Results 12,741-12,760 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: This grouping of amendments reflects a desire on the part of members of the committee to remove the commission procedure committee from the machinery of the Bill. The purpose of amendment No. 8 is to delete the definition of the procedures committee in section 2 of the Bill. Several amendments are directly related. Many of these are drafting amendments in the group. I note that section 19...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I do but that does not meet the point raised by Deputy O'Callaghan. I am in the hands of the committee.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am in the Chair's hands.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Training (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I can confirm for the Deputy that there are no reductions in the Garda training budget. It was noted in the published Budget Day estimate for 2018 for the Garda Vote that a proportion of the estimate for some items, including the subhead to which the Deputy refers is now reflected in a new subhead for the Garda College. This has led to the reallocation of certain costs between subheads in...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Court Accommodation Refurbishment (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: State Pathology Service (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: All bodies which operate under the aegis of my Department agree governance and accountability arrangements with the Department, including written governance agreements, in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodiesand in accordance with the Department’s Corporate Governance Framework.  Such arrangements help to ensure that appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 to 123, inclusive, together. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed-Circuit Television Systems Provision (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: The Deputy will be aware that the Community-based CCTV grant-aid Scheme was launched by my Department in April 2017 to assist community groups in the establishment of CCTV systems in their local areas. A key requirement of the Scheme is that the proposal must have the authorisation of the Garda Commissioner in accordance with Section 38 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Measures (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas on 14th February 2017. Much of the Act was commenced on 27th March 2017 and work is ongoing to ensure that the remaining sections of the Act are commenced as soon as practicable. Due to the recent enactment of the Bill, the operational needs of adapting crime recording systems to record new crimes, and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Operations (18 Oct 2017)

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. The success of the Garda measures to tackle burglary being implemented through Operation Thor is borne out by latest available CSO crime figures which show a very...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Welfare (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: A prisoner complaints system is already in place. It was introduced in November 2012 based on a model recommended by the late Inspector of Prisons, Judge Michael Reilly. The system is categorised according to the nature and seriousness of the complaint. This can range from the most serious 'Category A' complaint through to a Category D complaint. A complaint in the 'A' category, such...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Parole Boards (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy is aware, the Penal Policy Review Group (PPRG) was established in 2012 in line with the recommendations of the Thornton Hall Project Review Group, to conduct a wide-ranging strategic review of penal policy. The report of the PPRG titled ‘Strategic Review of Penal Policy’ dated July 2014 was published on my Department's website ().  In November 2014, the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Investigations (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: The tragic events at Omeath on 11 October 2015 caused suffering, grief and distress to the victims, their families and their friends.  Our sympathies are with them.  I recall, in particular, Garda Tony Golden, who lost his life doing his duty serving his community, and the young woman who suffered such trauma and serious injury that day. The events of that day and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (18 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that while the Spouse of Irish National Unit endeavours to process applications as quickly as possible, processing times may vary due to a number of factors, such as the number of applications on hands, individual circumstances, the complexity of applications, whether further...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Criminal Assets Bureau (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I refer the Deputy to my reply to PQs 43337/17 and 43338/17 of Thursday 12 October, 2017. As indicated in my reply, section 21 of the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996 requires the Bureau, through the Garda Commissioner, to provide a report of its activities each year to the Minister for Justice and Equality who is then required to lay copies of the report before each House of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Bodies Data (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has responsibility for a large number of bodies, both statutory and non-statutory. These bodies range in scale from large scale national services such as An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the Irish Prison Service and the Property Registration Authority; sectoral regulators such as the Private Security Authority, the Property Services...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that, in response to a notification pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), written representations have been submitted on behalf of the person concerned. These representations, together with all other information and documentation on file, will be fully...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Stations (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 217 and 219 together. The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient use of the resources available to An Garda Síochána and, as Minister, I have no responsibility for these matters.  As the Deputy will be aware, during 2011 and 2012, An Garda Síochána completed...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Recruitment (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Welfare (17 Oct 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 220, 221 and 222 together. It is the role of the Coroner Service to investigate unnatural or sudden deaths including deaths that may have resulted from suicide, in order to establish the ‘who, when, where and how’ of an unexplained death.  Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for me to be specific about the number of members of An...