Results 1,241-1,260 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Everyone wants to see this problem solved.

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Everyone is working to ensure we take every possible initiative at national level and local authority level, in conjunction with private landlords, to ensure housing is available. It is a very challenging situation. What happened on Tuesday night is absolutely unacceptable. We do not want to see one family in that situation. I repeat again that Garda stations are certainly not the places...

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I want to repeat the point about the extra accommodation that has become available since Tuesday in terms of the emergency contingency capacity. It has doubled for families who present in emergency out of hours. It is reassuring that not all of the accommodation that has been made available was used last night. Only one of the new additional contingency units was used to accommodate a...

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: All Members of the House are aware of the scale of the challenge in terms of supply of housing and the reasons we are in this situation. The Government has recognised this challenge and has taken every possible action to ensure that the people of whom the Deputy speaks are provided with appropriate homes as quickly as possible. The most recent homeless figures are a reminder of the...

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, has made it clear repeatedly that local authorities will have support and funding and they have bought many hundreds of houses over the past year. This has been possible because improvements in the economy mean that the budget to do so is available. I have told the Deputy that €5.3 billion has been...

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy knows, more than most, the intense focus there has been on ensuring supply is developed following the disastrous lack of supply of recent years, the reasons for which I do not need to articulate. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has indicated that the current legislation that defines legal responsibility for the provision of homeless services, including the provision of accommodation...

Leaders' Questions (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Dublin Region Homeless Executive has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the response to homelessness on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities, as the Deputy is aware. What happened on Tuesday night is unacceptable. The demand for accommodation experienced on Tuesday night was exceptional. It was out of the ordinary in comparison with the situation in 2017 to date. In...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the allocation of all resources, including personnel, and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. I am advised by the Garda Commissioner that employees of An Garda Síochána are facilitated, when necessary, with accommodations in workplace arrangements following periods of absence, on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that there is no record of a request for a Statement of Non-Acquisition of Irish citizenship from the person referred to by the Deputy. It is open to the person concerned to contact Citizenship Division (details available at www.inis.gov.ie) to complete the necessary documentation. Queries in relation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Naturalisation Applications (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the processing of the application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy is under consideration and has not yet reached a conclusion. I understand the person recently renewed their permission to reside in the State, which is now extended to 20 March 2018. As...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (25 May 2017)

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 valid Deportation Order made on 20 June 2002. The Deputy might wish to note that persons the subject of a Deportation Order are obliged to remove themselves from the State and it is only when they do not do so that the State is obliged to intervene. ...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission Staff (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: In response to a request from the sole member of the Disclosures Tribunal and with the agreement of the Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission two investigators were seconded by GSOC to the Disclosures Tribunal in March. I am grateful to the Chairperson of GSOC for her assistance in this matter. In consequence of this secondment I obtained the sanction of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Courts Staff (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions, which include the provision of information on the courts system. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has confirmed that two...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Independent Review Mechanism (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputy is aware, in May 2014 the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) was established to consider allegations of Garda misconduct or deficiencies in the way that Gardaí had carried out investigations. A panel consisting of two Senior and five Junior Counsel was established for the purpose, all selected on the basis of their knowledge of the criminal justice system....

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Road Traffic Offences Data (25 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Síochána Inspectorate recommended in its report ‘The Fixed Charge Processing System – A 21st Century Strategy’ (February 2014) that a review of the summons serving process be undertaken by An Garda Síochána to ascertain the reasons for the significant level of unserved summonses and to make recommendations to...

Criminal Justice Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the Deputies have outlined, the purpose of amendments Nos. 6 and 7 is to require that the reasons given by a court for granting or refusing bail and for imposing any bail conditions under section 6 be in writing. I can understand the Deputies' reasons for wanting to include such a requirement. The purpose of section 6 of the Bill is to improve the information provided by the court in...

Criminal Justice Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I do not have much more to say. The key point here is the delay which would result from issuing decisions in writing where that is not the norm in the District Court. The volume of bail cases before the courts is very substantial and to divert resources to providing a written decision in every case would create further delays in the process. Even a written decision provided only on request...

Criminal Justice Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is a fairly practical response to it. I think there are fairly large resource and delay issues involved in this. I can see what people are saying, but given the reality of the number of cases before the courts, trying to do this really will divert resources and delay decisions.

Criminal Justice Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The purpose of electronic monitoring is to monitor compliance with bail conditions. Its intended effect is to encourage a person on bail to comply with the conditions the court has imposed. There are a range of safeguards to ensure it is used appropriately already in the Bail Act. The Act requires a person subject to electronic monitoring to consent to it and the provisions only apply to...

Criminal Justice Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (24 May 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is already the case that electronic monitoring will only be imposed for serious offences to monitor a condition of bail which must itself be proportionate and necessary where the prosecution applies for it. That is in circumstances where the Garda believes it would be effective in preventing breaches of bail conditions. It has to be with the consent of the person being monitored and it...