Results 11,301-11,320 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Order of Business (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Deputy is correct that six Garda stations are to be reopened on a pilot basis. I can inform him that work is ongoing as far as this issue is concerned. There was an exchange of correspondence as recently as last week between the Garda Síochána and the Office of Public Works to accelerate the process. I expect that we will see further positive developments in the area over the...

Order of Business (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I share the Deputy's concern on the point at issue. However, as Minister for Justice and Equality, I am not in a position to direct anything towards the HSE. Subject to the Business Committee's approval, I would be very keen to have the legislation debated at a very early stage. With this in mind, I hope we can do so by the end of this week. There are a number of issues involved in the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Legal Cases (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 70 together. The Government had two options to respond to the Supreme Court Judgment which acknowledges that a constitutional right to seek employment exists where no temporal limit is set for the processing of protection applications. It could have responded narrowly to this judgment by setting a temporal limit. Instead it decided to opt-in to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Reform (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: On Tuesday last, the Government approved the establishment of an independent Change Implementation Group for the Department of Justice and Equality. It is undoubtedly the case that my Department plays a central role in the functioning of our society with a mandate which is complex, varied and challenging.  Members of this House are aware that following the Toland report in 2014, the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Child Protection (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Government is committed to providing the necessary legislative and other tools required by An Garda Síochána in order to investigate sexual offences against children and bring perpetrators to justice, whether their offences are committed online or on the streets. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act was enacted in early 2017. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Organised Crime (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: At the outset it is important to note that the fatal shooting that took place last week in Dublin’s North Strand is currently under investigation by An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will appreciate that the manner in which particular investigations are conducted is solely a matter for the Garda Commissioner and his management team and I have no role in relation to such...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Constitutional Amendments (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: On 26 September 2017, the Government decided on an indicative timetable for a number of referenda to be held in 2018 and 2019. Under this timetable, and subject to passage of the necessary Bills by the Houses of the Oireachtas and formal confirmation of the polling date, it is proposed to hold referendums in October 2018 on the offence of blasphemy (Article 40.6.1°1) and on a woman's...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Data (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Policing Authority assumed the function of selecting and appointing persons to the rank of Assistant Garda Commissioner, Chief Superintendent and Superintendent in An Garda Síochána on 1 January 2017. I wish to make it clear that, with the exception of members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) whose appointment by the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Data (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As I outlined to the Deputy in my earlier response, An Garda Síochána is working with the CSO to resolve an issue which emerged in relation to the classification of homicide offences.  The expert oversight by the CSO of crime statistics is welcome in order to ensure that we can have confidence in the official crime statistics and can tailor our policies accordingly.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Insurance Fraud (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Cost of Insurance Working Group's "Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance" (January 2017) includes a recommendation to establish a fully functioning integrated fraud database for industry to detect patterns of fraud managed by an independent not-for-profit body but funded by industry. As recommendation lead, my Department established a working group to progress the related action...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Child Protection Guidelines (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána engaged the professional services of Professor Geoffrey Shannon, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, to conduct an independent audit of the exercise by An Garda Síochána of section 12, Child Care Act, 1991. The final Report was published on 29 May 2017 and was welcomed by An Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Road Traffic Offences Data (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 72 together. While An Garda Síochána has been testing Irish drivers for drugs, with the assistance of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS), since 1999, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport commenced the drug driving provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2016 on 12 April 2017. One of the key measures in the legislation provides for...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as the national statistics agency, is responsible for the publication of the official recorded crime statistics. I understand that the CSO has already carried out two detailed reviews of crime data quality, in 2015 and 2016, and that further general reviews of crime data quality are planned. The CSO's involvement is key to the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Policing Authority (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The levels of service to be provided by the Garda Síochána are set out each year in the annual policing plan. The independent Policing Authority is required under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended, to determine priorities and targets for An Garda Síochána in performing its functions relating to policing services. As the Deputy will appreciate, I, as...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Reports (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 104 together. I can inform the Deputy that I have examined the report referred to in his questions. As the Deputy is aware, the criminal investigations and court proceedings relating to water-charge protests in Jobstown were dealt with by the appropriate State authorities. Following a Garda investigation and consideration by the DPP, the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Expenditure (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: On receipt of the Garda Síochána Internal Audit Report on "Financial Procedures in the Garda College" in March 2017 and in view of the gravity of the issues raised, my predecessor immediately requested the Policing Authority to oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the Report and to report back on a quarterly basis in relation to progress being made. I have...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Civilian Staff Recruitment (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware in accordance with section 26(1)(b) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 as amended, the Garda Commissioner has statutory responsibility for the recruitment of civilian staff and I, as Minister, have no role in the matter. Section 19 of the Act governs the sanctioning of additional civilian staff for An Garda Síochána and requires...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Reports (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Deputy will appreciate that the allocation and management of the Garda ICT budget is the responsibility of the acting Garda Commissioner as the Accounting Officer for An Garda Síochána and, as Minister, I have no function in relation to the matter. In this context, the Commissioner is fully accountable to the Public Accounts Committee and the Comptroller and Auditor...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Measures (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: The Law Reform Commission report on Harmful Communications and Digital Safety recommends a range of new offences relating to the conduct of individuals on the internet.  Specifically, it recommends two new offences to deal with posting online intimate images without consent (so- called “revenge pornography”) and voyeurism.  It also proposes reform of the existing...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (6 Feb 2018)

Charles Flanagan: I want to assure the Deputy that I am very much aware of the impact of crime on rural communities, including the serious damage done by organised gangs who target rural areas to engage in burglary and other property-related crime. Such incidents cannot be tolerated in our society and this Government will continue to support An Garda Síochána in tackling the gangs, including mobile...