Results 15,601-15,620 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Proposed Legislation (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I hope the Bill will be published within the next 24 hours. It will address not just bankruptcy issues but other issues also. There is some realistic possibility that it will be enacted before the summer recess. As I am taking Dáil questions, that issue is being finalised. There is a possibility it will go to the Seanad before it comes to this House. I hope, with the help and...

Court Procedures (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 29 together. All of the Fines Act 2010 has been implemented except for two sections. Section 15 will, when introduced, provide an option for the payment of fines in excess of €100 by instalment. It will allow a person on whom such a fine has been imposed to make an application to the court to discharge the payment in this way. If the court is...

Court Procedures (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: An unfortunate difficulty with this legislation, which, in fairness, was enacted by the previous Government and had support from the Opposition side of the House at the time, is that no arrangements were put in place in advance of the legislation's enactment to ensure that the software that the courts system required to operate the provisions on the payment of fines by instalments would be...

Court Procedures (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: In the context of current Government procedures, we are supposed to do a cost analysis. My Department did not have available the information, when I last asked, as to what the costing of this will be. A scoping exercise has been done since I have been appointed as Minister and I expect within a short time to have the detail of the outcome of that from my officials as to its likely cost. It...

Citizenship Applications (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: All applications for a certificate of naturalisation are processed and assessed individually under the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended. Section 15 of the Act provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain statutory conditions are fulfilled. In particular, these...

Priority Questions (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I appreciate we are starting a few minutes early. Somebody might phone Deputy Calleary and we could allow him a few minutes to get here. Everyone anticipated a 5 p.m. start. I do not want to cut him short. Perhaps we could wait a few minutes for him to get here.

Legal Aid Service (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I can inform the Deputy that the Legal Aid Board is committed to seeking to ensure that applicants for legal services receive a substantive appointment with a solicitor within a maximum period of four months. This is consistent with the view expressed by the High Court in the O'Donoghue case. Certain types of cases are deemed by their nature to merit the provision of an immediate or near...

Legal Aid Service (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Deputy for his questions; they are all important issues. The real problem is that at this time when an increasing number of people are using the civil legal aid system there are decreasing resources. For example, the board's grant-in-aid, which accounts for the vast majority of its funding, other than in regard to asylum, has been as follows since 2008 - €26,988,000 in 2008,...

Legal Aid Service (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The scheme formally starts on 1 July. Applications must be made through the Department of Social Protection. The scheme has substantial possibilities for providing some work experience for young people who are unemployed and have a variety of skills. The Legal Aid Board is one of the areas in which the scheme will be used. In my conversation with the chairperson, she was enthusiastic...

Garda Deployment (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The approximately 2,100 full-time equivalent civilian support staff in the Garda Síochána provide vital support services in a wide range of areas, such as human resources, training and development, IT and telecommunications, finance and procurement, internal audit, research and analysis, accommodation and fleet management, scene-of-crime support and medical services. However, while the...

Garda Deployment (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy referred to the recent recruitment embargo. The EU-IMF agreement, as concluded at the end of last year, provided for a reduction in Garda numbers from 14,500 to 13,000 by 2014. Indeed, the numbers are supposed to decrease to 13,500 during the course of this year, but the likelihood of achieving that is low, since the previous Government did not prescribe any mechanism that would...

Garda Deployment (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Government has stated - I will repeat it - that maintaining front line services is a priority. I cannot give commitments about particular Garda stations, as it is important that we retain open minds to ensure that operational duties are focused where they are needed. It is a matter within the remit of the Garda Commissioner as to how best to use the resources available to him to protect...

Magdalene Laundries (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The UN Committee against Torture issued its concluding observations on Monday, 6 June, following Ireland's first examination in Geneva last month under Article 19 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Its concluding observations cover a wide range of areas that impact on the remit of several Departments. In respect of the...

Magdalene Laundries (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: We are giving consideration to the person who should be appointed as chairperson of the group. It will be a person of stature, whose independence will not be open to question. I hope to be in a position to announce the name of the person within the next ten days. As regards the group, it will be required to produce a report within three months on what progress has been made. I do not...

Magdalene Laundries (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I presume the wall of official indifference to which Professor Manning, as president of the Human Rights Commission, was referring was the indifference shown during the term of office of the previous Government which failed to address this issue or put in place the structures the Government of which I am a member is putting in place which it sees as part of a process. Consultations with the...

Magdalene Laundries (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The meetings with the groups will be private to give everyone an opportunity to discuss how we should proceed. We want to ensure records will be made available by the congregations and will be accessible. The interdepartmental committee will meet and a report will be produced, following which further conclusions from the interactions will have to be drawn.

Garda Complaints Procedures (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission's annual report for 2010 was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas earlier this month and is available in the Oireachtas Library. The report gives useful details of the commission's work throughout the year. The number of complaints made, at 2,258, was not markedly different from that for the previous year, nor was the number of referrals from...

Garda Complaints Procedures (23 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Garda Commissioner is reviewing the report. The breakdown of the incidents which gave rise to complaints is interesting. We must ensure people are treated courteously by members of the Garda Síochána. Members of the Garda Síochána are also frequently the victims of spurious complaints which can arise in the context, for example, of road traffic incidents involving people who may...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (22 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: In a decision issued on 1 March 2011, the European Court of Justice, having reviewed Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113/EC which enables the Member States to maintain an exemption from the rule of unisex premiums and benefits in insurance, concluded there was a risk that the permitted derogation from the equal treatment of men and women could persist indefinitely. As such a provision would...

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (22 Jun 2011)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities, that as of 31 May 2011, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the personnel strength of each Garda Division, including the Garda Reserve, and the strength of Garda Headquarters and the Garda College, was as set out in the following table. Division Garda Strength Reserve Strength DMR South Central 753 42 DMR North Central 674 27...