunification in respect of the person referred to by the Deputy. It is open to the person concerned to make an application for a visa at any time. Guidelines regarding the visa application procedures are available on the website of the Irish Naturalisation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that an application for residency in the State arising from marriage to an Irish national was received from the person concerned on 3 November 2014. Applications of this kind, in fairness to all other such applicants, are dealt with in chronological order and currently take 6 to 9 months to process. It...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (12 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Question No. 123 of Thursday, 4th December 2014. The position remains as stated. Reply to Parliamentary Question No. 123 of Thursday, 4th December 2014. All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed and assessed individually in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. Section 15 of...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I advised the Deputy on Second Stage that the departmental review of the insolvency legislation had taken place towards the end of last year. The Department met with all the key stakeholders in terms of the commitment we gave in May to review the legislation. I intend to bring forward proposals to the Government shortly based on that review to ensure the insolvency legislation can work...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I see why Deputy Mac Lochlainn is saying this and perhaps he might take note of what I said about the review. I have an open mind on this issue and take the point he is making on the amount. A number of organisations working with debtors have made this point and I believe it is very relevant. In terms of the amendment, could I suggest to the Deputy that this is part of the review and will...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The effect of the Deputy's amendment is to reduce the proportion of debt required to approve a personal insolvency arrangement, from 65% to just 30%. That proposal, as the Deputy says, was made on Report Stage of the Bill in 2012 and it was opposed at that point on the basis that it seems unlikely that creditors would accept or agree to be bound by a solution which was only approved by a...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That was what I was suggesting when I referred to the review and seeking further changes. I can envisage a situation where it might be possible to draft changes to consider a court review of the reasonableness of bank decisions on debt settlement arrangement, DSA, or personal insolvency arrangement, PIA, proposals. We will consider it further to see if we can examine the court's powers to...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have already provided for a complete waiver of all fees payable to the ISI by a person wishing to apply for any of the three statutory debt solutions offered by the ISI introduced by the Personal Insolvency Act. These include the debt relief notice, the debt settlement arrangement or the personal insolvency arrangement. The waiver is in force since October. That being the case, the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: There is not a set scale at present. I am concerned to ensure no one is denied access to the personal insolvency practitioner service because of concerns about fees. I will examine what action we can take in that area.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We have waived upfront fees and made it much easier to access the service in the first place. We have reduced fees considerably. Personal insolvency practitioner fees are not fixed but must be set out in writing in the personal insolvency agreement or the debt settlement agreement. They must be agreed by the debtors and creditors. There is considerable variability in terms of whether...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate his intention of providing for a review of the Personal Insolvency Act 2013. The amendment is not necessary because the Act provides for a statutory review. Section 141 requires the Minister for Justice and Equality to carry out a full review of the operation of insolvency arrangements under the Act, including DNRs, DSAs and PIAs within three years of its...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is what I hope to do and I will take account of what members said today. I will table as many amendments as is feasible at the time.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is a departmental review, which I have not discussed with the Cabinet, but I am not sure that I will be able to publish the review in full. I will undertake to provide as many details as possible and to outline the main aspects of the review.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Gambling Sector (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is my intention that this form of gambling will be covered by the Gambling Control Bill, once enacted. The General Scheme of the Bill, published in July 2013, and available on my Department's website, has virtual gambling within its scope. It is not possible to indicate at this point when the Bill will be published. My colleague the Minister for Finance has primary responsibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Betting Legislation (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: General provisions relating to the control and regulation of bookmaking and betting are set out in the Betting Act 1931, as amended. This legislation prohibits a person from carrying on business or acting as a bookmaker without a licence issued by the Revenue Commissioners. Applicants for such licences must submit a certificate of personal fitness issued by a Superintendent of the Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Gambling Legislation (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will be aware that the Government approved the General Scheme of the Gambling Control Bill in July 2013. This Bill will, upon enactment, replace all extant laws on gambling (with the exception of that governing the National Lottery). The Scheme is with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel awaiting formal drafting, and is available on my Department's website. As per the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Strength (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 98 to 107, inclusive, together. As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel and vehicles, among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Committals (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The number of committals for each year since 2010 solely for non-payment of fines is set out in the table below. Figures are taken from the Annual Reports of the Irish Prison Service. In the case of 2014, these figures are provisional pending the publication of the 2014 Annual Report. Year Committals for non-payment of fines 2014 8,965 2013 8,121 2012 8,304 2011 7,514 2010 6,683 I...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Committals (11 Feb 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The number of female committals for each year since 2010 is set out in the table below. Figures are taken from the Annual Reports of the Irish Prison Service. In the case of 2014, these figures are provisional pending the publication of the 2014 Annual Report. Year Female Committals % of Total Committals 2014 3,093 19% 2013 2,727 17% 2012 2,560 15% 2011 2,238 13% 2010 2,024 12%