Results 11,861-11,880 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Subsidiary Protection Applications (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: If the person whose details were supplied has made an application for asylum or subsidiary protection, the Deputy is advised that it is not the practice to comment on such applications for so long as they remain in the protection process. The position in this regard is in accordance with Section 19 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) which provides for the protection of the identity of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Garda Síochána Act 2005 makes provision for the compilation and publication of crime statistics by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. I understand the CSO contacted you directly on 4 December and provided you with the latest available official statistics.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 361 and 362 together. Section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 provides that a person convicted of an offence may be ordered by the court to pay compensation in respect of any personal injury or loss resulting from that offence (or any other offence that is taken into consideration by the court in determining sentence) to a victim who has suffered such...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 363 and 364 together. I wish to refer the Deputy to my reply to the previous Parliamentary Question no 82 of 26 November 2014. In addition to this response, I would like to provide the following information by way of update. Since 26 November 2014, an additional three meetings of the Management Advisory Committee of my Department have taken place on the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid Application Numbers (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to inform the Deputy that the provision of legal aid falls within two separate categories, i.e. civil legal aid and criminal legal aid. Details in respect of each category are outlined below. Criminal Legal Aid Under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. An applicant for legal aid must establish...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Traffic Management (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will appreciate that I have no direct role in day to day traffic management or related enforcement activity by An Garda Síochána. Where breaches of road traffic law are detected, An Garda Síochána respond in accordance with the provisions of the law. I have brought the Deputy's concerns surrounding parking and related issues at the location in question to the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Equipment (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The provision and allocation of Garda transport is a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the light of her identified operational requirements and the availability of resources. In that context, I am advised by the Garda authorities that the information requested is as show in the following table: MARKED UNMARKED TOTAL Vans added to fleet in 2013 84 2 86 Vans removed from fleet in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The informal purchase of jewellery is not specifically regulated in criminal legislation; however the circumstances under which jewellery is being bought and/or sold may indicate the commission of certain offences, for example handling stolen property and / or possession of stolen property under sections 17 and 18 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001 and the onus is on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 369 and 370 together. I assume the Deputy is referring to Deputy Pringle's Private Member's Bill to criminalise the purchase of sexual services. On 27 November, I published the General Scheme of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014 which includes two new offences of purchasing, in the context of prostitution, sexual services. The first is a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Tobacco Control Measures (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I can inform the Deputy that my Department was consulted with regard to the development of the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill, 2014 and the issues arising in that context. With regard to the detailed opinions referred to by the Deputy I understand that these remain under consideration by officials in the Department of Health and that a response to the European...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Ministerial Travel (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am currently scheduled to attend EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council of Minister meetings planned for 29-30 January 2015, 12-13 March 2015 and 15-16 June 2015. I will also be attending the European Parliament Plenary Session in Strasbourg on 29 April 2015. Minister of State Dara Murphy is scheduled to attend the EU Foreign Affairs, General Affairs and European Council meetings in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Deportation Orders (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the person concerned is the subject of a Deportation Order made on 12th November 2008. The person concerned has been evading deportation since 2nd December 2008 and, as such, is liable to arrest and detention for the purposes of having the Deportation Order enforced. The person concerned should,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy. As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce legislation to facilitate courts making provision for structured settlements in circumstances where lump sums are currently awarded as a consequence of individuals suffering catastrophic injury because of the negligence of another. My Department, in consultation with the Department of Finance, is...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Recruitment (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am communicating with An Garda Síochána in relation to the issue referred to by the Deputy and will reply in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, I consider the deliberate ramming of Garda vehicles to be a very serious matter, and am aware of course of a number of serious incidents of this nature. The safety of the Gardaí concerned and, of course, the general public is of paramount importance and I can assure the Deputy that all incidents of this nature are subject to full investigation by An Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Sentencing Policy (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, judges are independent in the matter of sentencing, as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. The approach of the Oireachtas has generally been to specify in law a maximum penalty for an offence, so that a court, having considered all the circumstances of a case, may impose an appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Penal Policy Review Group Report (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality published in March, 2013 is a very valuable contribution to the debate on penal reform and contains analysis and recommendations which considerably advance the debate on how best to protect society through effective offender management. I published the Report of the Penal Policy Review Group, which took the Joint...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Proposed Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 380 and 381 together. An implementation Bill will be required in order to make civil marriage available to same-sex couples in the event that the referendum is passed by the people next year. Given the requirement that the parties to a marriage give their full, free and informed consent to entering the marriage, it will not be possible to convert existing...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Victim Support Services (16 Dec 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions by statute acts independently when deciding whether to prosecute. This means that no-one can direct that Office in relation to a prosecution. According to the Victims Charter the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will look again at a decision that Office has made with which the victim does not agree. Where a victim seeks a review...