Results 11,361-11,380 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Prison Escapes: Prison Escapes (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I can inform the Deputy that the information requested relating to the years 2008 to 4 May 2012 is outlined in the following table: Year Number of Absconders 2008 122 2009 133 2010 112 2011 86 2012 (up to 4 May) 33 The term "abscond" refers to a person leaving the confines of an open centre without permission or a person who absconds from the custody of a prison officer while outside...

Written Answers — Garda Strength: Garda Strength (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 324 and 325 together. The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner, in consultation with his senior management team, is responsible for the allocation of resources throughout the organisation. This is a function which is carried out in the context of operational strategies in place at a District, Divisional and Regional level. In particular, the...

Written Answers — Organised Crime: Organised Crime (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The emergence in recent years of criminal gangs has had significant implications for the management of Irish prisons. Rivalries and feuds which develop on the outside continue inside of prison. Prison management have to ensure that the various factions are kept apart and, as far as possible, that gang members do not have influence over other inmates or criminal activities outside the...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: Neither I nor my Department have commissioned any external reports since February 2011.

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: Since February 2011, there has been no expenditure on external marketing consultants by the Minister of State at my Department, Mr. Paul Kehoe T.D., by my Department or by myself.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: No public servants who retired from my Department or the agencies under its aegis since the 27 February 2012 have been taken back onto my Department's payroll.

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy can be assured that the Irish Prison Service is conscious of the harmful, potentially devastating, consequences of crime on victims. The service acknowledges that the impact of crime on victims varies in nature and force and the service seeks to take account of their experiences and needs. Where victims make their views known to the service, they are always taken into...

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy can take it for granted that I will make it a priority. He may be aware that I published the Victims' Rights Bill 2002, which the then Fianna Fáil Government voted down. When I published an updated version of the Bill in 2008 to take account of legal developments in the intervening period, the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, went to war with...

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: They would only have been kept informed during the pilot project if they opted in and, I assume, the convicted person was engaged in community service in their local community. I can seek further information for the Deputy in so far as it is available. On the question of opt-in or opt-out, the balance of convenience suggests an opt-in provision for a range of reasons. A substantial amount...

Liquor Licensing Laws (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I presume this question was not tabled from a European perspective. The public consultation process elicited a broad range of views on the display and sale of alcohol in supermarkets, convenience stores and similar mixed trading outlets. Looking to the future, there appear to be three main options. The first option is continuation of the existing voluntary code of practice. The current...

Liquor Licensing Laws (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, and I have held discussions on how we should proceed with regard to this area. While I join the Deputy in praising Mr. White for the work he is doing, I am not in favour of retaining the current voluntary code. We need to do better than that. The choice therefore lies between section 9 or some variant of it, as the Deputy is suggesting, or the...

Liquor Licensing Laws (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: Many different sporting events seem to inspire many of us to drink alcohol, but not everyone does it excessively. The sporting event to which the Deputy refers may be the European Football Championship, which is taking place in June. I wish the Irish team and its manager Mr. Trapattoni well. I hope we will be able to open a bottle of something - be it alcoholic or non-alcoholic - to...

Crime Levels (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I would like to clarify the statistics for burglaries and aggravated burglary. The most up-to-date figures from the Central Statistics Office, which has the statutory responsibility for the production of crime statistics, are for 2011. The published figures indicate that recorded burglary and related offences increased by 7.9% last year. However, the figure for aggravated burglary, which...

Crime Levels (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I assure the Deputy that adequate resources are available to the Garda Síochána. What is happening is a targeted operation identifying criminal gangs engaged in burglary, who are using our very good road network to gain access to other parts of the country from Dublin. Deputy Calleary is correct in making reference to the increases in Meath and Kildare, the commuter areas to which I was...

Crime Levels (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy is correct in saying that aggravated burglaries in 2011 amounted to 333, the same figure as in 2010. The number was higher in 2009 at 368. The crime of burglary, whether ordinary or aggravated, forms part of the focus of this operation. Like Deputy Calleary, I am aware that for any individual whose home is burglarised it is an extremely traumatic event. One burglary is one...

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Irish Prison Service strategic plan contains a number of key objectives for the next three years, one of which includes the expansion of a pilot community return project which commenced last October in line with the recommendations of the Thornton Hall project review group. This community return programme is an incentivised scheme run in conjunction with the probation service which...

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: I can personally assure the Deputy that we will keep the staffing position under continual review. I do not have an immediate answer as to whether the ten posts have been filled. I will be happy to communicate with the Deputy in that regard. I thank the Deputy for his comments on the business strategy we have put in place. It will be very important as we go forward over the next three...

Prisoner Releases (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: The strategy was only announced last week and we are now in the implementation phase. The pilot projects are such that in the context of community release additional conditions can be attached. For example, they may involve an individual having to attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or some other group dealing with drug issues. As the strategy details, we hope to expand and improve the...

Citizenship Applications (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: When I first came into office just over a year ago one of my first objectives was to address the length of time taken to process applications for naturalisation and to significantly reduce the number of cases on hand. At that time there were over 22,000 applications on hand and applications were taking an average time of over two years to process, and many were waiting three to four years....

Citizenship Applications (8 May 2012)

Alan Shatter: We are still addressing some parts of the backlog. The nature of the naturalisation process is such that for a broad range of reasons some cases take longer than others to process. A substantial number of cases that had accumulated have now been dealt with. There are some cases that give rise to particular security issues that have to be addressed and because of the nature of those cases...