Results 13,401-13,420 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Prison Accommodation: Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy will be aware, there has been a consistent increase in the total prisoner population in Ireland over recent years. The problem of prison overcrowding therefore remains a challenging issue which unfortunately cannot be resolved overnight. I share the view of the Thornton Hall Review Group that decisive action is required on a number of fronts in order to address the problem of...

Written Answers — Prison Committals: Prison Committals (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: The statistics requested by the Deputy are provided in the following tables. In 2010 the Irish Prison Service recategorised the offence groups under which prisoners' convictions are recorded. Statistics are now compiled using the same groups as those used by An Garda Síochána, the Central Statistics Office, the Courts Service and the Probation Service. On 28th October, 2011 there were...

Written Answers — Jury Intimidation: Jury Intimidation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: Section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999 makes it an offence to harm or threaten, menace or in any other way intimidate or put in fear a person who is assisting in the investigation by An Garda Síochána of an offence or a witness or potential witness or a juror or potential juror in proceedings for an offence or a member of his or her family, intending to obstruct, pervert or interfere...

Written Answers — Garda Operational Reviews: Garda Operational Reviews (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: As I have indicated to this House on many occasions, tackling crime, and bringing those involved to justice, is a priority for the Government. At operational level the implementation of specific measures to deal with those engaging in criminal activity is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. In that context Garda management closely monitors the allocation of resources with reference to...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Properties: Defence Forces Properties (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: Since being appointed Minister for Defence I have had one approach from this Society and met with three of their representatives in June last. At that meeting they outlined their concerns on a number of incidents that had occurred in the Curragh over recent years and sought the introduction of a number of measures that had been proposed by the Inter-Departmental Task Force on the future...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Properties: Defence Forces Properties (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: Officials from Enterprise Ireland and the IDA visited the site on the 14 November last. On 16 November, I met with a deputation from Kildare Chamber of Commerce to discuss possible future uses. In terms of disposal the Deputy will appreciate that the market remains extremely difficult. In the past week my Department has written to all other Government Departments and a number of State...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: It is starting to feel a little like Groundhog Day, as Deputy Dara Calleary, Deputy Jonathan O'Brien and I addressed this issue earlier this morning when we discussed the Supplementary Estimates. Arrangements have been made for the provision of additional funding for the Garda Vote in 2011 by way of the Supplementary Estimate which we dealt with earlier. One of the main reasons for the...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: Additional costs of €36 million were incurred for the visits of Queen Elizabeth II and President Obama. The original estimate was that the cost would be approximately €20 million. The Queen's visit turned out to be a good deal longer than was originally anticipated and was most successful. Efficiencies have been effected across the Garda Vote, as they have been effected across other...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: There was €36 million excess expenditure incurred within the Garda Vote because it was not anticipated that either visit would take place. During the course of the year the Garda has effected efficiencies in the manner in which it has delivered its services. The Garda has fully maintained all necessary front line services and has been particularly effective. The additional sum of €27.4...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: As I advised the Deputy in my answer to a parliamentary question on 22 November, we currently have two open centres in the prison estate and on 21 November 2011 Loughan House had 110 prisoners, filling approximately 70% of the bed capacity of 160, while Shelton Abbey had 97 prisoners, filling nearly 90% of the bed capacity of 110. These figures do not include prisoners on temporary release...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: That particular construction was built for offices as opposed to prison spaces but I am aware of it and it is something we are looking into. As the Deputy may be aware, a review group is being established arising out of the Thornton Hall report to examine alternative ways of dealing with convicted offenders who do not pose a risk to the community and do an overall further review of...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Thornton Hall review committee group looked beyond simply the question of the construction of Thornton Hall and addressing the problems arising out of Kilworth, in Cork. It also examined some of the other means of dealing with prisoners but the review group will go beyond that and I hope shortly will be in a position to clarify its terms of reference. I am anxious we deal with this in...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: On Tuesday, 29 November 2011, there were 127 prisoners in custody in the Dóchas Centre against a bed capacity of 105. Since it opened in 1999, it has consistently had the highest level of overcrowding in the Irish prison system. For that reason measures were taken to expand its capacity. Work commenced in April 2011 on the conversion of an administrative building on the Dóchas Centre site...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: All I can say to the Deputy is that I inherited the legacy of a prison that was inadequate in the context of the space provision available for women prisoners. Very early action was taken to provide additional space, and that additional space should relieve the overcrowding and address what is the current difficulty in a manner that is manageable within the funding available to me. The...

Prison Accommodation (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: We all agree that the maximum possible needs to be done to ensure that those who are in prison for committing offences do not reoffend. There will always be a significant segment of individuals who, no matter what services are available in the prison system, will still reoffend. That is the lesson in every country in the world, no matter what type of sentencing regime they have. However,...

Garda Stations (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: A final decision on whether station closures will take place, and if so, what stations, will be taken in the context of the Commissioner's draft policing plan for 2012 and will be announced shortly. The policing plan will also be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. As with every other public sector organisation, the Garda Síochána is going to have to manage with reduced resources. ...

Garda Stations (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: I know the Deputy does not expect me to announce this afternoon which stations will close. We have the Garda Commissioner's report and this has to go to the Cabinet before we make a final decision. I am not being misleading in any way when I say to the Deputy that I am not in a position to make announcements until Cabinet colleagues have been made aware of the content of the report and a...

Garda Stations (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: I have a general view that silos are a bad thing, unless something is being stored in them. Much to my surprise, I discovered in the review that some stations have not been opened for many years but have never been officially closed. A formal announcement was never made about the consolidation of some Garda stations. For example, I am aware of one station that has never officially been...

Order of Business (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: It opens again on Tuesday.

Order of Business (1 Dec 2011)

Alan Shatter: Deputy McDonald will have the rest of the week.