As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources 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 is made of these resources.

Indeed, some €1.65 billion has been allocated to the Garda Vote for 2018. This is an increase of approximately 2% over the allocation for 2017 and includes almost €100 million for Garda overtime. Some €1.61 billion was allocated to the Garda Vote for 2017 and €1.55 billion in 2016.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on 31 October 2017, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of the Cavan/Monaghan Division was 324 members. There are also 11 Garda Reserves and 37 civilians attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Response Unit, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

I am further informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 44 of whom have been assigned to the Cavan/Monaghan Division. In addition, another 200 trainee Garda are scheduled to attest next month which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - an increase of 500 since the end of 2016.  

This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. The substantial increase in Garda numbers is tangible progress on achieving this Government’s vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

I am pleased to say that Budget 2018 will support the continuation of this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College, an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cavan/Monaghan Division, in the coming years.

The Deputy will, of course, be aware of the recommendation to reopen the former Garda station in Bawnboy, in addition to 5 other former stations, that is contained in the Garda Commissioner’s final report on the station reopening pilot project. I am informed that the Commissioner has written to the Office of Public Works to progress the matter.

The Deputy will also be aware that there are plans to build a new Garda station in Bailieboro and I understand that the Office of Public Works has now progressed the acquisition of the site in question and is proceeding to the planning stage of the project.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Gardaí is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner’s responsibility for the distribution of Garda personnel, I have provided for the record the detailed information requested by Deputy in tabular form in relation to the number of Gardaí allocated to the Divisional Drug Units. I am informed that the total number of Divisional Drug Unit personnel was 238 as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

As the Deputy will be aware all Gardaí have a responsibility in the prevention and detection of criminal activity whether it be in the area of drug offences crime or otherwise. I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána continues to pro-actively and resolutely tackle all forms of drug crime in this jurisdiction.

In line with the Policing Plan, An Garda Síochána's National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, which was established in 2015, continues to lead out the policing strategy for tackling drugs by demand reduction and supply reduction strategies. In this regard the Bureau continues its policy of working with Garda Divisional Drug Units nationwide in tackling supply reduction at local level.

This work is further supported by other national units, including the Criminal Assets Bureau, in targeting persons involved in the illicit sale and supply of drugs. This approach allows for the co-ordinated use of Garda resources in tackling all forms of organised crime, including illicit drug activity nationwide. Multi-disciplinary approaches are also utilised to ensure that those involved in illicit activity are effectively targeted including through the use of the proceeds of crime legislation, money laundering legislation and the powers of the Criminal Assets Bureau. I am informed that this approach adopts good practice in implementing a co-ordinated use of Garda resources and in utilising available criminal law to its fullest extent in tackling all forms of organised crime, including drug trafficking.

We have also seen unprecedented international cooperation between An Garda Síochána and policing services in other jurisdictions leading to important arrests and drug seizures.

Underpinning all these measures is this Government’s commitment to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide. I look forward to attending the attestation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - an increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources he needs to allow him to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across the organisation including the Divisional Drugs Units.

The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to supporting investment in CCTV systems and, in this context, my Department launched the Community-based CCTV Grant-aid Scheme in April 2017, as the vehicle to assist community groups in the establishment of CCTV systems in their local areas.

Under the Scheme, eligible community groups can apply for grant-aid of up to 60% of the total capital cost of a proposed CCTV system, up to a maximum grant of €40,000. Upon approval of the grant, the applicant will receive an up-front payment of 50% of the grant with the balance to be paid when the system is fully operational. Some €1 million was secured in Budget 2017 for the purposes of the Scheme and a similar amount will be made available in 2018 and 2019.

Unfortunately, the number of applications received to date is well below expectations. In relation to the specific locations referred to by the Deputy, I will be happy to consider any applications made in respect of them.

Full details of the Scheme, including guidelines, application forms, code of practice and other relevant documentation are available to download from my Department's website - www.justice.ie.

Guidance is available to help local groups to apply for this important funding and I am keen to ensure that groups take full advantage of the availability of this funding.

I am very conscious of the value that communities, especially rural communities, place on CCTV as a means of deterring crime and assisting in the detection of offenders.

The Garda authorities inform me that there are Garda CCTV schemes in operation in some 27 towns throughout the State comprising of approx. 523 cameras. There are also some 45 Community-based CCTV schemes, established under the previous grant-aid scheme funded by my Department between 2005 and 2013, in operation encompassing some 367 cameras to which An Garda Síochána have access.

Under the Commissioner's Modernisation and Renewal Programme, the intention is to use CCTV in new ways utilising modern technology and to expand the use of ANPR technology to allow for wider access and analysis, to identify key criminal and terrorist targets and to enhance community safety.

I would also mention in the context of supporting local communities that I recently announced that an additional €100,000 was being made available to Text Alert Groups, registered with An Garda Síochána, to provide modest financial assistance with the running costs they incur each year. This Text Alert Rebate Scheme will be administered by Muintir na Tíre and Groups wishing to participate in the Scheme can find more details at www.muintir.ie. Gardaí continue to pursue a range of measures to support elderly and more vulnerable people in the community, working closely with Community Alert, Neighbourhood Watch and other community groups.

The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to supporting investment in CCTV systems and, in this context, my Department launched the Community-based CCTV Grant-aid Scheme in April 2017, as the vehicle to assist community groups in the establishment of CCTV systems in their local areas.

Under the Scheme, eligible community groups can apply for grant-aid of up to 60% of the total capital cost of a proposed CCTV system, up to a maximum grant of €40,000. Upon approval of the grant, the applicant will receive an up-front payment of 50% of the grant with the balance to be paid when the system is fully operational.

It is unfortunately the case that the number of applications received to date is well below expectations. To date, 6 applications have been received, in addition to a significant number of enquiries about the Scheme. As these applications were incomplete, they were returned to the applicants concerned to enable them to provide the information necessary to qualify for grant-aid. I expect however that at least some of these applications will be resubmitted and be successful.

Full details of the Scheme, including guidelines, application forms, code of practice and other relevant documentation are available to download from my Department's website - www.justice.ie.

Guidance is available to help local groups to apply for this important funding and I am keen to ensure that groups take full advantage of the availability of this funding.

I am very conscious of the value that communities, especially rural communities, place on CCTV as a means of deterring crime and assisting in the detection of offenders. I will say that these schemes are important and that they do help in crime reduction. I am satisfied that the grant-aid Scheme is worthwhile and I believe that it is worth making the funding available to communities in 2018 and 2019.

I am aware that the Data Protection Commissioner is responding to queries about the status of community CCTV schemes and I understand that the matter will be examined as part of a periodic scheduled engagement with An Garda Síochána. I can inform the Deputy that my officials consulted with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, the Office of the Attorney General, An Garda Síochána, Pobal and the Local Government Management Association (who liaised with the County and City Management Association), in relation to the Scheme.

I am aware that there has been some criticism of the scheme as being too 'bureaucratic' and my Department has been working with the various interested parties at local and community level to address any concerns in this regard. My Department continues to receive a constant flow of enquiries about the Scheme and I would encourage interested groups to avail of it.

It is worth pointing out that the Scheme, including the data protection requirements, is modelled closely on the previous grant-aid Scheme operated by Pobal on behalf of my Department between 2005 and 2013 under which some 45 Community-based CCTV systems were established operating in a mix of urban and rural environments.

If the Deputy is aware of any Groups that wish to avail of the Scheme but have not done so to date, I would ask him to let me know and I will ensure that they are given whatever support they require in order to make an application. In this context, my officials recently met with Irish Rural Link as well as some community representatives in relation to the Scheme. This level of engagement is encouraging.

I would also mention in the context of supporting local communities that I recently announced that an additional €100,000 was being made available to Text Alert Groups, registered with An Garda Síochána, to provide modest financial assistance with the running costs they incur each year. This Text Alert Rebate Scheme will be administered by Muintir na Tíre and Groups wishing to participate in the Scheme can find more details at www.muintir.ie. Gardaí continue to pursue a range of measures to support elderly and more vulnerable people in the community, working closely with Community Alert, Neighbourhood Watch and other community groups.

As the Deputy knows, the Protected Disclosures Act was enacted in 2014 to introduce specific protections for whistleblowers.  The core provisions in the Act provide for protection from dismissal and other forms of penalisation for the making of a protected disclosure, and for the protection of the identity of persons making disclosures.  I am not, therefore, going to discuss the details of any correspondence which I or my Department may have received on behalf of any member of the Garda Síochána alleging Garda wrongdoing.  I am sure that the Deputy appreciates that the protection of whistleblowers rightly prioritises the confidentiality of the process, which is central to the efficacy of that process.

However, with that qualification, I can state that I have received correspondence of the kind mentioned in the Deputy's question from the legal representatives of a member of the Gardaí.

My Department has had regular correspondence with the legal representatives concerned, in which it has set out the position regarding the issues raised.  In those responses it has been explained that there are certain matters which they have raised that are matters for which I have no responsibility.  I have to emphasise this point: I, as Minister, have no authority to direct the Garda Commissioner in matters concerning the control, operation and direction of An Garda Síochána.  Nor can I interfere in any investigation undertaken, on being undertaken, by An Garda Síochána.  Similarly, certain workplace issues which have also been raised in the correspondence are not matters in which I have authority to act.  Again, these are matters for the Garda Commissioner.

This may be difficult for the Deputy to accept but he and others in this House would be quick to point out the flaws in any system which would allow any Minister for Justice to interfere with the role of the Garda Commissioner or to seek to direct the Garda Commissioner how to handle workplace issues or investigations. 

While there are matters raised in the correspondence that I cannot involve myself in, I have asked the Garda Commissioner for an up-to-date report.  I am aware of the actions taken by my predecessors in this and other such cases. This has included using powers under the Garda Síochána Act to refer matters to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). As the Deputy is aware GSOC is a statutory independent body and it is not open to me to intervene in, or comment on, their investigations.

I can say that my predecessor gave an undertaking that should the investigations not address all matters of concern, the establishment of an Inquiry would be examined to address the substance of the allegations. That remains the position.

I am of course anxious that any allegations of wrongdoing by members of An Garda Síochána are properly and independently examined.  I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that persons making disclosures will be supported and protected in the workplace.

There has been significant change in the procedures for members of the Gardaí who wish to report allegations of wrongdoing. In addition to the introduction of the Protected Disclosures Act, the Garda Síochána has been working with Transparency International Ireland and other external providers to improve their procedures.

All of this points to significant changes in the regime for making protected disclosures by members of the Gardaí and the significant protections afforded to those who make protected disclosures. It may be the case that further reforms are necessary to strengthen these protections. In that regard, I understand that a review is underway of the Protected Disclosures Act which may offer the opportunity to consider this issue.

Finally, I want to remind the House of the Public Notice issued last week by the Disclosures Tribunal.  Term of reference [p] relates to complaints by members of the Gardaí who had made a protected disclosure prior to 16 February 2017 and who were, as a result, targeted or discredited with the knowledge or acquiescence of senior members of the Garda Síochána.  The public notice called on any Garda who has made such a protected disclosure, who has not already done so, to provide a statement to the Tribunal by 18 December.   I would urge anyone to whom this applies to accept the Tribunal’s invitation and provide the said statement.

At the outset, can I say that the allocation and management of the overtime budget is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner having due regard to the available resources and his operational needs.

In this context, I would inform the House that I presented a supplementary estimate to the Select Committee last Thursday which provides for additional expenditure of some €58.1 million in gross terms for the Garda Vote, including an additional €50.489 million for the pay subhead of which over €42 million is for overtime.

This will bring the overtime budget for 2017 to over €130 million. By any standards, this is a significant sum, particularly when compared to the spend in previous years - €91 million in 2016, €56 million in 2015 and some €37.7 million in 2014.

Further, Budget 2018 provides for just under €100 million in overtime next year.

I am sure that the Deputy will agree that it is incumbent on Garda management to manage these substantial sums effectively for each financial year and I am satisfied that Garda management is acutely aware of the need to utilise the resources being made available to them in the most efficient and effective manner to ensure high visibility policing in our communities. This entails proper budgetary planning to ensure that the overtime requirements for any given year can be met in a managed and coherent way from the available resources. This House votes the resources available to the Commissioner of the day. It is his or her job as Commissioner and as Accounting Officer for the Garda Vote to manage those resources prudently.

I am informed by the Commissioner that all Assistant Commissioners and Executive Directors were requested to ensure that the usage of overtime for the roster ending on 3 December did not exceed the annual budget of €131 million which includes a Supplementary Estimate of €42.5 million.

I am further informed that there was no question of all overtime in the Dublin Metropolitan Region being cancelled for the remainder of 2017 as suggested by the Deputy.

It is important to note that overtime worked in December actually falls due to be paid from the 2018 budget and, as I have indicated, just under €100 million has been made available for overtime in 2018.

I have also been assured by the Commissioner that any misunderstanding that arose internally in relation to the availability of necessary overtime in the period leading up to Christmas has been clarified by the relevant Assistant Commissioner.

It is also important to note that overtime cannot be taken in isolation to the other resources available to An Garda Síochána.

For example, a further 800 Gardaí will have been recruited by the end of this year and Budget 2018 also provides for this level of continuing recruitment. Provision has also been made for significant civilian recruitment which will allow for the redeployment of Gardaí from behind desks to the front-line to do what they have been trained and are being paid to do.

Indeed, some €1.65 billion has been allocated to the Garda Vote for 2018. This is an increase of approximately 2% over the allocation for 2017 and includes, as I have stated, almost €100 million for Garda overtime. Some €1.61 billion was allocated to the Garda Vote for 2017 and €1.55 billion in 2016.

This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime.

I am sure that the Deputy will agree that Garda management must continue to deliver on the extensive Garda Reform Programme that is currently underway and extract maximum benefit from the opportunities presented by that Programme, which is supported by unprecedented levels of public funding.

The Programme is being facilitated by the Government’s vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

In particular, the increase in civilians will provide extensive opportunities to An Garda Síochána to redeploy significant numbers of Gardaí from administrative duties to front-line duties thereby reducing the need for overtime proportionately.

Further benefits will accrue from the proposed increase in the Garda Reserve.

I would like to stress that, while this Government has not been found wanting in providing resources to An Garda Síochána, it remains incumbent on Garda management to manage effectively and efficiently the significant resources being made available to them.

My Department will, of course, be keeping all aspects of the Garda Budget under close review in conjunction with Garda Management during the course of 2018.

I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.  I am deeply conscious of the serious issue of road safety and of the traumatic impact of road traffic collisions on those directly affected and their families.  I am also mindful of the impact of dangerous driving, including anti-social driving, more generally on the quality of life of residents in local communities across the country.

The Deputy will appreciate that I have no direct role in the enforcement of road traffic legislation, which is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner. I am informed that road traffic legislation is enforced as part of the day-to-day duties of members of An Garda Síochána, as well as through a programme of high visibility road safety and enforcement operations, carried out in partnership with other state agencies. Garda operations specifically target road use behaviour known to contribute significantly to collisions, including dangerous and anti-social driving. 

I am further informed, that, in addition to responding to all reports of anti-social and careless driving, An Garda Síochána conducts operations on an ongoing basis to target the anti-social activities of young drivers. In order to combat this behaviour, intelligence is gathered at local level and areas are targeted as appropriate. An Garda Síochána also works closely with local authorities with a view to reducing such incidents and opportunities for joy-riding, anti-social behaviour and public disorder.

In addition to responding to individual anti-social/joy-riding incidents, local Garda management, including Superintendents with regional responsibility for roads policing, have developed specific and dedicated policing initiatives to target such behaviour, including MIT and rolling road checkpoints, whereby breaches of the Road Traffic Acts and transport regulations are detected; Fixed Charge Notices; criminal proceedings; or inclusion in the Juvenile Diversion Programme. An Garda Síochána also gathers intelligence through routine policing patrols, community policing units and through the Divisional Criminal Intelligence Officer. 

An Garda Síochána’s National Roads Policing Operations Plan, puts plans, initiatives and operations in place, at national, regional, divisional and district level to protect the public from serious harm and ensure safety on our roads.  This is done through a concentrated programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations in partnership with other State agencies, including the Road Safety Authority, in order to meet the commitments contained in the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020, including the central objective of reducing road deaths to no greater than 25 fatalities per million of population by end 2020. This equates to an average of 10.3 road deaths per month and 124 per year by end 2020.

Progress in relation to the actions and outcomes set out in the Strategy are monitored on an ongoing basis by the Road Safety Authority and the other agencies involved, and overseen by a Ministerial Committee on Road Safety. The Committee is chaired by my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and I attend Committee meetings, along with the Attorney General, the CEO of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), the Garda Commissioner (or a senior representative) and officials from other relevant bodies. The Committee provides a forum for high-level discussion of road safety issues and will meet for the sixth time this year on 11 December 2017.  

Underpinning road traffic enforcement measures is An Garda Síochána’s Modernisation and Renewal Programme (2016-2021), which sets out key strategic objectives for Road Policing and informs and guides An Garda Síochána's annual Road Policing plans to 2021. Under the Programme, the Garda Commissioner will undertake a number of road safety traffic enforcement initiatives, including expanding the use of technology and increasing checkpoints.

The Programme for Government underlines the need for close engagement between An Garda Síochána and local communities as part of the strong community policing ethos which has long been central to policing in this jurisdiction. Local policing measures to address the type of issues referred to by the Deputy will undoubtedly benefit from the resources now coming on stream through the Garda recruitment programme. The Government has commited to increase Garda numbers to 15,000 so that the Commissioner has the capacity to address the needs of communities throughout the country and into the future. 

I might add that, at the Policing Authority's most recent public meeting on 23 November, the Garda authorities reaffirmed their commitment to increase the overall strength of Roads Policing Units by 10% prior to the end of 2017 and announced that a further 10% increase is planned during the course of 2018. It is proposed to continue to increase the overall strength of Roads Policing Units each subsequent year until full operational strength is restored.

Road safety is a shared responsibility; one which, as you are aware, the Government takes very seriously.  Anyone affected by, or with information about, the matters referred to should, of course, contact their local Garda station. Alternatively, information can be provided to An Garda Síochána by way of the Garda confidential line, 1800 666 111, which is a monitored freephone line that allows members of the public to contact An Garda Síochána with information of a confidential nature. Alternatively, members of the public can call Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25 to report such matters.

I can inform the Deputy that there is no statutory basis to provide specific services to persons who have been held on bail but are subsequently released following an acquittal or otherwise not convicted beyond that which would be provided to other prisoners, whether on remand, on bail, or upon release.

Part 6 of the Prison Rules 2007 provides for the services which the Irish Prison Service must endeavour to provide for prisoners not serving a sentence. These include accommodation, structured activities and healthcare requirements while in custody. There are also separate provisions under the Prison Rules for unconvicted prisoners in relation to telephone calls, letters and visits.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the time in custody it is not possible to provide pre-release programmes or reintegration programmes to remand prisoners who do not receive a conviction. Remand prisoners can be released by the court at any time. They can also receive bail or have the warrant holding them quashed for any number of reasons. In addition, prisoners can be brought to court and have their case deferred to a later date, resulting in the prisoner being remanded again. This process can occur on multiple occasions in relation to the same case.

For these reasons it is impossible to plan when a remand prisoner may be released, accordingly it is not possible to provide a structured release programme to this cohort of prisoners.

In 2016 there were 2,976 committals on remand or trial warrants. This related to a total of 2,568 persons who did not receive a conviction.

The Probation Service plays a key role in the delivery of restorative justice as part of its overall mission of reducing reoffending and further victimisation in our communities.  Referrals for restorative justice interventions are provided post-conviction, within the parameters of assessment and court orders, including community and prison based actions.

The Probation Service, through my Department, allocates funding to a range of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) to support its work and mission.  In particular two Community Based Organisations receive funding to deliver restorative justice programmes and interventions for adult offenders. These are “Restorative Justice Services”, which is based in Tallaght, and “Restorative Justice in the Community”, which is based in Nenagh.  Both provide two models of restorative justice – the offender reparation panel and victim offender mediation services.

In addition, bespoke restorative justice interventions are also available from Probation Officers on a national basis, in particular where a Court has requested an assessment for restorative justice engagement. The Probation Service staff receive accredited training on restorative justice practice and these interventions are bespoke in that they may include direct victim offender mediation, shuttle mediation, acts of community reparation or victim awareness work with the offenders.

The Probation Service Restorative Justice Strategy, published in November 2013, entitled “Repairing the Harm: A Victim Sensitive Response to Offending”, provides a framework for informed, effective and integrated restorative justice practice. The Strategy builds on previous work in this area and focuses on the further development of evidence informed interventions, which engage victims, offenders and the community in addressing the consequences of crime.

An Implementation Plan for this Strategy was put in place by the Probation Service in 2014. It sets out the goals and related actions for four distinct restorative justice models, which complement and support court ordered sanctions. These models include Victim Offender Mediation, Family Group Conferencing, Reparation panels and Support Circles.

The Deputy may be aware that extending the use of restorative justice programmes is also a recommendation of the Penal Policy Review Group, whose report was submitted to Government by the then Minister for Justice & Equality in November 2014. An Implementation Group is currently overseeing the implementation of these recommendations. Its fourth report (May 2017), is available on my Department’s website at the following link:

http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Strategic%20Review%20of%20Penal%20Policy%20Accessible.pdf/Files/Strategic%20Review%20of%20Penal%20Policy%20Accessible.pdf.

In addition, Section 26 of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 gives effect to the restorative justice provisions contained in the 2012 European Directive on establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. It outlines very clearly the measures to be taken to ensure that victims who choose to participate in a restorative justice scheme have access to safe and competent services.

Discovery orders were issued by the Tribunal to my Department in February, April and September. These orders were fully complied with and the relevant documents were forwarded to the Tribunal in February, May and September 2017.

For the benefit of the House I can say that the discovery orders concerned records of the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation, documents related to two cases which had been considered by the Independent Review Mechanism, a copy of a representation to the then Minister which referenced Sgt McCabe, a report of a GSOC investigation into a complaint that a Garda investigation of an alleged serious assault was not properly carried out and records related to the allegation of contacts between the Gardaí and TUSLA in relation to Garda Keith Harrison.

The Department has also made extensive voluntary disclosure of other matters including three protected disclosures, reports from the Garda Commissioner under section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act and, most recently, the two email threads that were uncovered following a trawl of documents in the Department. In acknowledging receipt of the emails, the Tribunal made reference to my Department's already extensive discovery which has allowed the Tribunal to place the current documents in context.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Taoiseach has announced that there will be an external examination of the way in which my Department fulfilled its obligations in relation to discovering documents to the Tribunal, to conclude before Christmas. That is a step I welcome.

I can assure the Deputy that any further Discovery Orders to be made by the Tribunal will also be complied with in full and the Tribunal has been assured of my full and ongoing support in that regard.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is available.

The Garda strength of the Tipperary  Division on 31 October 2017 was 376 of whom 70 are Community Gardaí. There are also 18 Garda Reserves and 40 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware,  this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 35 of whom have been assigned to the Tipperary Division.  I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Tipperary Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE TIPPERARY DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

The Deputy will be aware that the Taoiseach announced last week that the Government intends to appoint an external reviewer to examine the process of discovery for the Disclosures Tribunal with a view to reporting by Christmas.  In addition, a Change Implementation Group is to be established to assess progress in implementing the recommendations arising from the Toland report in 2014.  This will include a review of the culture and structure of the Department and the group will be asked to make recommendations for change.  That review will also examine in particular the relationship between the Department and An Garda Síochána to ensure that the relationship is appropriately structured and operates to ensure better performance.  I expect the terms of reference and membership of this Group to be finalised in the next week.   

I should say that the Toland Report recognised that “one of the key strengths” of the Department was the “willingness, flexibility and can-do attitude of many of its loyal staff” as well as the experience and depth of knowledge across a complex range of issues.  Since my appointment as Minister, I have found both management and staff in the Department and across the Justice and Equality sector to be capable, adaptable and fully committed to public service.  Change is a continuous process and in keeping with best international practice, earlier this year my Department contracted external management experts to undertake a stocktake of progress to date and assist the Department’s Management Board in prioritising further reform measures for the next three years. 

The Deputy will be aware that the culture of the Department has been highlighted as a key area requiring change.  I understand that following a wide-ranging consultation with staff and external stakeholders, a Culture and Values Charter was published in 2016 with the objective of fostering a more outward facing, listening organisational culture. These values form the core of all induction and leadership training with a view to informing the way in which the Department engages with the public, with staff and stakeholders and work is ongoing to ensure that this continues to be embedded in the organisation.  A positive outcome of the response to the Toland report is an increasing engagement with stakeholders both internal and external, including the Oireachtas Justice Committee. 

I have previously outlined my concerns to this House about the sheer scale and breadth of the Department's responsibilities.  The Toland Report also recognised this and called for a detailed analysis with a view to dividing the Department.  This analysis was conducted by external experts through 2016/2017 and concluded that such a restructuring should be progressed.  I would very much support that process. 

I envisage that both the stocktake process, in which both my predecessor and I participated, together with the structures review, will be helpful to the work of the Change Implementation Group.  For my own part I intend to support fully the management and all in the Department in completing this challenging change agenda.

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources 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 is made of these resources.

Indeed, some €1.65 billion has been allocated to the Garda Vote for 2018. This is an increase of approximately 2% over the allocation for 2017 and includes almost €100 million for Garda overtime. Some €1.61 billion was allocated to the Garda Vote for 2017 and €1.55 billion in 2016.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on 31 October 2017, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of the Cavan/Monaghan Division was 324 members. There are also 11 Garda Reserves and 37 civilians attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Response Unit, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

I am further informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 44 of whom have been assigned to the Cavan/Monaghan Division. In addition, another 200 trainee Garda are scheduled to attest next month which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - an increase of 500 since the end of 2016.  

This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. The substantial increase in Garda numbers is tangible progress on achieving this Government’s vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

I am pleased to say that Budget 2018 will support the continuation of this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College, an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cavan/Monaghan Division, in the coming years.

The Deputy will, of course, be aware of the recommendation to reopen the former Garda station in Bawnboy, in addition to 5 other former stations, that is contained in the Garda Commissioner’s final report on the station reopening pilot project. I am informed that the Commissioner has written to the Office of Public Works to progress the matter.

The Deputy will also be aware that there are plans to build a new Garda station in Bailieborough and I understand that the Office of Public Works has now progressed the acquisition of the site in question and is proceeding to the planning stage of the project.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Limerick Division on 31 October 2017 was 555 of whom 37 are Community Gardaí. There are also 31 Garda Reserves and 50 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 39 of whom have been assigned to the Limerick Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Limerick Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE LIMERICK DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Laois/Offaly Division on 31 October 2017 was 334 of whom 2 are Community Gardaí. There are also 17 Garda Reserves and 25 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 66 of whom have been assigned to the Laois/Offaly Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Laois/Offaly Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE LAOIS/OFFALY DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

On 13 June this year, I launched the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017 – 2021. This Strategy contains 149 Actions, grouped under ten themes, which are as follows:

- Cultural Identity;

- Education;

- Employment and The Traveller Economy;

- Children and Youth;

- Health;

- Gender Equality;

- Anti-discrimination and Equality;

- Accommodation;

- Traveller and Roma Communities; and

- Public Services

I chair a Steering Group which has the responsibility for monitoring and achieving progress on the implementation of the Strategy.  The Steering Group consists of representatives of the Traveller and Roma communities, as well as of representatives of relevant Government Departments and Agencies.

Since the launch of the Strategy, the Steering Group has met twice, on 2 August and on 18 October. The next meeting is planned for Wednesday 13 December. The meetings provide an opportunity to review progress and to drive forward implementation of the Strategy.

To date, work has begun on approximately 100 of the actions in the Strategy.  The Steering Group will continue to monitor progress on these Actions and to focus on actions where progress has not yet commenced.  It is a priority for me that the momentum achieved to date is maintained. 

As a response to a number of the actions in the Strategy, 3 sub-committees have been set up to report back to the Steering Group:

- One of these sub-committees has been formed in my Department on the issue of data collection on ethnic grounds. 

- A second sub-committee has been formed to deal with the issue of the retention of Traveller and Roma children in education. At the last meeting, held last month, a proposal was jointly agreed by my Department, the Department of Educational and Skills, and TUSLA to implement a pilot project on this issue in 4 different locations with high Traveller and/or Roma populations; and

- The third sub-committee was set up to deal with the problem of feuding in the Traveller Community. Proposals for addressing this issue through mediation are currently being examined.  

Each of these sub-committees is chaired by an official from my Department, and the membership consists of representatives of relevant Government Department and Agency officials as well as of the Traveller and Roma communities.

The recognition last March by the Government of Travellers as an ethnic minority represented a crucial step forward in the relationship between the Government, the Traveller community and the settled community.  It is my aim that the Strategy should build on this landmark decision to work to bring about concrete improvements in the lives of Travellers across the country.

As I have previously indicated, the Department is giving full and detailed consideration to each of the four recommendations made by the Ombudsman in his report published on 23 November 2017.

It is important to note that the existing Scheme remains open. To date 684 applicants to the Magdalen scheme have received their ex-gratia payments from my Department's Vote at a cost of €25.7m.  The terms of the scheme recommended to Government by the Justice Quirke included the payment of “lump” sums in a range from €11,500 to €100,000; special access to health care, upgrading of pension entitlements to the full State Pension for those who had reached retirement age and payment of a weekly sum of €100 inclusive of other State payments to others.

The Ombudsman has recommended that, in certain cases, women should be made a ward of court. I can inform the Deputy that this policy was already being pursued by the Department which is now considering whether any further measures can be taken in this regard in the light of the details of the Ombudsman's recommendation.

It was recommended that there should be a review of any cases where there has been a dispute over length of stay.  No particular difficulty is foreseen with this recommendation and my Department is exploring the options for doing so.

It was recommended that guidance should be developed centrally on future restorative justice or redress schemes and my Department will be pursuing this recommendation with relevant Government Departments likely to be responsible for any such schemes.

The recommendation by the Ombudsman to include certain industrial schools and training centres within the scheme notwithstanding the fact that applicants may have already received payments under the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme raises a number of issues.  As part of the consideration of this recommendation, my Department is seeking to clarify all the issues concerned and assess the administrative, resource and legal implications.

Let me say straight out that I am satisfied with the protection provided to persons who make protected disclosures in An Garda Síochána.

As the Deputy is aware, the Protected Disclosures Act came into operation on 15 July 2014. Members of An Garda Síochána who wish to make a protected disclosure may do so in accordance with the provisions of the Act.  The Act puts Gardaí in the same position, including receiving the same statutory protections, as others who wish to make a protected disclosure about alleged wrongdoing.

Accordingly, members of the Garda Síochána may communicate their concerns to the Garda Commissioner, as their employer if they so choose, or they may make a disclosure directly to GSOC.  Where a protected disclosure is made to GSOC, the Act provides that GSOC may, if it appears to it desirable in the public interest to do so, investigate the disclosure.  It is also open to a member of the Garda Síochána to make a protected disclosure to me as Minister and I will consider it in the context of my Department's sectorial policy on protected disclosures.

It is important to recognise the very significant fact that a member of the Gardaí who makes a disclosure in accordance with the Act is entitled to all the protections provided for whistleblowers in the Act.  These protections include protection from having their identity revealed, protection from dismissal and protection from being penalised in their employment as a result of having made a protected disclosure.

The Garda Síochána have published their Protected Disclosures Policy and all Garda members and civilians have been informed of this policy. In addition the Garda Commissioner has appointed a Protected Disclosures Manager who is supported with a dedicated and properly trained team.

In light of the public interest in An Garda Síochána having robust policies and procedures in place to support and protect whistleblowers and to ensure that their complaints or allegations are fully investigated, my predecessor asked the Policing Authority on 2 June 2016 to examine and report on the policies and procedures in place in An Garda Síochána to deal with whistleblowers/whistleblowing.  She also asked that they make any recommendations that they consider appropriate in order to ensure that the policies and procedures in place are appropriate and can provide assurance that whistleblowers can make complaints or allegations in a safe environment where their complaints or allegations are properly investigated.

The Policing Authority completed its review and reported to my predecessor on 11 November, 2016.  The Report was published on my Department's website and has been laid before both Houses in accordance with the Act. An Garda Síochána have since published a revised policy document as result of the Report.

The Garda Commissioner is committed to providing an environment in which protected disclosures can be made in full knowledge that persons making such disclosures will be supported and protected in the workplace.

The Garda Síochána have been working with Transparency International Ireland and other external providers to create an environment to ensure that whistleblowers are properly protected and supported. An “Integrity at Work” pledge and “Integrity at Work Membership Agreement” was signed by the Garda Commissioner and Transparency International Ireland on 4 October, 2017.

The Deputy will see that there have been very significant changes to the regime for making protected disclosures by members of the Gardaí.  I have indicated, however, that I am considering whether other reforms could be introduced to further strengthen the protections in place.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Wexford Division on 31 October 2017 was 284 of whom 8 are Community Gardaí. There are also 19 Garda Reserves and 32 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 50 of whom have been assigned to the Wexford Division.   I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach 14,000 by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Wexford Division, in the coming years. 

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Cavan/Monaghan Division on 31 October 2017 was 324 of whom 2 are Community Gardaí. There are also 11 Garda Reserves and 37 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 33 of whom have been assigned to the Cavan/Monaghan Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cavan/Monaghan Division, in the coming year.

I can inform the Deputy that for the purpose of reply, I take it that the question refers to persons who were held on remand within the prison system and but who subsequently released arising from a non-conviction following a Court trial.  This being so, I can inform the Deputy that there is no statutory basis to provide specific services to such persons beyond that which would be provided to other prisoners, whether on remand, on bail, or upon release.

Part 6 of the Prison Rules 2007 provides for the services which the Irish Prison Service must endeavour to provide for prisoners not serving a sentence. These include accommodation, structured activities and healthcare requirements while in custody. There are also separate provisions under the Prison Rules for unconvicted prisoners in relation to telephone calls, letters and visits.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the time in custody it is not possible to provide pre-release programmes or reintegration programmes to remand prisoners who do not receive a conviction. Remand prisoners can be released by the court at any time. They can also receive bail or have the warrant holding them quashed for any number of reasons. In additional, prisoners can be brought to court and have their case deferred to a later date, resulting in the prisoner being remanded again. This process can occur on multiple occasions in relation to the same case.

For these reasons it is impossible to plan when a remand prisoner may be released, accordingly it is not possible to provide a structured release programme to this cohort of prisoners.

My Department has no plans to consider providing a transition centre for remand prisoners once they are released.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Cork North Division on 31 October 2017 was 317 of whom 7 are Community Gardaí. There are also 14 Garda Reserves and 29 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 15 of whom have been assigned to the Cork North Division.  I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties.  There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cork North Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE CORK NORTH DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

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, including responsibility for the formulation of proposals in relation to the opening and closing of Garda stations. As Minister, I have no role in the matter.

Indeed, this was the basis on which the Garda District and Station Rationalisation Programme was developed and implemented, resulting in the closure of some 139 Garda stations, including Rush Garda station. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the closures have allowed front line Garda to be managed and deployed with greater mobility, greater flexibility and in a more focused fashion particularly with regard to various targeted police operations.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for a Partnership Government commits to a pilot scheme to reopen 6 Garda stations, both urban and rural, to determine possible positive impacts that such openings will have on criminal activity, with special emphasis on burglaries, theft and public order.

The Garda Commissioner has recently submitted his final report in relation to this matter.  The report contains a recommendation that Rush Garda station be one of the six Garda stations to be included in the pilot, along with stations at Ballinspittle, Co. Cork, Bawnboy, Co.Cavan, Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow, Donard, Co. Wicklow, and Stepaside, Co. Dublin.

It is my intention to bring the report before Government shortly.

I understand that the Commissioner has written to the Office of Public Works to progress the matter.

It is understood that the timeframe for reopening the stations concerned is dependent on a number of factors, including the brief of requirements from An Garda Síochána, the extent of the required refurbishment, based on current building regulations, the need to comply with fire regulations and to provide disability access.  There are also agreed standards and specifications for Garda cell areas and custody suites which would have to be incorporated into the refurbishment.

Once the specification has been agreed, the works will go to tender and will commence when the procurement process has been finalised.

The Policing Authority represents one of the most significant developments in policing since the foundation of the State.  It constitutes a major element of the comprehensive programme of justice reform which is being delivered by the Government, aimed both at ensuring continuing confidence in the work of An Garda Síochána and at supporting the women and men of the service in the work they do on our behalf every day.

The Authority’s role is to oversee the performance of the Garda Síochána in relation to policing services, to promote public awareness of policing matters and to promote and support the continuous improvements in policing in Ireland. Its mission is to drive excellent policing through valued and effective oversight and governance.

I strongly believe that the Authority has made a significant impact since its establishment in January 2016.

In addition to meeting regularly with the Commissioner and his management team to discuss the performance of An Garda Síochána in relation to policing matters and undertaking selection competitions for appointments to senior ranks within An Garda Síochána, the Authority has been focusing on its functions that have statutory deadlines and reform significance. This includes agreeing the Garda Strategy Statement 2016-2018, establishing Policing Priorities and a Policing Plan for 2018, launching the Garda Code of Ethics and reporting on the Garda Síochána Protected Disclosures Policy.

I continue to have complete confidence that the Authority, with its wealth of experience and expertise, will contribute to making An Garda Síochána a modern, efficient and accountable policing service.

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 is made of these resources.

An Garda Síochána with the support of this Government continues to tackle criminal activity. Operations such as Thor and Hybrid have had success in tackling burglary and property crime, including rural crime and gangland crime. Concentrated Garda actions against criminal gangs have been illustrated by a number of notable successes this year with a series of very significant drugs seizures valued at over €79.5 million, including the huge haul of illegal cannabis valued at €37.5 million seized at Dublin Port on 20 January 2017 and most recently a significant seizure on the 15 November 2017 of €7 million.

The dedicated Armed Support Unit for the Dublin Metropolitan Region was launched on 14 December 2016, and is now operational on a 24/7 basis.

The Government has introduced new legislation including the Proceeds of Crime Amendment Act 2016 which provided greater powers to CAB in the fight against gangland crime, the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime Bill) 2016 which has been passed by the Oireachtas and I recently introduced the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Bill 2017. In addition the Criminal Justice Act 2017 (changed from the Bail (Amendment) Bill 2016), which was enacted in June of this year, strengthens the operation of the bail system with the aim of making the law as effective as possible in protecting the public against crimes committed by persons on bail. 

Under the Act, the Court will be required to have regard to persistent serious offending by an applicant for bail and the nature and seriousness of any danger presented by the grant of bail to a person charged with an offence, that carries a penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment or more.  The Court will also have the power, in certain cases, to hear evidence from the victim of an offence before a decision on bail is taken.

Where an accused person is granted bail, the Act will provide for stricter bail terms for repeat serious offenders, including the use of curfews, strengthen Garda powers to deal with breaches of bail, and introduce electronic tagging for those on bail in certain circumstances where requested by Gardaí. 

The Deputy will also be aware that there is currently an extensive programme of reform underway affecting all aspects of the administration and operation of An Garda Síochána. This follows the Government's approval in July 2016 of a Five Year Reform and High Level Workforce Plan for An Garda Síochána which combines the Government’s response to the Garda Inspectorate report 'Changing Policing in Ireland' and the commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government aimed at increasing the visibility, effectiveness and responsiveness of An Garda Síochána.

The key structural change under the Five Year Reform and High-level Workforce Plan is the replacement of the current District model of policing with a Divisional model where responsibilities will be allocated on a functional rather than geographical basis, subject to modifications to ensure the close relationship with communities is maintained in both urban and rural areas.

The Divisional model is being rolled out on a phased basis starting with a pilot programme. The four Divisions of DMR South Central, Cork City, Galway and Mayo have been selected for the pilot in order to provide a mix of urban and rural policing environments. This new model  will support the more flexible and effective deployment of Garda resources.

The Policing Authority is overseeing the implementation of the reform programme and reporting on a quarterly basis. It latest progress report - its third which is available on my Department's website - indicated positive progress has been made in the development and implementation of the Divisional/functional model of policing and it is continuing to monitor progress in relation to the pilots, in particular any learnings which could be applied in advance of the national roll-out. The Authority has also indicated that it would like to see this project progressed more rapidly.

I believe the only way to deliver world class policing in Ireland is to ensure that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs and that those resources operate in an organisation whose culture is open and responsive and where the best management systems and practices are deployed.  I am confident that the reform plan, including the development of a functional model of policing that is being pursued by An Garda Síochána, supported by the Government and overseen by the Policing Authority, has the capacity to achieve this.  It will not be done overnight but as I have made clear, the implementation of the ambitious reform programme, including the implementation of the Divisional model, must continue and, indeed, must move at a greater pace, to ensure the best possible policing services for the people of Ireland.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 101 together.

As the Deputies will be aware, the Programme for Government underlines the need for close engagement between An Garda Síochána and local communities. This is an essential feature of the strong community policing ethos which has long been central to policing in this jurisdiction.  The Deputy will also be aware that as part of the overall strategy to oppose criminality, the Garda authorities pursue a range of partnerships with community stakeholders; for example, the well established Community Alert Programme and the highly successful Garda Text Alert Scheme to name but a few. 

Community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána. It provides a means of recognising that every community - both urban and rural - has its own concerns and expectations. In this regard I welcome the strong emphasis placed by An Garda Síochána on the Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021, on further developing and supporting the community policing ethos of the organisation so that Gardaí spend more time in the community, gaining public confidence and trust and providing a greater sense of security. Proposed initiatives include the establishment of local Community Policing Teams (CPTs) headed by an Inspector and made up of Gardaí from across a range of areas to work proactively with the community to prevent and detect crime; and the establishment of Community Safety Fora in every District comprising local Gardaí, local communities and key stakeholders.

Since the Community Text Alert scheme was launched in September 2013, it has developed as an important crime prevention mechanism with over 700 local groups involving in excess of 130,000 subscribers and with an estimated 200,000 text messages sent each month under the scheme. Every Garda Division, rural and urban, now offers the text alert service and An Garda Síochána has published guidelines to assist in the establishment and operation of local groups.

The Deputies might wish to note that funding from my Department is not used to provide direct assistance to local Community Alert (or Text Alert) Groups.

Community Alert funding is allocated by my Department for the employment and associated costs of the national Community Alert programme, including the employment of regional Development Officers. These Development Officers, operating in Muintir Na Tíre, provide support to Community and Text Alert schemes and offer advice on how to establish new schemes. The long-standing view has been that this is the best use of the resources available to the Department to support effective community crime prevention actions. 

At the National Ploughing Championships this year, I was pleased to announce that an additional €100,000 was being made available to Text Alert Groups, registered with An Garda Síochána, to provide modest financial assistance with the running costs they incur each year.  This Text Alert Rebate Scheme will be administered by Muintir na Tíre and Groups wishing to participate at the Scheme can find more details at www.muintir.ie.

I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that, following the completion of criminal proceedings flowing from the incident referred to, and public commentary in relation to members of An Garda Síochána who were involved in the policing of same, an Assistant Commissioner was tasked with conducting a review of the policing of the event. The final report from the Assistant Commissioner has now been finalised and is currently being considered by the Commissioner.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Mayo Division on 31 October 2017 was 318 of whom 3 are Community Gardaí. There are also 20 Garda Reserves and 31 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 15 of whom have been assigned to the Mayo Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensures that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Mayo Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE MAYO DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

As the Deputy will be aware, I have previously put on record my deep concern at the serious failures of the Garda organisation in relation to mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints and fixed charge notices.

In relation to the particular issue of whether disciplinary action should be taken against individual members of An Garda Síochána arising from the mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints issues, this is solely a matter for the Garda Commissioner to decide under the Garda Síochána (Discipline) Regulations 2007.

During his public meeting with the Policing Authority on 23 November last, the Commissioner apologised for the significant organisational failure and acknowledged the resulting public disquiet.

He stated that, taking into consideration that the Policing Authority examination found that the discrepancy between the PULSE figures and the devices was likely to be significantly greater than the 1.458 million figure already identified by the Garda authorities, the scale of such an investigation, its associated costs and resourcing requirement were significant factors in deciding not to undertake individual disciplinary actions. Further consideration was also given to the inevitability of legal challenges to such action, the passage of time, and associated retirements, and poor data quality, which would all have additional delay, cost or other implications.

The Commissioner also informed the Authority that the decision to take a future-focused, restorative approach allowed An Garda Síochána to focus on strategic reforms, changes to culture and embedding the Code of Ethics and performance management system, along with improving data quality.

He confirmed that he will be issuing a personal directive to all members stating that distortion of data quality and data breaches will amount to a serious disciplinary matter and could, at the most serious level, result in dismissal. The Commissioner also indicated that he would be specifically and individually writing to each Divisional manager to highlight their responsibilities in relation to supervision and accountability.

The Government established the Policing Authority to ensure oversight of policing practices, shed light on problems and identify solutions through its structured engagement with An Garda Síochána. I would draw the Deputy's attention to the Policing Authority's commentary on the Crowe Horwath report, where the Authority, in relation to this point, stated that "poor performance on a pervasive scale can seldom be appropriately addressed by disciplinary processes". The Authority further commented that the focus should be on implementing a meaningful performance management system for both Garda members and civilians in 2018, so that there is a framework for the delivery of policing plans and ensuring accountability.

The Authority went on to indicate that, unless there is prima facie evidence of either a criminal offence or a disciplinary breach having been committed, the core focus for An Garda Síochána should now be on rectifying the issues identified permanently across all dimensions, including procedures, technology, training, supervision and accountability. I fully expect the Commissioner to urgently address the issues highlighted by myself, by Crowe Horwath and by the Policing Authority and I welcome the continuing oversight of the Policing Authority in this respect. This Government has put in place significant Garda resources, both human and financial, but, as the Policing Authority has emphasised, cultural change within An Garda Síochána is of critical importance. This is why one of the Policing Authority’s first acts was to introduce Code of Ethics. Adherence to that Code must become a fundamental part of our policing. I previously made clear to the Commissioner that Garda management must ensure that all members are committed to the values the Code sets out. I am confident that he and his colleagues understand the importance of ensuring that cultural change goes hand in hand with systemic improvements. The Policing Authority has a critical role to play in supporting and overseeing this process. Moreover, it is important to remember that the expert Commission on the Future of Policing is undertaking a comprehensive review of policing in Ireland. I have no doubt that this report will inform the Commission's work to bring about the transformation of policing in this country. However, I fully acknowledge the vital work undertaken everyday by the women and men of An Garda Síochána to ensure the safety and security of the people of Ireland. I remain dedicated to doing everything in my power as Minister, in conjunction with the Policing Authority, to ensure ethical and excellent policing, robust oversight and the modernisation of An Garda Síochána to ensure it can operate effectively and professionally in the public interest.

I can confirm that my Department received the document referred to in this Parliamentary Question. This was provided to the Department on the basis that the information would be held in the strictest confidence and referred to only as a possible means of verification if an applicant to the ex-gratia scheme was resident in the Magdalen Institution in Galway.  There were only limited records surviving for this Magdalen Institution so the information was invaluable in processing the applications from the women for their ex gratia payments and other benefits. 

In relation to access to material in general, the Deputy will be aware that the McAleese report specifically states that it was agreed that the most appropriate course of action would be that the archive of the Committee’s work would be deposited with An Taoiseach and that is where the archive is held. The records provided by the religious congregations concerned were returned to them and are not part of the State archive. 

The Deputy will I am sure appreciate that the records held in the State archive and by the religious congregations contain very sensitive personal data.

With regard to the private religious archives, I am advised that the congregations have stated that any woman who has been in their care, will be given access to their own records.  As regards general access, that is a matter for the congregations themselves subject to the Data Protection Acts.

In relation to the State archive there are no plans to make it available publicly at this time and, at all events, the records are subject to the Data Protection Acts.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Waterford Division on 31 October 2017 was 292 of whom 35 are Community Gardaí. There are also 19 Garda Reserves and 30 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 49 of whom have been assigned to the Waterford Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Waterford Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE WATERFORD DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a limited internal review of the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was concluded in Q3 2017. The review only examined the period to December 2016. As the IIP Programme had only gained momentum in the second half of 2016, to evaluate its effectiveness as of December 2016 might not provide for any meaningful and measurable outcomes. Consequently it was decided not to publish the review as the outcomes may be of little value.

It is proposed to commence a more comprehensive review of the Programme and I can assure the Deputy that a report of that review will be published subject to any appropriate redaction of any personal and commercially sensitive information.

Discovery orders were issued by the Tribunal to my Department in February, April and September.  These orders were fully complied with and the relevant documents were forwarded to the Tribunal in February, May and September 2017.

For the benefit of the House I can say that the discovery orders concerned records of the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation, documents related to two cases which had been considered by the Independent Review Mechanism, a copy of a representation to the then Minister which referenced Sgt McCabe, a report of a GSOC investigation into a complaint that a Garda investigation of an alleged serious assault was not properly carried out and records related to the allegation of contacts between the Gardaí and TUSLA in relation to Garda Keith Harrison.

The Department has also made extensive voluntary disclosure of other matters including three protected disclosures, reports from the Garda Commissioner under section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act and, most recently, the two email threads that were uncovered following a trawl of documents in the Department.  In acknowledging receipt of the emails, the Tribunal made reference to my Department's already extensive discovery which has allowed the Tribunal to place the current documents in context.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Taoiseach has announced that there will be an external examination of the way in which my Department fulfilled its obligations in relation to discovering documents to the Tribunal, to conclude before Christmas.  That is a step I welcome.

I can assure the Deputy that any further Discovery Orders to be made by the Tribunal will also be complied with in full and the Tribunal has been assured of my full and ongoing support in that regard.

My Department has been actively engaged in reform over the past number of years, constantly striving to improve the international protection process.  The Report of the Working Group to Report to Government on Improvements to the Protection Process, including Direct Provision and supports to Asylum Seeker, also known as the Justice McMahon report, was published in June 2015.  The Report contains 173 recommendations many of which have implications for a number of Government Departments and services.  

The International Protection Act 2015, which was commenced on 31 December 2016, addresses one of the key issues identified in the report, that is the length of time persons remain in the protection process.  The Act reformed the system for examining and determining applications for international protection in Ireland through the introduction of a single application procedure.  

The single procedure replaced the previous multi-layered and sequential protection application system and will, in time, result in the determination of status for applicants at a much earlier stage than had been the case, and consequently shorter stays in the Direct Provision system. To facilitate this, additional resources have been assigned, both at first instance and appeal stage.

My Department has since published three progress reports on the implementation of the Report's 173 recommendations, the first in June 2016, the second in February of this year and a third and final report in July of this year. The final progress report shows that 133 of the recommendations have been reported as fully implemented and a further 36 are in progress or partially implemented.  This represents a 98% full or partial implementation.

The Supreme Court judgment in the case of N.V.H. v. The Minister for Justice and Equality found, on 30 May last, that in an international protection system with no temporal limits as to when the application process will be concluded, an absolute prohibition on the right to work for international protection applicants is contrary to the right to seek employment under the Constitution.  The Court recognised that this is a matter for the Executive and Legislature to consider and accordingly adjourned consideration of the Order the Court should make for a period of six months.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify for the Deputy that this ruling applies to all those in the protection process whether they are relying on State accommodation and services or not.

Following the approval of Government, I established an Inter-Departmental Taskforce in July to examine the wide-ranging implications of the judgment, and to consider appropriate solutions. The Taskforce is comprised of representatives from nine Government Departments, along with the Office of the Attorney General. 

On 21 November 2017, the Government approved the recommendations of the Taskforce, including the key recommendation that the State should respond to the judgment by opting-in to the EU (Recast) Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU). 

The EU Directive provides, inter-alia, that international protection applicants shall have access to the labour market no later than nine months from the date the application for international protection was lodged, if a first instance decision has not been taken and if the delay cannot be attributed to the applicant.

This solution was presented to the Supreme Court on 30 November.  The Court has put a stay on the final order until 9 February 2018.  My officials are actively engaged in ensuring compliance with the order.

My Department is in the process of arranging for the Motions to opt-in to the Directive to be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas.  Following the approval of both Houses, the opt-in procedure with the formal notifications to the European Council and the European Commission will commence.

The Government has established an Implementation Group to oversee the opt-in procedure and the practical arrangements for facilitating access to the labour market for eligible applicants. The Group will be drawn from the membership of the Taskforce, supplemented by the participation of relevant operational areas in my own Department and in other Departments as required.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Kildare Division on 31 October 2017 was 354 of whom 4 are Community Gardaí. There are also 20 Garda Reserves and 30 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 72 of whom have been assigned to the Kildare Division.   I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Kildare Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE KILDARE DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I have no plans currently to introduce a system of compensation as proposed in this question. This is because section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 gives the courts a statutory power to order a person convicted of an offence to pay compensation to a person who has suffered personal injury or loss resulting from the offence.  This is instead of or in addition to dealing with the offender in any other way, unless it sees reason to the contrary. 

The Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill, which is currently being drafted, will replace the Probation of Offenders Act 1907 with modern provisions dealing with community sanctions and the role of the Probation Service in the criminal justice system. The Bill will amend section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 to disconnect the payment of compensation from the sentencing of the offender.  The amendment will provide that a compensation order can only be made in addition to any other sanction, and not instead of a sanction.

As the Deputy may also be aware, persons injured as a result of a crime may be eligible for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted which was established on a non-statutory basis in 1974.  This cash-limited scheme provides for ex-gratia compensation in respect of vouched expenses and losses incurred as a result of personal injuries, including fatal injuries, which are directly attributable to a crime of violence.  It is funded by my Department and is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal which is independent in considering applications.  

It is also possible for a victim of crime to take a civil case for compensation against an offender. It is a matter for the victim and their legal team to take any such case.

It is a common misconception the term ‘direct provision’ relates only to the Department of Justice & Equality and to the accommodation provided to protection applicants. In 1999/2000, the Government decided that protection applicants would be provided with State services, such as health and education, directly through the existing mainstream services. This also implied that the Government would not introduce separate, parallel State services specifically for protection applicants. In general, the guiding principle is that those in the protection process are provided with whichever services they are entitled to on the same basis as the indigenous population and through the same systems.

The Deputy will also be aware that the Programme for Partnership Government states that "Long durations in direct provision are acknowledged to have a negative impact on family life. We are therefore committed to reforming the Direct Provision system, with particular focus on families and children."

The McMahon Report on Improvements to the Protection Process set out comprehensive recommendations, including in relation to direct provision. The third and final progress report showed that by June this year, 133 of its recommendations had been reported as fully implemented and a further 36 were in progress or partially implemented, representing 98% full or partial implementation. Details of the implementation can be found in this report on my Department's website, including in relation to a number of improvements in the application process and in accommodation centres. The Department is continuously implementing improvements in living conditions such as the introduction of independent living and these, along with improvements in the application process under the International Protection Act 2015, are making a real difference to the overall system of in Ireland.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Clare Division on 31 October 2017 was 305 of whom 7 are Community Gardaí. There are also 6 Garda Reserves and 32 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 20 of whom have been assigned to the Clare Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Clare Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE CLARE DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

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 is made of these resources.

Community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána. It provides a means of recognising that every community – both urban and rural – has its own concerns and expectations.

I am informed by the Commissioner that the Garda National Model of Community Policing plays a key part in responding to crime by taking into account and responding to local conditions and needs.  Clear objectives are set, such as high visibility in the community, ease of contact by members of the public, and enhanced support for crime prevention strategies.  All Gardaí have a role to play in community policing in carrying out their duties.  In addition, the National Community Policing Office, attached to the Garda Community Relations Bureau, captures best practice in community policing initiatives and disseminates these practices through its communication network. 

An Garda Síochána's Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021, published in June 2016, places a strong emphasis on developing and supporting the community policing ethos of the organisation and enhancing the current delivery model so that Gardaí spend more time in the community, gaining public confidence and trust and providing a greater sense of security.  It will result in the introduction of multi-skilled Community Policing Teams in every District.

These Community Policing Teams will be made-up of Gardaí from a number of different units who will work with the local community to prevent and detect crime. In addition, each Community Policing Team will be supported by a Community Safety Forum. The Forum which will comprise local Gardaí, members of the public and community groups will promote crime prevention strategies. This clear and consistent approach to community policing will ensure a better service and enhanced Community safety.

In terms of progress on this important initiative, I am informed by the Commissioner that a draft Community Policing Framework which outlines the manner in which Community Policing Teams and Community Safety Fora will be established has been completed and is subject to internal review before being approved by the Executive for implementation. The Commissioner anticipates that a number of Community Policing Teams will be established on a pilot basis early next year.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on the 31 October 2017 the latest date for which figures are readily available the strength of the Cork City Division was 662, 27 of whom were Community Gardaí. There are also 44 Garda Reserves and 67 civilians attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 32 of whom have been assigned to the Cork City Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cork City Division, in the coming years.

I am informed by the Commissioner that the number of dedicated Community Gardaí in the service of An Garda Síochána and the Community Garda Strength of the Cork City Division, in each of the years 2009 to 31 October 2017, the latest date for which figures are currently available, is as set out in the following table.

Strength of Community Gardaí

*Up to 31 October 2017

In replying to this Question from Deputy Ó Laoghaire, account must be taken of the fact that he has, in his capacity as a Member, introduced a Private Member's Bill in support of the introduction of group or class actions before the courts, in this House on 9 November 2017. The Bill, entitled the Multi-Party Actions Bill 2017, was taken for Second Stage in the Dáil on Tuesday 14 November 2017. On that occasion the Deputy and other Members of the House had an opportunity to have a very useful and informative exchange of views on the various issues that can arise in relation to the introduction of the option of group litigation. Ministers of State Catherine Byrne and David Stanton also participated in that debate on my behalf and laid out the Government's initial views and concerns in relation to changing the law in this complex area. As the Deputy will be aware, on 16 November 2017, the Dáil agreed that his proposed Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice and Equality pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3) and 141. I also understand that, subject of course to the consideration of the Select Committee, it is envisaged that the proposed Bill will be given the benefit of pre-legislative scrutiny as part of that process.

The consideration of this Bill, as in its introduction by Deputy Ó Laoghaire and in its referral by the Dáil to the Select Committee will, of course, continue to be informed by the Report on Multi-Party Litigation that was published by the Law Reform Commission, on foot of an earlier Consultation Paper, in September 2005 [LRC 76-2005]. The more up to date consideration of this Bill before the Select Committee offers an opportunity to take into account any developments and issues that have come to light in the twelve years since publication of the Law Reform Commission's Report. This includes as they may relate to the various areas of law and policy involved which span consumer protection, competition, the environment and the provision of financial and other services. Account can also be taken of any issues arising from the fact that the draft rules of court for group litigation recommended by the Law Reform Commission in its 2005 Report are now being put forward in the form of primary legislation.

As the Deputy will also be aware from the debate at Second Stage, I am also requesting that the question of the introduction of a Multi-Party Action procedure be considered in the context of the Review of Civil Justice Administration recently commenced by the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Peter Kelly. These developments will, therefore, be among those matters that will continue to be taken into account by the Government in its consideration of the Multi-Party Action Bill 2017 as now for consideration before the Select Committee.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 268 together.

I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes to those in custody that include education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, counselling, welfare and spiritual services. These programmes can offer purposeful activity to those in custody while serving their sentences and encouraging them to lead law abiding lives on release.  These programmes are available in all prisons and all prisoners are eligible to use the services.  

The Department of Education and Skills provides an allocation of 220 whole time teacher equivalents to the Prison Service through the Education and Training Boards. Education in prisons is delivered in partnership between the Education and Training Boards and the Irish Prison Service with a focus on providing education which is quality assured, student centred and which facilitates lifelong learning. The partnership endeavours to meet the needs of students through helping them cope with their sentence, achieve personal development and prepare for life after release. A broad and flexible curriculum is provided which ranges from basic literacy classes and peer led tutoring to Open University. There is an increasing focus on Quality and Qualification Ireland "QQI" accreditation as the modular structure best meets the needs of students in prison.  On some occasions, prisoners may have to wait for a place to become available on an educational programme.

In October this year an average of 45.8% of the prison population participated in educational classes compared with 43.7% in the same month in 2012.

The guiding principles which underpin the prisons' work and training service are to make available, work, work-training and other purposeful activities to all those in custody.  Training activities are chosen to give as much variety as possible and also to give opportunities for those in prison to acquire practical skills which will help them secure employment on release.

In October this year an average of 25% of the prison population participated in work training activities compared with 24% in the same month in 2012.

Other areas where there has been significant progress in prison education are in physical education, in the provision for higher education, in the arts and in preparing prisoners for release and supporting their transition to life, and often to education, on the outside.  A top priority for the Irish Prison Service is ensuring help for those with reading and writing problems and peer mentoring programmes are currently active in all of our prisons.

Prison Management are keen to ensure that all prisoners have access to education and training, including those who are segregated.  Education classes are provided to those who are segregated, as appropriate, and they are provided with reading materials, education and art resources.

The guiding principles which underpin the prisons' work and training service are to make available, work, work-training and other purposeful activities to all those in custody.  Training activities are chosen to give as much variety as possible and also to give opportunities for those in prison to acquire practical skills which will help them secure employment on release. 

The Irish Prison Service has also been expanding the number of accredited courses and opportunities available to prisoners in Work Training in recent years. Enhanced partnership arrangements with accrediting bodies such as City and Guilds and the Guild of Cleaners and Launderers and the centralising of coordination and quality assurance arrangements have enabled us to extend the number of available courses and activities with certification

Over the prison estate, Work Training has over 120 workshops with a capacity for 1200 prisoners.

Over the prison estate, Education has over 200 classrooms with a capacity for 1664 prisoners.

I want to make clear at the outset that my Department provided to GSOC all the records within its power or procurement related to the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation.

On 11 January 2017, GSOC was granted a Court Order for access to certain records of the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation, including relevant transcripts of Commission hearings relating to allegations which arose following the publication of the Report of the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation. This order was perfected on 19 January 2017.  

In view of the necessity to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the Commission’s records, the Department had engaged the services of a barrister to examine the records and identify and schedule those covered by the court order.  He did so and identified and scheduled for disclosure all the records which were in the Department’s possession from the Commission of Investigation.

The Department wrote to GSOC on 20 February enclosing copies of the documents from the Commission’s records deposited with the Minister which came within the terms of the order for disclosure.  An examination of the Commission’s email correspondence did not disclose anything coming within the terms of the order and GSOC were so informed on 23 February.

On 23 February GSOC wrote to the CSSO saying that there were certain pages missing from the transcript for 24 June 2015 and advised that the missing pages were available from the stenographer. The Department received the missing pages on 28 February 2017 from the stenographer. On 1 March they were provided to GSOC following confirmation by the Department’s barrister that they came within the scope of the High Court Order. Separately, the barrister confirmed that the pages concerned  were not among the records of the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation which were deposited with the Minister.

I want to assure the Deputy that there was no question of transcripts being withheld from GSOC by the Department.  As soon as the Department was alerted to the fact that there were missing transcripts, it took appropriate action to ensure that they were procured and provided to GSOC.

GSOC issued a statement on 22 November in which it said that the investigation is ongoing.

As the Deputy will be aware, the allocation and management of the overtime budget is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner having due regard to the available resources and his operational needs.

In this context, I would inform the House that I presented a supplementary estimate to the Select Committee last Thursday which provides for additional expenditure of some €58.1 million in gross terms for the Garda Vote, including an additional €50.489 million for the pay subhead of which over €42 million was for overtime.

This will bring the overtime budget for 2017 to over €130 million. By any standards, this is a significant sum, particularly when compared to the spend in previous years -  €91 million in 2016, €56 million in 2015 and some €37.7 million in 2014.

Further, Budget 2018 provides for just under €100 million in overtime next year.

Indeed, some €1.65 billion has been allocated to the Garda Vote for 2018. This is an increase of approximately 2% over the allocation for 2017 and includes, as I have stated, almost €100 million for Garda overtime. Some €1.61 billion was allocated to the Garda Vote for 2017 and €1.55 billion in 2016.

I am sure that the Deputy will agree that it is incumbent on Garda management to manage these substantial sums effectively for each financial year and I am satisfied that Garda management is acutely aware of the need to utilise the resources being made available to them in the most efficient and effective manner to ensure high visibility policing in our communities. This entails proper budgetary planning to ensure that the overtime requirements for any given year can be met in a managed and coherent way from the available resources.

I am informed by the Commissioner that all Assistant Commissioners and Executive Directors were requested to ensure that the usage of overtime for the roster ending on 3 December did not exceed the annual budget of €131 million which includes a Supplementary Estimate of €42.5 million.

I am further informed that there was no question of all overtime in the Dublin Metropolitan Region being cancelled for the remainder of 2017.

It is important to note that overtime worked in December actually falls due to be paid from the 2018 budget and, as I have indicated, just under €100 million has been made available for overtime in 2018.

I have also been assured by the Commissioner that any misunderstanding that arose internally in relation to the availability of necessary overtime in the period leading up to Christmas has been clarified by the relevant Assistant Commissioner.

It is also important to note that overtime cannot be taken in isolation to the other resources available to An Garda Síochána.

For example, a further 800 Gardai will have been recruited by the end of this year and Budget 2018 also provides for this level of continuing recruitment. Provision has also been made for significant civilian recruitment which will allow for the redeployment of Gardaí from behind desks to the front-line to do what they have been trained and are being paid to do.

I take it that the Deputy is referring to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme, the operation of which is supported by the nationwide network of Garda Youth Diversion Projects (GYDPs).

As the Deputy will be aware, the statutory framework relating to young offenders and the Garda Diversion Programme is set out in the Children Act 2001. The Act essentially provides that any young person who is responsible for committing a crime must be considered for admission to the Diversion Programme. The Diversion Programme has been very successful in its primary purpose of diverting young offenders away from the criminal justice system.

With regard to mechanisms for review, a Committee to review the effectiveness of the Diversion Programme reports annually, as is provided for in section 44(6) of the Children Act. More broadly, a Group was established by the former Garda Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing Diversion Programme, and its report is awaited. In addition, I am advised that following on from work by the Garda Professional Standards Unit (GPSU), a comprehensive review is being undertaken of all youth referrals under the Diversion Programme between 2010 and 2017. I understand that a full report on the matter will be prepared for the information of the Acting Commissioner.

As the Deputy may also be aware, the Programme for Government supports the expansion of Garda Youth Diversion Programmes for young people. This follows on from a recommendation of the Penal Policy Review Group that a programme similar to the existing Youth Diversion Programme be introduced for young people above the age of eighteen years, with an initial focus on eighteen to twenty-one year olds.

I am advised that there is ongoing engagement between the Irish Youth Justice Service and An Garda Síochána, with a view to scoping out the implications of introducing an extended Diversion Programme. Part of this work involves an analysis of the nature and scale of offending by persons in that age cohort. The outcome of the reviews of the existing programme, to which I have referred, will also be considered in this regard.

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 is made of these resources.

The Deputy may wish to be aware that on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, at the request of the Policing Authority, is carrying out a review of the dispersal and use of resources available to An Garda Síochána in the delivery of policing services to local communities. The Authority has informed the Inspectorate that the review should take account of:

- the changing environments in rural, developing urban and suburban areas;

- the views of local communities;

- the allocation to and deployment of Garda resources at the local policing level, including the use of the Garda Reserve, Garda facilities and Garda equipment; and

- relevant recommendations made in previous Inspectorate reports.

The review will be comprehensive including a consultative process with local communities. It is the view of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate that the review should be completed within the first half of 2018.

There is also currently an extensive programme of reform underway affecting all aspects of the administration and operation of An Garda Síochána. As part of its Five Year Reform and High-level Workforce Plan for An Garda Síochána, the Government has agreed an overall vision for a Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 to include 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. This very substantial investment in personnel is driven by our commitment to ensure all citizens have the reassurance of a visible, responsive and effective policing service.

The projected number of 4,000 civilians will effectively double the current figure and represents a medium-term target of a Garda organisation 20% comprised of 20% civilians. That will bring An Garda Síochána, currently 14% comprising civilians, more in line with international norms and ensure that trained Gardaí are not engaging in administrative and technical duties which could be done by suitably qualified civilian staff.

The 20% target will be achieved through a twin-track approach of, firstly, a “civilian by default” policy to be adopted in relation to the filling of all new posts other than operational policing posts and for non-operational policing posts that become vacant and, secondly, the redeployment of Gardaí and backfilling by suitably qualified civilians where necessary. The Garda Inspectorate has estimated that approximately 1,500 Gardaí may be suitable for re-deployment and the Government’s plan aims to return as many of these Gardaí as possible to front-line duties over the next five years. Work is in train on the development of a redeployment plan with the first batch of 43 Gardaí to be redeployed already identified with a further 120 in the process of being identified.

Funding for the recruitment of up to 500 civilians was provided in Budget 2017 to facilitate the Commissioner in addressing capacity and critical skills gaps across the organisation including in corporate supports, change management, human resources and financial management at the national, regional and Divisional level. These appointments are intended to facilitate deeper civilianisation in the coming years. In addition, Budget 2018 will facilitate the recruitment of an additional 500 civilians next year to continue to support the civilianisation agenda.

I am confident that the reform plan, including greater civilianisation that is being pursued by An Garda Síochána, supported by the Government and overseen by the Policing Authority, has the capacity to deliver a first class, modern policing service for the 21st Century.  It will not be done overnight but as I have made clear, the implementation of the ambitious reform programme, including civilianisation, must continue and, indeed, must move at a greater pace, to ensure the best possible policing services to the people of Ireland.

All persons granted refugee status in Ireland have the right to work on the same basis as Irish nationals.  Under Section 16(3)(b) of the International Protection Act, 2015, an applicant for international protection (asylum seeker/applicant for subsidiary protection) is prohibited from accessing or seeking to access the labour market while their application is being determined.

On 30 May last, the Supreme Court judgment in the case of N.V.H. v. The Minister for Justice and Equality found that in an international protection system with no temporal limits as to when the application process will be concluded, an absolute prohibition on the right to work for international protection applicants is contrary to the right to seek employment under the Constitution.  The Court recognised that this is a matter for the Executive and Legislature to consider and accordingly adjourned consideration of the Order the Court should make for a period of six months.

Following the approval of Government, I established an Inter-Departmental Taskforce in July to examine the wide-ranging implications of the judgment, and to consider appropriate solutions.  The Taskforce was comprised of representatives from nine Government Department, along with the Office of the Attorney General. 

On 21 November 2017, the Government approved the recommendations of the Taskforce, including the key recommendation that the State should respond to the judgment by opting-in to the EU (Recast) Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33/EU). 

This solution was presented to the Supreme Court on 30 November 2017.  The Court in making its Final Orders agreed to a stay on the execution of the Order until 9 February 2018. My officials are actively engaged in ensuring compliance with the Order.

My Department is also in the process of arranging for the Motions to be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Following the approval of both Houses, the opt-in procedure with the formal notifications to the European Council and the European Commission will commence. The European Commission then has four months from receipt of this letter to confirm our participation.  During these four months, the State will be required to demonstrate to the Commission how it is compliant with each Article in the Directive.

The EU Directive provides, inter-alia, that international protection applicants shall have access to the labour market no later than nine months from the date the application for international protection was lodged, if a first instance decision has not been taken and if the delay cannot be attributed to the applicant.

The Government has established an Implementation Group to oversee the opt-in procedure and the practical arrangements for facilitating access to the labour market for eligible applicants. The Group will be drawn from the membership of the Taskforce, supplemented by the participation of relevant operational areas in my own Department and in other Departments as required.

The terms of reference and membership of a scoping group to consider the availability of data and make recommendations on a study to identify the prevalence of sexual abuse and violence in Ireland today and emerging trends was considered by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy at a meeting on 16 November. Ms Dorothy Watson, Associate Research Professor, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and adjunct Professor of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin has accepted an invitation to Chair the Group. Professor Brendan Whelan, expert in survey methods and ex-Director of the ESRI has also accepted an invitation to join the group.  The following organisations have nominated a senior official to the group:

- Department of Health;

- Department of Children and Youth Affairs;

- Tusla; and the

- Central Statistics Office.

My Department will also be represented on the group.

A tender process is in train to secure the membership of two academics with appropriate expertise in qualitative and quantitative data gathering in respect of sexual abuse and violence.

The group will consult with key external groups and organisations as appropriate.

Once the final membership of the group is available its membership and terms of reference will be published.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Cork West Division on 31 October 2017 was 291 of whom 4 are Community Gardaí. There are also 10 Garda Reserves and 24 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 15 of whom have been assigned to the Cork West Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Cork West Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE CORK WEST DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Donegal Division on 31 October 2017 was 384 of whom 2 are Community Gardaí. There are also 18 Garda Reserves and 33 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 24 of whom have been assigned to the Donegal Division. I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 will maintain this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018 .

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Donegal Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE DONEGAL DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

The Deputy may wish to be aware that, in recent years, the number of serving County Registrars has been reduced as a result of re-organisation and the introduction of efficiency measures by the Courts Service.  Specifically, the reduction has been made possible by reorganising the work of the courts including the establishment of multi-jurisdictional combined court offices which encompassed the transfer of management functions previously exercised by County Registrars to Courts Service management personnel.

The Courts Service has informed me that since December 2009, August 2014 and July 2013 respectively the functions of County Registrar in the counties referenced are being fulfilled as follows:  

County Sligo is covered by the County Registrar for Donegal;

County Roscommon is covered by the County Registrar for Mayo; and

County Leitrim is covered by the County Registrar for Cavan.

The Courts Service has confirmed that the County Registrar for Donegal is not assigned to provide County Registrar functions in counties Roscommon and Leitrim and that there are no plans to do so. Additional assistance is provided for the discharge of County Registrar duties in Sligo by the assignment of other County Registrars (other than Donegal) to the county as and when required.

The Courts Service is satisfied that these arrangements are operating satisfactorily and currently there is no requirement and no proposal to recommend the appointment of a full-time County Registrar to the counties of Sligo, Roscommon or Leitrim or any combination thereof.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Sligo/Leitrim Division on 31 October 2017 was 299 of whom 7 are Community Gardaí. There are also 18 Garda Reserves and 29 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 13 of whom have been assigned to the Sligo/Leitrim Division.   I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Sligo/Leitrim Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE SLIGO/LEITRIM DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commission.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Westmeath Division on 31 October 2017 was 266 of whom 10 are Community Gardaí. There are also 13 Garda Reserves and 24 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 27 of whom have been assigned to the Westmeath Division.  I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - an net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach 14,000 by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Westmeath Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE WESTMEATH DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017  

I have not contacted the DPP or An Garda Síochána in relation to this matter, and I am not aware of my predecessors having done so.

I am informed that on 12 February 2015 officials of my Department requested a report on the Jobstown protest on foot of a parliamentary question submitted by Deputy Ruth Coppinger.  On 19 February 2015 a response was returned by An Garda Síochána via email and it contained factual information as to the event, the numbers of persons arrested and the offences for which arrests were made.  The report informed the reply to Deputy Coppinger's Question No. 21 of that same date which made clear that the investigation of the offences was a matter for the Garda authorities and that any charges would be a matter for the DPP, who acts independently in accordance with law.

Following the completion of the proceedings and media report that An Garda Síochána were reviewing the matter, on 7 July 2017 officials of my Department emailed An Garda Síochána requesting a report for the Minister in relation to the Jobstown investigation and trial.   

On 26 July 2017 An Garda Síochána submitted the report via email to the then Secretary General of my Department.  The Report included an account of what happened on the day of the protest, a summary of the subsequent investigation and court proceedings and an outline of plans to review the policing of the protest.

There were also communications between my Department and the DPP in respect of technical legal aid payment matters that would arise in any such case, but this was not at a senior official level.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Louth Division on 31 October 2017 was 312 of whom 12 are Community Gardaí. There are also 26 Garda Reserves and 26 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 53 of whom have been assigned to the Louth Division.   I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Louth Division, in the coming years.

STRENGTH OF THE LOUTH DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 116 together.

On 26 September 2017, the Government decided on an indicative timetable for a number of referendums to be held in 2018 and 2019.  Under this timetable, and subject to passage of the necessary Bills by the Houses of the Oireachtas and formal confirmation of the polling date, it is proposed to hold referendums in October 2018 on the offence of blasphemy (Article 40.6.1) and on a woman's life within the home (Article 41.2).  These referendums were the subject of recommendations made by the Convention on the Constitution and are included in the Programme for a Partnership Government.

I received a request from the Committee in question for a meeting on 11 October 2017.  As the independent assessment process was ongoing at that time, it was not appropriate for me to meet the Committee at that stage.

The Judge’s assessment report was formally submitted to my Department on 17 October 2017. The report was considered by my Department and was sent to the Office of the Attorney General for advices. I brought the report to the Cabinet meeting on 7 November 2017, following receipt of those advices. The report was accepted by the Government and furnished to the Committee immediately afterwards. I published the report later on 7 November and also laid the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas on the same date, given that the assessment process was initiated on foot of a Dáil Motion in January. 

Having carefully considered the two previous independent reports on the tragedy and considered all material made available to him, the Judge concluded that no further new enquiry is warranted.

The incident in question was undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedies in the history of this country and the Government established this independent assessment process to ensure that all available relevant evidence, including any new material that may have come to light, could be assessed as a matter of urgency. I acknowledge the terrible pain and loss of the relatives of the victims and the fact that the report does not come to the conclusion that they would have wished for.

As the independent assessment process is now complete, I am now in a position to meet the Committee and my Department has proposed a meeting with them later this month. It is not envisaged that the Taoiseach will be in attendance.

The Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities was launched in October 2015. The Strategy sets out a ten-year approach to ensuring that people with disabilities who are able to, and want to, work are supported and enabled to do so. It is a cross-government approach that brings together actions by different Departments and state agencies in a concerted effort to address the barriers and challenges that impact on employment of people with disabilities. In tandem with that, it seeks to ensure there will be joined-up services and supports at local level to support individuals on their journey into and in employment.

The Strategy's six strategic priorities are:

- Build skills, capacity and independence

- Provide bridges and supports into work

- Make work pay

- Promote job retention and re-entry to work

- Provide coordinated and seamless support and

- Engage employers

The Strategy is overseen by an implementation group, which was established under the independent chairmanship of Fergus Finlay. This group is tasked with monitoring the progress of the above six strategic priorities, ensuring that each Government Department is fulfilling its obligations and meeting its targets.

The Strategy contains commitments in relation to:

- An increase in the public service employment target of people with disabilities on a phased basis from 3% to 6%.

- Special public service competitions for people with disabilities and the opening up of alternative recruitment channels for people with disabilities.

- The provision of an NDA-assisted employer helpline to provide expert guidance and peer support to employers in relation to the employment of staff with disabilities. (This was established in January 2016). The Strategy will be reviewed and renewed every three years.

The Chair's first annual report is available here:

http://justice.ie/en/JELR/Report_of_the_Chair_of_the_Comprehensive_Employment_Strategy_Implementation_Group-2016.pdf/Files/Report_of_the_Chair_of_the_Comprehensive_Employment_Strategy_Implementation_Group-2016.pdf

The first few years of the Strategy are necessarily a foundation phase, and accordingly, it was never seen as likely that any significant increase in the employment of people with disabilities would be recorded at this early stage of implementation. Rather the intention has been to ensure that the barriers to employment are broken down systematically, and that necessary supports are put in place across the range of public services that affect the lives of people with disabilities.

Unfortunately the Department does not have statistics with regard to the number of people who have gained employment directly as a result of the Strategy as such employment tends to be spread over a range of areas.

The Deputy will appreciate that the programme of replacement and refurbishment of Garda accommodation is progressed by the Garda authorities working in close cooperation with the Office of Public Works (OPW), which has responsibility for the provision and maintenance of Garda accommodation. This includes identifying and progressing any necessary remedial or refurbishment works required at individual stations. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Building and Refurbishment Programme 2016-2021, which is an ambitious 5 year Programme based on agreed Garda priorities continues to benefit over thirty locations around the country. The Programme includes over €60million of Exchequer funding as well as a major Public Private Partnership (PPP) project which will deliver stations at Macroom, as well as at Sligo and Clonmel. With regard to the development of a new District Headquarters station at Macroom, the OPW has acquired a site for the station's development.

Acquisition by the OPW of sites for the proposed Sligo and Clonmel stations is well advanced and, once completed, the development of the PPP bundle will be progressed under the auspices of the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) and will involve collaboration between the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána and the OPW.

I have asked my Department to examine what material is held on file that may be relevant to the Deputy’s request with a view to identifying material that might be provided to him and I will revert directly to him in this regard.

As has been explained previously to the Deputy, Operation Mizen was established by An Garda Síochána as a national co-ordination office to support the policing response to maintain public order and to ensure the safety of all involved in the protests against water charges.  Contrary to assertions made previously by the Deputy, Operation Mizen was not a surveillance programme operated by An Garda Síochána.

One aspect of the Garda Authorities' approach in this context was to make use of open source information, that is to say, information available publicly to anyone, anywhere from the internet and social media platforms.

The Garda Station Building and Refurbishment Programme 2016-2021, which is an ambitious 5 year Programme that will benefit over thirty locations around the country, includes over €60million of Exchequer funding as part of the Capital Plan as well as a major Public Private Partnership project. Under the Programme, a new Garda station is to be provided in Sligo, together with stations in Macroom and Clonmel, by means of Public Private Partnership. 

In order to secure a suitable site for the Sligo development, the Office of Public Works placed advertisements in local and national newspapers in January 2017 seeking expressions of interest from property owners or developers with returns received in February 2017. The Office of Public Works, together with Local Garda Management, reviewed the submitted proposals in early April 2017 and a number of suitable sites have been identified as possible options for the development.

In this context, the Office of Public Works is now actively progressing the acquisition of a site and it is understood that the aim is to reach agreement on the purchase of a suitable site shortly.

Until however, the site acquisition is completed it is not possible to provide exact timelines around construction of the new station.

Pending the development of the new station, local Garda management and the Office of Public Works have been working closely to develop proposals to improve the accommodation situation in the existing station. This includes exploring options for the relocation of certain functions outside the station and reconfiguring the premises to meet the needs of front line operational personnel and to address space or health and safety concerns. Other short-term measures have been taken to address and improve the accommodation situation at the station; for example, works to fully refurbish the toilets above the public office were completed in late July 2016 and a new industrial-standard kitchen facility has been installed.

The Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) was established by Government Decision on 10 September 2015 as a direct response to the humanitarian crisis that developed in Southern Europe as a consequence of mass migration from areas of conflict in the Middle East and Africa.  Under this programme, the Government has pledged to accept a total of 4,000 persons into the State.  Of these, 2,622 were by means of the EU relocation mechanism established by two EU Council Decisions in 2015 to assist Italy and Greece.  A further 1,040 were to be sourced under the UNHCR-led refugee resettlement programme currently focussed on resettling refugees from Lebanon, and the balance through a variety of mechanisms.  It should be noted that Ireland voluntarily opted into the two EU Council Decisions on Relocation (2015/1523) and (2015/1601), which provided for the relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece.

Under the resettlement strand of the Programme, 357 persons arrived in Ireland during 2016.  Taken together with the previous year's intake, Ireland had taken in 519 of its original commitment of 520 by the end of 2016, a year ahead of schedule.  Last year, the Government doubled its commitment under resettlement to 1,040 and the total to have arrived from Lebanon under refugee resettlement now stands at 785.  I recently announced that Ireland will take in a further 345 refugees in 2018, bringing the total to 1,385.  These additional commitments can be made because relocation will not deliver the numbers that the Commission envisioned.

Ireland committed to accept 2,622 asylum seekers under the relocation strand of the programme. This total is composed of 1,089 people from Greece, 623 people from Italy and 910 people as yet unallocated.

Ireland will meet in full its commitment to Greece.  693 of the allocation of 1,089 are already in the State, with a further 62 persons scheduled for arrival in December 2017.  By early 2018, it is expected that Ireland will have relocated its entire cohort from Greece (1,089), subject of course to the Greek authorities submitting the small number of remaining case files to Ireland and the ability of local authorities to find homes in communities around Ireland.

Italy, unlike Greece, did not permit security assessments to be undertaken by other States on its territory. Accordingly, Ireland has been unable to undertake security assessments in Italy of the asylum seeker cohort eligible for relocation to Ireland.  It has therefore not been possible for Ireland to take asylum seekers from Italy despite the most intensive efforts by Ireland to resolve the impasse, both bilaterally with Italian counterparts at official, diplomatic and Ministerial level, and at EU level.

In terms of the unallocated portion contained in the two EU Council Decisions referred to above, which in the case of Ireland amounts to  910 persons,  Ireland could not access this component because no decision was ever taken at EU level to allocate these numbers as between Greece and Italy.  In fact, by the end of the two-year EU Relocation Programme in September 2017, just 37,000 asylum seekers were eligible and registered for relocation in Italy and Greece out of an total of 160,000 comprehended in the two Council Decisions, of which 78% (approximately 29,000) had been relocated to other EU Member States including Ireland. It should be noted that proportionally Ireland has taken one of the highest numbers under the EU Relocation Programme. Once the final transfers from Greece take place early next year, Ireland will have relocated more than 3% of the EU’s total figure. This represents a strong commitment by Ireland to EU solidarity, given that we represent less than 1% of the total population of the EU. 

Ireland has worked to give effect to the EU relocation Decisions and will fill any gaps arising from the relocation instruments using other mechanisms such as pledges for resettlement of programme refugees.  

With regard to the integration and welfare of refugees in the Programme, following their arrival in Ireland, they are for a time accommodated in an Emergency Reception and Orientation Centre (EROC).  As the name suggests, an EROC is largely about reception and orientation for those who are to be subsequently settled around the country. IRPP staff hold regular clinics in the EROCs, often at weekly intervals, at which individuals and families may discuss their needs and requirements.

Some of the key features of supports provided to persons under the Programme include:

- IRPP staff and interpreters, along with representatives of the Irish Red Cross,  meet families and individuals upon arrival at Dublin Airport and accompany them to their accommodation in the Emergency Reception and Orientation Centre.

- During the days following arrival in Ireland the asylum seekers are registered with the Department of Social Protection for a public services card and receive an exceptional needs payment (ENP).

- IRPP officials provide assistance to ensure that families and individuals receive a medical card.

- IRPP liaise with the local Education and Training Board in each catchment area to ensure that groups receive a Language Training and Cultural Orientation programme.

- Local Service Providers, volunteers and NGOs visit the Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres to provide services and information and to support and befriend the asylum seekers/refugees.

- A GP is assigned to the individuals and families to ensure that that their immediate medical needs are met, including referral to dental and optical services.

- Free Childcare is provided wherever possible to allow the adults to attend the Language and Orientation programme in their EROC.

- Education provision is made for school age children by the Department of Education and Skills.

- Emergency medical matters are followed up while resident in the EROCs.

- Once the asylum seekers receive refugee status and when housing is made available with the support of the Local Authority, the refugees are resettled in the community. Upon the first movement of a family to a local community, IRPP support workers remain in the area for a number of days to help the family settle in and to manage the necessary introductions to various service providers. Every local authority in which a resettlement takes place also appoints an “implementing partner” which is funded by the IRPP and the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). Under this arrangement, each family has the support of a full-time Resettlement Support Worker and an Intercultural Support Worker to assist with the transition. Local authorities also receive funding to provide for exceptional needs such as counselling,  transport and other supports.

Increasingly, the Programme is focusing on initiatives which assist with labour market activation for refugees and is working with the Irish Red Cross and other bodies to facilitate access to employment. Various initiatives are also developing in the educational sphere.

The current model of integration and support under the Programme is one which will evolve and develop over the coming months and years with a view to offering refugees increasing opportunities to enhance their own lives.  However, I am very supportive of initiatives such as community sponsorship to support the long-term integration process and my officials are actively working with various NGO groups with the intention of implementing such a programme in 2018.  Such a programme has already been highly successful in Canada.

With regard to integration more generally, the Migrant Integration Strategy which was published on 7 February 2017 sets out the Government’s approach to the issue of migrant integration for the period from 2017 to 2020.  It envisages a whole-of-Government approach involving actions by all Departments.  It is targeted at all migrants, including refugees, who are legally residing in the State. 

The Strategy sets as its vision that migrants are facilitated to play a full role in Irish society, that integration is a core principle of Irish life and that Irish society and institutions work together to promote integration.  Integration is understood to be a two-way process that involves action by migrants as well as by Irish society.

The Strategy contains 76 actions under a variety of themes including citizenship and residency, access to public services and social inclusion, education, employment and pathways to work, health, integration in the community, political participation, promoting intercultural awareness and combating racism and xenophobia, volunteering and sport.

It is intended that the actions will be delivered by Government Departments, local authorities, public bodies, local communities, the business sector, sporting and arts organisations and NGOs.

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 is made of these resources.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on the 31 October 2017 the latest date for which figures are readily available the strength of the Dublin Metropolitan Region West Division was 665, 64 of whom were Community Gardaí. There are also 26 Garda Reserves and 50 civilians attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, the Armed Support Units and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  The substantial increase in Garda numbers is tangible progress on achieving this Government’s vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. 

I am  informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 119 of whom have been assigned to the D.M.R. West Division.  In addition, another 200 trainee Garda are scheduled to attest this Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - an increase of 500 since the end of 2016.  

I am pleased to say that Budget 2018 will support the continuation of this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College, an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the D.M.R. West Division, in the coming years.

I am informed by the Commissioner that the Garda strength and the Community Garda Strength of the D.M.R. West Division by rank, in each of the years 2009 to 2016 and up to 31 October 2017, the latest date for which figures are available from An Garda Síochána is as set out in the following links.

Table 1

Table 2

As the Deputy is aware, the High Court has jurisdiction in wards of court matters and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998. 

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the Office of the Wards of Court, which is supervised by the Registrar of Wards of Court, manages the day to day administration of wardship matters, including the maintenance of court files, the oversight of all cases pre-wardship and ensuring that the directions of the President of the High Court are carried out. 

The Courts Service has further informed me that the wards of court system is operating effectively. However, as the Deputy may be aware, the legislation governing persons who are wards of court dates back to 1871 and it has been recognised for some time that reforms were needed to update the law in this area. Therefore the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 has been introduced to provide a modern statutory framework to support decision-making by adults with capacity difficulties. 

Part 6 of the 2015 Act provides that adults currently in wardship will transition to the new decision-making support arrangements provided for in the Act on a phased basis over 3 years from the commencement of Part 6 of the Act. Once Part 6 is operational, each ward will be reviewed by the wardship court in accordance with the new system. A ward who is found to have capacity will be discharged from wardship. A ward who continues to have capacity needs will be discharged from wardship and offered the decision-making support option most appropriate to his or her needs. 

The specific decision making supports available under the Act to adults with capacity difficulties will be decision-making assistants, co-decision-makers and decision-making representatives, all of whom will be supervised by the Director of the Decision Support Service.

I should say at the outset that the distribution of Garda personnel is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the Commissioner's responsibility for the distribution of Gardaí, I have provided for the record a breakdown, in tabular form, of the detailed information requested by the Deputy as of 31 October 2017, the latest date for which information is readily available.

The Garda strength of the Kerry Division on 31 October 2017 was 313 of whom 8 are Community Gardaí. There are also 20 Garda Reserves and 37 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime.  To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 21 of whom have been assigned to the Kerry Division.  I look forward to attending the graduation of another 200 trainee Garda on Friday which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to around the 13,500 mark by year end - a net increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased to say that Budget 2018 maintains this high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. A further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties.  There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána.  We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Garda Division, including the Kerry Division, in the coming year.

STRENGTH OF THE KERRY DIVISION 31 OCTOBER 2017

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the recruitment and training of the Garda Reserve and the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.

I am advised by the Commissioner that the strength of the Reserve on the 31 January 2017 was 690 as compared to 603 on the 31 October 2017. It is regrettable that there has been a substantial reduction in the strength of the Reserve in recent years from a peak of 1,164 in 2013. The fall-off arises from a range of factors, not least the lifting in 2014 of the moratorium on recruitment of trainee Gardaí which has affected Reserve numbers in two ways - firstly some serving Reserves have successfully applied to become trainee Gardaí, and secondly, resources in both An Garda Síochána and in the Public Appointment Service have been focused on delivering an accelerated programme of recruitment of full time members of An Garda Síochána.

I am sure that the Deputy will agree, notwithstanding the very valuable contribution of Reserve members throughout the country, that it was the right decision, with finite resources, to prioritise the running of recruitment campaigns to replenish the full-time ranks of An Garda Síochána over the last three years.

The "Programme for a Partnership Government" includes a commitment to double the Garda Reserve to act in a supportive role undertaking local patrols and crime reduction measures. In line with this the Government has in place a plan to achieve a Reserve strength of 2,000 by 2021. I am pleased that Budget 2018 will facilitate the strengthening of the Reserve next year with new Reserves expected to commence training early in 2018 following the undertaking of a recruitment campaign earlier this year.

In conjunction with the major expansion of the Reserve over the next number of years we must ensure that it is used to optimum effect to support effective policing. To inform future decisions around the use of the Reserve An Garda Síochána is conducting a strategic review as a matter of priority with a view to completion before the end of this year. As a first step the Garda Executive has taken a decision to transfer the management of the Reserve from the Human Resource and People Development Directorate to the Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Community Engagement. This is intended to ensure that its development and deployment is viewed more broadly through a community policing lens. This is a very welcome step as it is my strong view that the greatest dividend to be gained from the Reserve is in terms of a visible presence on the ground engaging with local communities.

The review will take cognisance of the changed environment in which the expanded Reserve will operate as the major reform programme that is underway is implemented. These reforms include the drive towards a medium term target of 20% civilians by 2021 to boost the management capacity of the organisation and to free up Gardaí to front-line policing duties, and also the phased implementation of the Divisional model of policing to enable resources to be deployed more efficiently to prevent and detect crime.

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that persons seeking permission to remain in the State may do so for a number of reasons to various Divisions of the INIS under both statutory and non-statutory provisions.  As a result, as the Deputy would expect, every case is considered on its own merits in conjunction with the legislation, criteria or guidelines which are directly applicable to the individual case type. 

The issues raised in the court case referred to by the Deputy, which is currently before the Supreme Court, has the potential to generate further sets of legal proceedings and, as such, the INIS deemed it prudent to postpone decision making in certain immigration cases until the matters before the Courts have been finalised.

It is not possible to quantify the precise numbers of such cases as to do so would require the deployment of a disproportionate level of limited resources to the task. However, the Deputy may wish to be aware that the case referred to was heard before the Supreme Court last Thursday (30th November, 2017) and is due to return to that Court early in the new year.

The information requested by the Deputy is available for the years 2006 to 2015. The information for 2006 and 2007 is on a different basis to the data from 2008 onwards, due to the application by the CSO of an updated definition of what constitutes an Active Enterprise, in line with EU definitions. This means that the data for 2006 and 2007 are not directly comparable with the results for 2008 and subsequent years. Further information on this discontinuity has been published on the CSO website at:

http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/methods/businessdemography/Businessdemoginformationnotice.pdf.

The following two tables show the number of enterprises and persons engaged classified by size of enterprise. Table 1 is for the years 2006 and 2007. Table 2 is for the years 2008 to 2015.

Table 1: Number of active enterprises and persons engaged by size class, 2006-2007

Table 2: Number of active enterprises and persons engaged by size class, 2008-2015

(Table cont)

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is established by Section 8 of the Statistics Act 1993 and is an independent office under the aegis of the Taoiseach. The Office operates under the terms of the Statistics Act and EU Regulation 223/2009 on European Statistics. Both the national and EU statistical legislation specify that the Director General is independent in relation to professional statistical matters. This is a core principle of official statistics which is specified in the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and in the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Under the Statistics Act, the Director General of the CSO is appointed by the President and is a corporation sole. The Statistics Act also prescribes the interaction between the CSO and the Taoiseach in relation to administrative matters. The Taoiseach has no role in the production of statistics, statistical methodology, the content of releases, or the timing and method of dissemination of statistics.

The CSO takes a number of additional steps to ensure public trust in statistics. In line with the European Statistics Code of Practice the Office publishes an advance calendar of releases for the year ahead and a more detailed weekly release schedule. Releases are published at the same time each day, 11.00 am, and pre-release access is strictly controlled in an open and transparent manner. Each individual who has pre-release access is named on the CSO website and they normally only receive the release one hour ahead of the specified release time .

The Taoiseach is the appropriate authority regarding staffing matters for certain grades in accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956, and the Civil Service Regulations Acts 1956 and 1958.

The CSO’s budget is approved as part of the Taoiseach’s Vote Group. This group also includes the Department of the Taoiseach, the President’s Establishment, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Chief State Solicitor’s Office.

Section 25 of the Statistics Act empowers the Taoiseach to prescribe by order statistical surveys that persons or businesses must complete.

In practice the above responsibilities have been delegated to the Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach. S.I. No. 298 of 2017 delegates these responsibilities to Minister of State McHugh.

The National Statistics Board provides strategic direction to the CSO. The Board members are appointed by the Taoiseach under Section 18 of the Statistics Act. Under the Act, the Board’s membership includes a senior official from the Department of the Taoiseach.

The European Council will meet in Brussels on 14 and 15 December.

The draft agenda for the main meeting consists of security and defence - including Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - and social, educational and cultural matters - where we expect a report on the recent Gothenburg Social Summit, and the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Foreign policy issues might also be raised.

President Tusk will also chair further discussions on the Future of Europe as part of his 'Leaders' Agenda'.The first discussion, on education and culture, took place in Gothenburg where we discussed how to deepen cooperation in these areas, while respecting the limits of the Union's competence. Next week we will discuss migration.

In addition, we will discuss the future of Economic and Monetary Union in a meeting of the Euro Summit in an inclusive format, with all 27 remaining Member States represented.

Ireland is very supportive of President Tusk's efforts to drive forward the debate on the Future of Europe, and I look forward to a constructive exchange of views.

The European Council will also meet in Article 50 format, on 15 December, to consider progress in the Brexit negotiations, including whether sufficient progress has been achieved to move to the second phase of the negotiations, in which the framework of the future relationship between the EU and the UK will be considered along with possible transitional arrangements.

My Department has provided no funding to the groups in question.

I met President Tusk in Dublin on Friday 1 December, when we discussed progress on the Brexit negotiations. I reiterated the need to ensure sufficient progress on the Irish-specific issues - maintaining the Common Travel Area, protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, and avoiding a hard border - before moving to phase two of the negotiations. I noted that shared membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union has been key to facilitating the invisible border and that, as the UK says it intends to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union, we need firm commitments from them that a hard border will be avoided, recognising the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland.

As was made clear in his public remarks after the meeting, President Tusk was unequivocal in his support for Ireland and the need to ensure that there will be no hard border on the island. I took the opportunity at the meeting to thank President Tusk sincerely for his strong and unwavering solidarity since the very beginning of the process. I also outlined my support for his work in progressing the debate on the Future of Europe under the Leaders' Agenda.

I have spoken with both President Tusk and President Juncker by phone on a number of occasions over the past week. I met informally with my EU counterparts in the margins of the Social Summit in Gothenburg in November, and the European Council in Brussels in October. Separately I met with the leaders of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in advance of the October meeting. I also had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister May in Gothenburg in November, further to earlier such meetings in September and June.

Ongoing political engagement with our EU and international partners remains crucial, especially as negotiations on Brexit proceed. I will continue to take advantage of every opportunity to advance Ireland's interests with my fellow members of the European Council. With this in mind I am due to meet Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands on Wednesday, 6th December, in Government Buildings.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together.

From the beginning of this year to 29 November, my Department received 325 requests under the Freedom of Information Act of which 50 were fully granted, 117 were partially granted, 87 were refused (including 60 where no records were held), 8 were transferred to other public bodies, 10 were withdrawn and 5 were handled outside of FOI. 48 requests are currently ongoing and replies will issue in due course.

A total of 160 requests were completed within four weeks of receipt. Replies issued outside the normal four week deadline in the remaining 117 requests for a variety of reasons. Some cases involved a large number of records, third party consultation was necessary in some cases and in some instances the deadline was extended by short periods by agreement with the requesters. My Department is committed to meeting its obligations under the FOI Act 2014, including responding to FOI requests within the specified timeframes, and makes every effort to ensure that the level of late replies is kept to the minimum.

Under the Fresh Start Agreement concluded in 2015 between the British and Irish Governments and the main political parties in the North, the Irish Government reaffirmed its existing commitment to providing funding of £50 million for the A5 Western Transport Corridor serving the North West and also committed an additional £25m to the project.

A Senior Officials Group was subsequently established to monitor progress in taking forward the range of infrastructure commitments contained in Fresh Start including the A5 Western Transport Corridor. This group is co-chaired by senior officials from the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland and the Department of the Taoiseach. This group meets on a regular basis throughout the year; it has met 7 times in total with its last meeting on 7 November 2017.

On 28 November 2017, the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland announced the decision to proceed with the A5 Western Transport Corridor scheme and it is currently finalising preparations to enable work to start in 2018.

As part of the work of the Senior Officials Group, the Department of the Taoiseach has been in contact at official level with key stakeholders in the A5 project including the Department of Infrastructure Northern Ireland, Derry City and Strabane District Council and other UK Government Officials. These contacts have referenced phase 1 of the project in recent weeks once it became clear that a start date was envisaged in 2018. A final decision in respect of the A5 alignment is a matter for the Northern Ireland authorities.

I attended the General Affairs Council (Article 50) on Monday 20 November, at which the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, provided an update to the EU27 Member States on the state of play with regard to the EU-UK negotiations.

This provided an important opportunity to take stock of progress in light of the forthcoming decision by the European Council in December on whether or not sufficient progress has been made on the exit issues in order to enable discussions on the framework for a future EU-UK relationship and transitional arrangements to begin.

In this regard, Mr Barnier reported that, while some progress was made in the latest round of negotiations on 9-10 November, there is a lot of work remaining in order to achieve sufficient progress across all of the exit issues - citizens’ rights, the UK’s financial settlement and the issues unique to Ireland.

I will meet collectively again with all my EU27 counterparts at the General Affairs Council (Article 50) on Tuesday 12 December, shortly before the European Council on 14-15 December.

In the meantime, I have been undertaking an intensive round of bilateral contacts with my EU counterparts, to reaffirm the importance of making sufficient progress across all three exit issues, including the Irish-specific issues. I met with Michel Barnier again in Brussels on 24 November and also met with my counterparts from Poland, Hungary and Spain on the same day, in the margins of the Eastern Partnership Summit. I have spoken to a number of my counterparts by telephone over the past week, including with my colleagues from Germany, Luxembourg and Slovakia, and will continue to do so in the coming days. I also joined the Taoiseach in his meeting with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, in Dublin on Friday 1 December.

During all of these contacts, I have been underlining that the negotiations have reached the point where firm, explicit commitments are required from the UK, which will need to be reflected in the Withdrawal Agreement. The achievement of sufficient progress does not mean that all issues need to be definitively settled and the detail worked out. But what is essential is that the path to the final outcome is mapped out.

This includes protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts, and the gains of the peace process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. In this regard, I have recalled that Ireland continues to believe that the optimal solution would be for the UK to remain in the Customs Union and the Single Market. But this is ultimately a decision for the UK Government to make. If the UK continues to rule out this option, the solutions that it offers must be concrete and workable. This should include an acceptance by the UK that the risks posed by the emergence on the island of Ireland of regulatory divergence from the rules of the Internal Market and the Customs Union must be avoided.

I have also taken the opportunity to express Ireland’s strong support for the work of Michel Barnier and his team and to acknowledge the continuing solidarity and support we are enjoying from our EU partners in relation to the Irish specific issues, which has been further reaffirmed in all of my meetings and contacts with partners over recent days and weeks.

I have also been stressing Ireland’s commitment to continue working closely with the Commission Task Force to advance these issues and our hope that, with hard work and political will, the European Council will be able to take a positive decision next month.

The Department is responsible for two votes - Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation). The Department administers a number of funding schemes including under Ireland's official overseas development programme, Irish Aid. Between 2016 and 2017, Irish Aid provided €240,000 from its Civil Society Fund to the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) for a project to provide sexual reproductive health services (i.e. contraception, HIV and STI tests and counselling) and training in Bolivia through IFPA’s local partner. The focus of the project is on migrant youth in the cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz who are at risk of falling into a cycle of urban destitution in slum areas. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is also due to receive a grant of €10,000 from the Civil Society Fund in 2017 to improve the labour protection legal environment and ensure that the market based economic reforms of the government of Myanmar are inclusive and benefit workers by creating decent jobs.

Amnesty Ireland received an Irish Aid Development Education grant of €40,000 in 2016 for a project to build the capacity of primary school teachers to identify human rights and global justice issues (such as migration, homelessness, hunger and poverty) through the new primary school literacy programme.

The Department's Emigrant Support Programme supports Irish communities overseas by funding non-profit organisations and projects. From time to time funding is granted to an organisation based in Ireland for projects overseas to foster more strategic links with the global Irish and to support frontline welfare services. Since 2015, my Department has contributed to the printing and distribution of the J1 Visa Guide by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). The guide was written in conjunction with the Consular Division of my Department, and includes information on the Department's TravelWise App. It covers a range of topics including carrying ID and passport safety, anti-social behaviour and mental health. The Guide aims to support and empower Irish third-level students with relevant information while overseas.

The Reconciliation Fund administered by my Department awards funding to organisations and projects aimed at advancing peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, on a cross-border basis and between Ireland and Britain. In 2016 the Fund made a grant of €30,000 to the Northern Ireland branch of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). The grant supports ICTU's work with community groups and organisations to promote reconciliation and combat sectarianism in Northern Ireland.

The following table lists funding provided, or to be provided, in 2016 and 2017.

I am aware of certain technical issues that have arisen for Irish passport holders going through the ‘Rapid’ self-service system at Faro. Following inquiries, authorities at Faro Airport have confirmed to the Irish Embassy that Irish citizens are not required to go through separate passport control at Faro airport and that they can use EU queues like all other holders of EU passports.

As the Deputy may be aware, all passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008 which provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him/her. In order to meet this legal requirement, each person must demonstrate an entitlement to Irish citizenship before an Irish passport can be issued to them. As only limited details have been supplied about the UK citizen in question, it is not possible to provide specific guidance on their case. Nonetheless, we can still advise on the general rules and procedures that apply to cases such as these. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is governed by Irish law and in particular the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, as amended, under which and in general, Irish citizenship may be obtained by birth in Ireland to parents meeting specified requirements, by descent, or by naturalisation.

An individual born abroad is automatically an Irish citizen if one of their parents was an Irish citizen born in Ireland. There is an additional requirement of registration in the Foreign Births Register for a person born outside Ireland where his/her Irish citizen parent had also been born outside the island of Ireland. In such cases, Irish citizenship commences after inclusion on the FBR. Further details regarding the process can be consulted at: http://www.dfa.ie/passports-citizenship/citizenship/born-abroad/

Individuals who are unable to establish an entitlement to citizenship by descent may still be able to apply for citizenship through naturalisation. Naturalisation comes under the auspices of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service within the Department of Justice and Equality. Details of how to apply for citizenship through naturalisation can be found at: http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/citizenship

The Article 50 negotiations between the EU and the UK are proceeding on the basis of the phased approach set out in the European Council Guidelines of 29 April 2017. Ireland fully supports this approach, which foresees that discussions on the future EU-UK relationship, including trade, will get underway as soon as sufficient progress has been made on the EU’s key priorities under the withdrawal process – notably citizens’ rights, the UK’s financial settlement and the Irish specific issues. At its meeting on 20 October, the European Council welcomed the progress made in the EU-UK negotiations to date but agreed that further work was needed before it can agree that sufficient progress has be made on all of the exit issues. The European Council called for work in the negotiations to continue, and committed itself to reassessing progress at its next meeting in December. I very much hope that it will be able to make a positive assessment.

The October European Council also agreed to begin internal preparatory discussions on priorities for the future framework for the EU-UK future relationship, and for transitional arrangements. The aim of such discussions, which are now underway at official level, is to ensure that the EU is ready to begin phase 2 negotiations with the UK as soon has sufficient progress has been recorded. Ireland's approach to these discussions is being prepared through cross-Departmental coordination structures, chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This work is building upon the extensive cross-Government research, analysis and consultation with stakeholders that has already been undertaken, including as reflected in the comprehensive document “Ireland and the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union: The Government’ Approach” published on 2 May.

In this regard, the views and analyses of business representative groups such as the British Irish Chamber of Commerce will continue to be important as we further elaborate our position going forward. The British Irish Chamber of Commerce is the leading business group representing the interest of businesses with interests in Britain and Ireland, and is an important voice to be heard in the context of solutions to the unique challenges facing Ireland and Northern Ireland. As such, their contribution is always valuable and deserves thorough consideration.

The precise customs arrangements that will apply after Brexit will depend on the outcome of negotiations of the future relationship between the EU and the UK. Ireland’s overriding position is that a future EU-UK Free Trade Agreement should be comprehensive and ambitious and as wide as possible in its scope, while ensuring a level playing field and protecting the integrity of the Single Market. This is an outcome that I will be working hard to achieve with my EU27 counterparts.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 131 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table.

It is not possible in the time available to provide the number of requests for access to records which were decided within twenty working days or the number of requests for which the period of consideration was extended. When, due to the nature and/or number of relevant records, it is not reasonably possible to respond to a request for access within twenty working days the period of consideration is typically extended in consultation with the requester.

*Total requests received to 30 November 2017 includes requests under consideration; requests on hold awaiting supporting documentation; requests withdrawn; requests withdrawn and answered outside of the FOI Act and requests subsequently transferred to another FOI body for response.

EU High Representative Mogherini has invited Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel to meet with EU Foreign Ministers at a breakfast meeting on 11 December, taking advantage of the fact that many Foreign Ministers may have arrived for the Foreign Affairs Council which will follow later that day.

The Middle East Peace Process is a very important issue for the EU. Ireland supports efforts to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to the Middle East conflict, and this is a priority for me personally. I have met with the US Middle East team to encourage their work, and to underline what the EU sees as the key parameters for an agreement. I have also taken an active role on this issue in the Foreign Affairs Council, urging my colleagues to continue our work to help preserve and create the political and physical space in which the two state solution can be achieved. I visited the region earlier this year and met with representatives of both parties, and I hope to do so again in the coming months.

The possibility of inviting both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to Brussels for such discussions has been under consideration for some time. I understand that President Abbas’s availability to meet with EU Foreign Ministers at an early date is currently being explored.

This meeting will be an opportunity both to hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to underline to him key EU messages and concerns about the Middle East. Subject to other commitments, I would expect to attend.

Under the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act, 1938 as amended most recently by the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act, 2014, and the Electoral Act 1997 certain payments are made from the Central Fund to political parties. These are laid out below in tabular format. The payments are contingent on the request/approval of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in accordance with the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 2011.

Apart from these payments, no funding was provided from the Department of Finance to the organisations in question.

I am advised by Revenue that the matter of eligibility for the contributory or non-contributory State pension is determined by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) and not one in which Revenue has a direct involvement. However, I am advised by Revenue that eligibility for a State pension may be impacted where there is unpaid Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).

I have been informed by the Central Bank that in February 2015 a lending restriction review initiative was commenced, whereby credit unions subject to a lending restriction that are satisfied they have made the necessary improvements and have embedded these improvements in robust risk sensitive lending practices, could apply for a review of their lending restriction. The closing date for receipt of applications to review lending restrictions under this initiative was 30 September 2015. 

The individual credit union lending restrictions in place are reviewed on a regular basis to determine whether they are still set at appropriate levels. The Central Bank has advised me that 20% of active credit unions (55 in total) are currently operating under lending restrictions compared with 52% of active credit unions at the start of the review process. 10 of the 55 credit unions have a monthly maximum lending restriction and 53 of the 55 credit unions have a maximum individual loan size restriction.  In the majority of the relevant cases, the maximum individual loan size is in excess of €10,000 as detailed in the table below.

Lending restrictions in credit unions are a matter for the Registrar of Credit Unions at the Central Bank, who, as the independent regulator for credit unions, acts to support the prudential soundness of individual credit unions, to maintain sector stability and to protect the savings of credit union members.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that on foot of a compliance intervention undertaken by them following receipt of VAT 3 returns, it was established that an additional tax liability was due from the school concerned. In accordance with the provisions of The Code of Practice for Revenue Audit and other Compliance Interventions, interest of €2,613 was due in the case in addition to the additional tax and both tax and interest has been paid.

Revenue is satisfied that the non compliance in this instance arose from innocent error and on that basis a penalty in not being pursued.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that having regard to taxpayer confidentiality obligations under section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, I am unable to comment on the specific case referred to by the Deputy.

I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that having regard to taxpayer confidentiality obligations under section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, I am unable to comment on the specific case referred to by the Deputy.

I have been advised by the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) that it does not have a statutory role to prescribe the rates that mortgage lenders charge on their loans.

A healthy commercial banking system that is in a position to provide finance to customers and is resilient to economic and financial market shocks needs to be able to generate sustainable profits over the long term - for example, sufficient profit levels to absorb credit losses over the credit cycle while still generating capital.  In Ireland, the mis-pricing of risks in historical lending continues to be a significant contributor to weak profitability, as evidenced by the continued high level of non-performing loans, prevalence of very low yielding tracker mortgages, and low net interest margins.

Furthermore, the residential mortgage market comprises, inter alia, fixed interest rate, loan to value managed variable rate mortgages, trackers, restructured mortgages of various types, etc.  Therefore, the residential mortgage market cannot be assessed by only looking at standard variable rate mortgages, and any assessment would need to consider the large number of different factors that influence interest rate pricing.

The legacy issues, together with other input costs to variable rate mortgage pricing were outlined in a paper provided by the Central Bank to the Minister for Finance in May 2015.  These include higher costs from credit losses, higher funding costs, higher levels of capital resulting from regulatory changes, higher required capital per euro risk given the severe loss experience in the crisis, higher operating costs per euro of loans given falling balance sheets and the fixed costs base that comes with the infrastructure requirements of large retail banks.

The Central Bank requires that all mortgages are advertised and sold in accordance with the requirements of financial services legislation (including Central Bank Codes), and that consumers who choose a given mortgage product (or to switch to a new product) are treated in accordance with these requirements in the context of the product they have chosen.

Additionally, the Central Bank has carried out research, which showed the scope for borrowers to save money by switching mortgages and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has launched a mortgage switching tool for consumers (which itself notes the findings of the Central Bank research of cases where borrowers could make savings). 

The Central Bank releases monthly retail interest rate data (Tables B1.1 - B2.1). These statistics satisfy reporting requirements as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1072/2013 of 24 September 2013 (ECB/2013/34) as amended by Regulation of the ECB of 8 July 2014 (ECB/2014/30), concerning statistics on interest rates applied by monetary financial institutions (MFIs) to deposits and loans vis-à-vis households and non-financial corporations. The most recent statistics are available on centralbank.ie.

In addition, following a public consultation process, on 21 July 2016, the Central Bank announced the introduction of a number of increased protections for variable rate mortgage holders. The enhanced measures, which are provided for in an Addendum to the Consumer Protection Code 2012, and became effective on 1 February 2017, require lenders to explain to borrowers how their variable interest rates have been set, including in the event of an increase. The measures also improve the level of information required to be provided to borrowers on variable rates about other mortgage products their lender provides which could provide savings for the borrower and signpost the borrower to the CCPC’s mortgage switching tool.

In late 2016, the Central Bank commissioned research into consumer perceptions and attitudes to mortgage switching, as well as the experience of those who had switched. The Central Bank conducted the research to help identify areas where further action by the Central Bank could assist borrowers who are considering switching their mortgage. The Central Bank published the report on the research findings in April 2017. The report contained several positive findings from consumers who had switched their mortgage. However, it also highlighted the need for greater transparency for consumers, both about the potential savings they could make by switching and the switching process itself.

In August 2017, the Central Bank published a Consultation Paper proposing new measures which would enhance the framework of protections for mortgage holders. In that consultation the Central Bank proposed new measures to require lenders to:

- inform consumers about other available mortgage options that could save them money and about the impact of mortgage-related incentives;

- help consumers to compare their existing mortgage to other mortgage options;

- provide consumers with standardised switching information; and

- follow a time-bound switching process.

The consultation period has now ended, and the Central Bank is now analysing the responses it received and is considering next steps.

Local Property Tax (LPT) is payable on the market value of residential properties at 1 May 2013. The 2013 valuation is relevant until the next LPT ‘valuation date’, which is 1 November 2019 and is unaffected by any changes in property prices or any repairs/alterations that take place to the property during this period.

Revenue has confirmed that the person in question filed her statutory LPT Return in 2013 confirming ‘Valuation Band’ 2 (€100k to €150k) in respect of her property and payment has been made by her each year on that basis up to and including 2017.

If the person now considers the 2013 self-assessed valuation to be too high she can apply directly to Revenue’s LPT Branch to have it amended downwards. The application must include supporting evidence setting out why the original valuation is thought to be excessive. The supporting evidence should include:

- copy of a professional valuation at 1 May 2013 or,

- information on property sales for comparable properties in the local area around 1 May 2013, for example from the Residential Property Price Register at www.propertypriceregister.ie or,

- details of advertised house prices for comparable properties in the area around 1 May 2013, for example from www.daft.ie or www.myhome.ie or,

- documented information on any house prices survey in the area reflecting values around 1 May 2013.

Should the person require any further clarification in regard to the required supporting documentation or if she has any other queries she should contact the LPT team at direct telephone number 065 6849081 who will be happy to assist her.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has informed me that it operates a discretionary performance-related payments scheme for eligible employees, which includes staff assigned to the State Claims Agency. The scheme rewards exceptional performance having regard to the employee’s own performance, the performance of the employee’s area of responsibility and the overall performance of the NTMA. Performance-related payments are made in accordance with parameters approved by the Agency’s non-executive Remuneration Committee. The overall amount of performance related payments made in respect of any year is also subject to the approval of the Remuneration Committee.

The precise customs arrangements that will apply after Brexit will depend on the outcome of negotiations between the EU and UK. Evidently the closest trading relationship between the UK and EU is best for Ireland. Ireland’s position is that a future EU-UK Free Trade Agreement should be comprehensive and ambitious and as wide as possible in its scope, while ensuring a level playing field and protecting the integrity of the Single Market. 

The Article 50 negotiations between the EU and the UK are proceeding on the basis of the phased approach set out in the European Council Guidelines of 29 April 2017. Ireland fully supports this approach, which foresees that discussions on the future EU-UK relationship, including trade, will get underway as soon as sufficient progress has been made on the EU’s key priorities under the withdrawal process – notably citizens’ rights, the UK’s financial settlement and the Irish specific issues. The European Council is due to assess whether sufficient progress has been made on the key priorities at the December meeting of the Council.

As part of the Department of Finance’s contingency planning, work is ongoing and continues to examine all possible scenarios and challenges, which also includes analysis of external analysis and reports. In that regard, I welcome the contribution of the British-Irish Chamber to the debate. The British-Irish Chamber of Commerce is the leading business group representing the interest of businesses with interests in Britain and Ireland, and is an important voice to be heard in the context of solutions to the unique challenges facing Ireland and Northern Ireland.  

The Department of Finance received 383 Freedom of Information requests in 2017 up to 1 December 2017.

334 have been closed, of which:

- 63 were granted in full,

- 120 were part granted,

- 82 were refused (including refused on the basis that no relevant records were identified),

- 43 were withdrawn or handled outside FoI, and

- 26 were transferred.

49 requests are currently open and being processed.

The Department of Finance received 383 Freedom of Information requests in 2017 up to 1 December 2017.

334 have been closed, of which:-

- 259 were completed within the due date, taking account of suspension of the period of consideration for payment of deposits, third party consultation, or clarification of scope

- 75 were completed outside the due date

The Department of Finance has no public private partnership projects and is not responsible for Government public private partnership policy.

I am informed by Revenue that section 473A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief at the standard rate of income tax in respect of qualifying fees paid by an individual for a third level education course, including a postgraduate course.

For all years, the colleges must have complied with a Code of Standards laid down by the Minister for Education and Skills and the courses must have been approved by this Minister.

Certain other criteria have changed throughout the period in question and these are set out in the table below.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 and 148 together.

Revenue has advised me that its clear preference is always to engage positively with insolvent individuals who enter into Personal Insolvency or Debt Settlement arrangements and has to date agreed terms in more than five hundred cases since the Personal Insolvency Act was enacted.

However Revenue can only "opt in" to the process where the Personal Insolvency Practitioner on behalf of the insolvent person provides a complete account of all debts and assets and also provides any clarifications that might subsequently be required. It is not possible for Revenue to "opt in" where there is incomplete information or where the tax debt is not fully quantified, for example where a Revenue audit is ongoing.

In situations where Revenue "opts out" of a Personal Insolvency or Debt Settlement arrangement it continues to engage with the person and in the majority of cases agrees a mutually acceptable payment arrangement that takes due regard of the particular circumstances. However any such arrangements must include the full amount of the outstanding debt, including statutory interest, and have clear commitments from the taxpayer in regard to the timely payment of current taxes.

In regard to the specific case, Revenue has confirmed that it has already temporarily suspended debt collection enforcement action to allow further time for phased payment discussions to take place with the taxpayer and has assured me that it is fully committed to agreeing a mutually acceptable solution.

To expedite matters, Revenue has assigned a senior official to review the case. The official will make direct contact with both the Deputy and the taxpayer in the coming days.

I am advised by Revenue that as it is unclear on whose behalf the Deputy raised this question and having regard to confidentiality obligations under section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, Revenue is unable to comment on the specific case referred to by the Deputy.

In general, for a property to be a qualifying residence for the purposes of the Help to Buy Scheme, that property must:-

(a)  be a new building which was not used or suitable for use as a dwelling prior to 19 July 2016;

(b)  be occupied by the first time buyer or self-builder as his or her sole or main residence, and

(c)  be valued at less than €500,000 (or less that €600,000 if sold between 19 July 2016 and 31 December 2016).

If the Deputy can clarify on whose behalf he has raised this matter and provide specific details, as mentioned in (a) to (c) above, Revenue advises me that it can examine the matter.

The Programme for Partnership Government recognises the difficulties faced by community groups in relation to VAT rates on certain products such as defibrillators. This is an EU competency and the Government has committed to work with our EU counterparts in seeking to reform this area.

Defibrillators, other than implantable defibrillators, are liable to VAT at the standard rate, which in Ireland is 23%. Parts or accessories are also liable to VAT at the standard rate. There is no provision under existing VAT law that would make it possible to apply a reduced rate or zero rate to the supply of such products. Under the EU VAT Directive, member States may retain the zero rate on goods and services which were in place on 1 January 1991, but cannot extend the zero rate to new goods and services. As such a zero rate cannot be applied to defibrillators. Any changes to VAT rates outside of what is currently permitted by the EU VAT Directive must be negotiated at EU technical working groups and ultimately agreed by the EU Council of Finance Ministers.

As part of the Action Plan on the future of VAT on 7 April 2016 which sets out the Commission’s pathway for modernising the VAT system, the EU Commission is due to publish a proposal on the reform of VAT rates in January 2018. Earlier in the year, preliminary details of the proposed changes were discussed as part of the EU Commission’s Group on the Future of VAT, a forum for consulting VAT experts from member States on pre-legislative initiatives. Officials from the Department of Finance contributed to these discussions. With regard to what activity should be subject to a reduced rate of VAT going forward, Ireland specifically recommended to the Commission to include defibrillators and other emergency-medical and rescue equipment.

After the Commission proposal is published, technical and political discussions will commence at EU Council among all Member States and Ireland will take the opportunity to continue to recommend that member States should be able to apply specialised VAT rating to defibrillators and other emergency-medical and rescue equipment.

In advance of any change that might be made at EU level to the VAT rating of defibrillators and other products that pose difficulty for community groups, I am happy to draw your attention to the Budget 2018 announcement of a VAT compensation refund scheme, which will compensate charities for the VAT they occur on their inputs, in recognition of the work undertaken by the charities sector.

The scheme will take effect from 1 January 2018 but will be paid one year in arrears. That is, charities may make a claim in 2019 for VAT costs arising in 2018. Charities will be entitled to a proportion of VAT based on the level of non-public funding they receive. A capped fund of €5 million will be available to the scheme in 2019.

The Government is very committed to supporting community groups and we will continue to press for a reduction in the VAT rate on defibrillators at EU level.

The conservation and presentation of National Monuments in the care of the State is managed by the Office of Public Works. However, decisions as to which sites are either acquired fully or brought into Guardianship as National Monuments are a matter for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The OPW is happy to facilitate and attend a meeting between the owner of the site in question and the Department.

The recent Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) for Ireland carried out by the IMF recommended that the results of cost-benefit analysis on Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, and the criteria used to select them should be published.

As the Deputy will be aware PPPs are subjected to the same robust and rigorous project appraisal process as traditionally procured infrastructure.  In ensuring Departments obtain the best value-for-money from public capital investment they are subject to the requirements contained in the Public Spending Code.

The Public Spending Code encompasses guidance on a variety of issues related to the management of expenditure at each stage of the expenditure life cycle. This includes central guidance on the application of appraisal and evaluation methodologies including cost benefit analysis. This methodological guidance aims to enhance consistency across sectors through common approaches and the use of key technical parameter values needed for quantifying costs and conducting economic appraisals.

While there is already significant guidance and data published on PPPs I acknowledge that the publication of cost-benefit analysis on PPP projects would provide greater transparency on reporting on PPP projects.  However, in assessing the implementation of the PIMA recommendation, it would be important to take into account the commercial confidentiality of specific data included in the appraisal of PPPs. 

A senior level group has been established to make recommendations on the future role of PPPs.  The group comprises relevant officials from the Departments with experience of procuring projects by PPP, together with the Department of Finance, the National Development Finance Agency and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. As part of its work, the group will review the recommendations made in the PIMA report that relate to PPPs to inform future decision-making on these matters. I expect the Group's deliberations to be completed alongside the finalisation of the ten year capital plan which is currently being developed by my Department to support the implementation of the Ireland 2040 Plan detailing the new National Planning Framework.

The Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) undertaken for Ireland by the IMF was published on 10 November 2017.

The report and its recommendations are the work of expert team from the IMF invited to assess our public investment institutions to evaluate the design and effectiveness of the institutions that shape decision-making at the three key stages of the public investment cycle:

- planning investment;

- allocating investment to the right sectors; and

- implementing investment.

The PIMA concludes that overall, Ireland manages its public infrastructure relatively well. It highlights both strengths and weaknesses and contains a number of recommendations to improve future performance in terms of the efficiency of public capital investment.

Recommendations on matters such as strengthening rules on the use of appraisal techniques will be considered by the current review of the Public Spending Code. I expect this review to be completed next year.

The PIMA also proposes the establishment of a dedicated Infrastructure Projects Unit within my Department to provide advisory services on appraisal and selection of projects, and to carry out studies of infrastructure bottlenecks, financing, and evaluation of lessons learnt. My Department is considering this recommendation in the context of the preparation of the ten-year capital plan, which will be published to support the implementation of the Ireland 2040 Plan detailing the proposed new National Planning Framework.  My Department's assessment will inform Government decision-making on the appropriate institutional arrangements for public capital investment.

The ten year capital plan will be published in tandem with the forthcoming Ireland 2040 Plan detailing the new National Planning Framework, which is being developed by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. I understand that publication of the Ireland 2040 Plan is envisaged early next year.

The main priorities for infrastructural development were identified in the Review of the Capital Plan 2016-2021 published on 14 September 2017 including, for example:-

- Transport – public transport and the maintenance and upgrading of the road network;

- Housing - on the basis of the review of the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness;

- Education – higher education and the schools building programme;

- Health – drawing on further analysis of the totality of health capacity and infrastructure;

- Business, Enterprise and Innovation – in order to address the potential impacts of Brexit; and

- Communications – to ensure the delivery of Ireland’s National Broadband Plan and assist in meeting Ireland’s climate and energy targets.

In Budget 2018 I allocated an additional €4.3 billion in support of these priorities. This means that gross voted capital expenditure will reach 3.5% of GNI* by 2021 and will account for over 11% of total voted expenditure. This will see public investment in Ireland moving from relatively low levels to among the highest in the EU.

My Department has not provided funding from its Vote to any of the organisations on the list which the Deputy supplied.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 to 161, inclusive, together.

Study of flooding from Turloughs at Castleplunkett and Lough Funshinagh

The Office of Public Works (OPW) West Region engineering staff are working with engineering staff of Roscommon County Council, Galway County Council & Mayo County Council in relation to Turlough flooding. The Steering Committee for the GSI Monitoring and Modelling Project which includes OPW representation, has met twice with the most recent meeting being Monday, 27 November 2017.

In order to assess fully the viability of any engineering proposals a greater understanding of these individual Turloughs is required. Funding of €0.5m over a three year period has been put in place, through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, for Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) to provide advice and assistance to County Councils' engineering staff to achieve this.

In this context GSI, in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, has initiated a project on Groundwater and Turlough Monitoring and Modelling to investigate flooding specifically related to groundwater and Turloughs in 60 sites that include Catleplunkett and Lough Funshinagh.

The installation of permanent telemetric monitoring stations has also commenced and is providing the fundamental hydrological information required to advance understanding of the mechanisms of groundwater flooding and to address the deficit of data available.

Survey data, which is to include level data from individual loggers and survey data collected by GSI for or under the Study, will ordinarily be made available on request to the relevant Local Authority in the first instance. OPW are not a repository for this data. It is envisaged that in time GSI will be in a position to make available quality controlled data from the network of permanent telemetric monitoring stations presently being developed.

Officials from my office recently met Roscommon County Council and a Minor Works application is expected for work adjacent to Lough Funshinagh.

Flood defence schemes for Roscommon Town and Carrick-on-Shannon

The core strategy for addressing areas at potentially significant risk from flooding is the Office of Public Works (OPW) Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme.

I would hope by the end of this year or early 2018, to seek the approval from the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform for the 29 Flood Risk Management Plans developed under the CFRAM process.

Thereafter, I would hope to announce the proposed structural measures contained within those Plans that will, over the coming years, be taken, through a prioritised approach, to detailed design to protect those communities at assessed risk.

The proposed measure for Carrick-on-Shannon consists of a series of flood embankments, walls and floodgate. These hard defences will extend for a total length of 2.6km and will provide protection to approximately 76 properties at risk of uvial ooding.

The proposed measure for Roscommon Town consists of a series of flood embankments and walls. These hard defences will extend for a total length of 2.6km and will provide protection to approximately 16 properties at risk of uvial ooding.

Approval for proposed schemes in the Plans, allows for their progression to detailed design, further environmental assessments and public consultation.

Lanesborough, Co. Roscommon

In respect of any flood risk in Lanesborough, the area was assessed as part of the Shannon CFRAM Programme as being relatively low. The OPW is aware of concerns about the river channel regarding a potential impact on angling however, as this channel does not form part of the Arterial Drainage Districts for which OPW has responsibility, it remains the responsibility of Local Authorities to address local flooding issues in the first instance.

Funding for Maintenance of Local Authority Drainage Districts

The OPW is responsible for maintaining Arterial Drainage schemes completed since 1945. Maintenance is carried out in a five-year cycle for in excess of 11,500 km of channel and 730 km of embankments and there is approximately 650,000 acres (265,400 hectares) of benefitting land, primarily agricultural. Separately, Local Authorities are responsible for the maintenance of Drainage Districts in their area. I am engaging with the Minister of Housing, Planning and Local Government to look at ensuring that sufficient funding is available for Local Authorities to fulfil these obligations.

The Budget 2018 estimate of the public service pay bill is €17.4bn. This includes the 2018 cost of the Public Service Stability Agreement. The costs of the PSSA in subsequent years are:

- 2019 - €370m

- 2020 - €339m  

There are carryover costs associated with the Agreement of €227m in 2021.  

However, the actual level of the public service pay bill for the years 2021 and 2022 is not fixed as it will also depend on public service recruitment decisions taken in the interim.

The Public Sector Standards Bill 2015 provides for the establishment of the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner and the holder of that office shall be known as the Public Sector Standards Commissioner. It provides that the appointment of the Commissioner shall be made by the President on the advice of the Government following a resolution passed by both Houses.

It provides that the legislation will come into operation on the day that is 6 months from the passing of the Bill as an Act, or such earlier day as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform may appoint by order. The Bill also provides that the Standards in Public Office Commission shall stand dissolved on the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner. The chairman and members of the Standards in Public Office Commission shall cease to hold office on such dissolution.

The Bill was published on the 23rd of December 2015 and completed second stage in the Dáil on the 20th of January 2016. Committee Stage commenced on the 6th of April 2017. The Bill aims to significantly enhance the existing framework for identifying, disclosing and managing conflicts of interest and minimising corruption risks, to achieve a shift towards a more dynamic and risk-based system of compliance and to ensure that the institutional framework for oversight, investigation and enforcement is robust and effective.

The establishment and annual costs associated with the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner will be mitigated by the cost savings arising from the dissolution of the Standards in Public Office Commission. As the Bill to establish the Office of the Commissioner is still being considered, it is not possible at this stage to provide overall costings in relation to the office. However, my Department will strive to ensure that existing structures are used as much as possible in the transition from the Standards in Public Office Commission to the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner.

The 2018 estimates provide for an amount of €2.073m in relation to the running of the Standards in Public Office Commission. In addition, the Office of the Ombudsman provides shared corporate services staffing resources, such as HR, IT and Finance Unit services to the Standards in Public Office Commission. The cost of this is not reflected in the estimate provision for 2018.

Following the completion of extensive technical survey work, the engineering consultants for the proposed flood relief scheme in Crossmolina will present to the Office of Public Works (OPW) shortly their final Report on the assessment of options for the scheme. The consultants have indicated that their Report will show a diversion channel upstream of Crossmolina as the preferred option for dealing with flooding in the town.

The preferred option will be presented at a Public Exhibition in the town in early 2018 in accordance with the provisions of the Arterial Drainage Acts. This is the formal, statutory public consultation process for the proposed scheme. Provided the preferred Scheme is acceptable to the public overall, it will then enter the detailed design phase, and will subsequently be sent to the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform in late 2018 for Confirmation or formal approval.

If approved by the Minister, it is envisaged that construction will commence in early 2019 and will take approximately two years to complete. The OPW will fund the proposed scheme from its overall capital allocation for flood relief works, estimated to cost in the region of €10m, and has provided for the estimated costs in its multi annual capital budgets for the progression and completion of this scheme.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 166 together.

The property in question was leased by the OPW and occupied by Customs and Excise in 2000. It was vacated by Customs and Excise in 2005. The OPW sought other State occupiers for the premises but there was no demand for such property in that area. The Landlord was asked to accept an early surrender of the premises however he refused. The lease has another two years to run during which time OPW will continue to seek alternative uses for it.

The annual rent for this property is €32,505.

As requested by the Deputy, the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) in general Civil Service grades at the end of September 2017 (latest reconciled numbers) are set out in the followed table.

*Executive Officer and Staff Officer Grades have been amalgamated as of March 2017.

The number of full-time equivalents in general Civil Service grades at the end of September 2017 (latest reconciled numbers) are set out in the following table.

* Executive Officer and Staff Officer Grades have been amalgamated as of March 2017.

Membership of a staff association or trade union is a matter for individual staff. While staff are facilitated in having their membership fees deducted from their pay, I have no responsibility in relation to membership of such bodies and as such it would not be appropriate to provide the breakdown for the Civil Service sought by the Deputy.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together.

My Department received 227 requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 from 1 January 2017 to 1 December 2017.  Of these, 142 requests were fully or partially granted, with 25 being refused. The remainder of the requests include requests that are not yet due for answer, have been withdrawn by the requester and requests where the period of consideration has been suspended for the payment of deposits, third party consultation or clarification of scope.

Of the 227 Freedom of Information requests received up to 1 December 2017, 185 have been closed, of which:

- 147 were completed within the due date; and

- 38 were completed outside the due date.

Prior to the opening of Bryce House on Garnish Island, the Office of Public Works employed three seasonal guides at the Island to sell admission tickets. The Foreman and Head Gardener sold admission tickets in the evenings, after the guides had finished duty, and on Sundays.

In 2016, OPW guides were recruited specifically to undertake tours of the newly refurbished Bryce House on Garnish Island. Visitors to the Island enter via a reception area which is not adjacent to Bryce house. It was decided, for operational reasons, to include the selling of admission tickets with the new tearoom concession, which is located alongside the reception area.

In 2017, the OPW incurred a cost of €51,298 for outsourcing the collection of admission fees at Garnish Island to the private company which operates the tearoom concession on the Island. The savings to OPW were in excess of €1,500. This figure is the difference between salary costs (for OPW staff to sell tickets) and the costs incurred.

The tearoom concession agreement for Garnish Island will be advertised again in 2018. The arrangement whereby the Concessionaire collects the admissions fees will be reviewed as part of that agreement.

It is estimated that the average cost per annum to the State of a midwifery student is c. €10,000 - €11,000. Therefore for a four year undergraduate degree this would amount to €40,0000-€44,000 over the period. This takes into account State grant and tuition fee funding paid by the State (where appropriate). It excludes the Student Contribution of €3,000 which is paid by the student, or paid on behalf of the student in cases where the student qualifies for assistance under my Department’s Student Grant Scheme. The HEA only funds undergraduate-level students, and postgraduate-level nursing students are excluded from the HEA funding model. This figure excludes any payments by the HSE in respect of student nurses in clinical training.

Funding has been made by my Department to two organisations from the list provided by the Deputy in the period 1st January 2017 to date. Set out below is the total paid to each organisation and the purpose of the payments.

1. BeLong To - Total Paid €58,000. Funding was provided to support the programme costs of the 2017 Stand Up! Awareness Week, which is an anti-bullying initiative in schools.  

2. TENI - Total Paid €500. This payment was in respect of Continuing Professional Development Training for Psychological Staff in the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) in the area of Transgender Awareness.

My Department also made payments to the IMPACT Trade Union during the period stated above. These payments related solely to union subscription deductions from the Staff and Teacher Payroll Operations.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 174, 192 and 205 together.

I am pleased to advise that I announced the Minor Works Grant 2017/2018 for primary schools across the country this morning and payment will issue next week.

The funding will allow minor works to be carried out on the physical infrastructure of schools or on the purchase of items of furniture and equipment.

The Deputy will be aware that a major building project for the school to which he refers, is included on the 6-year Construction Programme. It is acknowledged that this project will involve complex and careful master-planning of the site. A full technical site visit has taken place and the project brief for the school is currently being formulated. In that regard, my Department will be engaging further with the school authority.

Details of the list of approved institutions are scheduled in the Student Support Regulations 2017 which can be accessed at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2017/si/126/made/en/pdf.

Bray Institute of Further Education (St Thomas' Community College), Novara Ave, Bray, Co. Wicklow (RN 70770V) is scheduled as an approved PLC school for the academic year 2017/18. Further details of the approved PLC centres and courses in County Wicklow can be obtained from the following link: https://susi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Wicklow-V1.1.pdf.

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.

Currently over 114,000 children, including over 11,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.

Bus Éireann has advised that the child in question is currently availing of a school transport service.

I can inform the Deputy that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for responses to queries arising, and access to individual pupil casework via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA).

I can confirm, in answer to the Deputy's question, that some 2,520 assessments were commissioned under SCPA using the panel of private practitioners maintained by NEPS and certified by school principals in the period concerned.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 179 and 201 together.

We have, for the first time, introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage.

The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases, and CSO data from the National Census of Population as represented in the Pobal HP Index for Small Areas which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area. Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is combined with pupil data, anonymised and aggregated to small area, to provide information on the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in the pupil cohort of individual schools.

A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the Identification process is available on the Department’s website at

https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.

Schools were not required to apply for assessment in DEIS, as every school was automatically assessed as part of the DEIS Identification process. Under DEIS Plan 2017, a process to verify the data used was provided for and some schools, including the school referred to by the Deputy, availed of this verification process. As with the new DEIS Identification process the verification process was also a scientific exercise which involved checking the school data, as used in the Identification process, in terms of the quality and accuracy of the data supplied. All schools who applied for verification of their data, including Rathlee NS, were contacted by email on 7th September to notify them of the outcome of the process.

Schools included in DEIS with effect from September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort. Schools which have not been included at this stage are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification model.

It is important to note that this is the first step in a process and the fact that a school has not been included now does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should the assessment indicate a level of disadvantage that warrants additional supports.

A further process will take account of updated data as it becomes available. Schools are being advised to ensure that their POD/PPOD data is fully correct and up to date, including Eircode which can now be recorded by schools on both POD and PPOD databases. The HP Index, based on the 2016 National Census data has been published recently.

The plan is for a further assessment of all schools, using these updated datasets. Should this exercise reveal that any school, which did not qualify for DEIS in 2017, meets the criteria applicable to schools with the highest concentration of disadvantage based on the updated information then additional schools may be included subject to available resources.

The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.

In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

The new post-primary mathematics curriculums were introduced in 2010.  Continuing Professional Development (CPD) was developed to support the implementation of the revised curriculums and has been made available to all teachers of mathematics.

The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), since September last, has assumed responsibility for CPD support in this area.  A priority for this service is the provision of support for post primary teachers of mathematics in the development of the pedagogical content knowledge and teaching skills.

The following CPD has been offered to all teachers in Cork since 2010.

- 374 distinct workshops over a 5 year-period through Cork Education Centres;

- A suite of 410 Modular Content & ICT courses over a 5-year period through Cork Education Centres;

- 14 Seminars over a one-year period through Cork Education Centres.

Please see figures below which compare take up in Cork to that nationwide. 

Currently, support is targeted through national and regional training days, national conferences, school visits, on-line support and Lesson Study local groups.

PDST's staffing and work plans are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure effective and adequate delivery of CPD for teachers nationwide. All schools have the opportunity to apply for support.

In these circumstances I have no plans to review the level of service available.

Primary

Current professional development supports available to teachers for Primary Mathematics include elective workshops, seminars and school based support including Lesson Study and Maths Recovery training and support.

57 primary schools in the Cork area have received school support since September as well as access to the events detailed below which are available through Cork and West Cork Education Centres.

Training:

The arrangement to which the Deputy refers is a Revenue Commissioners' requirement under tax law as opposed to a requirement set out by my Department.  In the circumstances, my Department is unable to comment on the rationale behind the arrangement.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 184 together.

Under tax law, a school authority is regarded by the Revenue Commissioners as the "Principal Contractor" for tax purposes when it is delivering a building project.  My Department advises a school authority of this at the time the grant for the works is being approved.

The main requirement for the school to meet its obligations is to register with the Revenue Commissioners’ online system and to follow the Revenue Commissioners' guidance in relation to deducting and paying over tax, as appropriate, for the contractor carrying out the works. If a school fully complies with this requirement, no tax issues will arise.

Before the grant for the works can be drawn down from my Department, a school authority must confirm to my Department that it has complied with its tax obligations. The school in question explicitly provided my Department with that and other necessary confirmations and the grant was paid out accordingly.

As tax matters are strictly between a taxpayer and the Revenue Commissioners, my Department is unable to intervene.  However, the school authority is strongly advised to raise this matter directly with the Revenue Commissioners itself.

With regard to the overspend on the project, my Department understands that this arises on foot of unapproved works carried out by the Board of Management.  It is made clear in the original grant approval letter that any funding shortfall arising from unapproved works must be met by the school authority and this remains the position in this case.

Ar an drochuair,  agus de bharr go bhfuil dialann an-lán agam sna míosa romhainn, nílim in ann freastal ar an gcruinniú le príomhoide agus cathaoirleach an bhoird Scoil Chonaill i nDún na nGall go ceann i bhfad.

Tugaim faoi deara, áfach, an t-ábhar ina gcomhfhreagras atá ag déanamh imní dóibh,  agus d’iarr mé ar oifigigh mo Roinne iad a chíoradh agus dul i dteagmháil leis an scoil go díreach agus mé a choinneáil ar an eolas.

Very significant numbers of third-level students move out of home to go to college and continue to be supported by their parents while in full-time education. Confirmation that a student is living separately from his/her parents is of itself, not sufficient to establish independent status.

When considering whether a student meets the conditions to be assessed independently of his or her parents, grant awarding authorities like SUSI are obliged to satisfy themselves beyond doubt that an acceptable degree of proof of independent living in the relevant period has been submitted by the grant applicant.

For student grants purposes, a student may be assessed as an independent student if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved post leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course or of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise he/she would continue to be assessed on the basis of his/her parents' income.

The onus is on the grant applicant to provide the necessary documentary evidence as requested by the relevant grant awarding authority. Such documentary evidence will vary from student to student, depending on each individual's particular set of circumstances.

The type of documentary evidence required by SUSI can be viewed at the following link: https://susi.ie/eligibility/applicant-class/

It is important to note that each year a significant number of student grant applicants are assessed as 'independent' students and awarded student supports on that basis.  

If an individual applicant considers that he/she has been unjustly refused a student grant, he/she may appeal, in the first instance, to his/her awarding body. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by the awarding authority and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.

Currently over 114,000 children, including over 11,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

The purpose of the scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children with special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability.

Children are eligible for transport where they:

- have special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability in accordance with the designation of high and low incidence disability set out in the Department of Education and Skill’s (DES) Circular 02/05

and

- are attending the nearest recognised: mainstream school, special class/special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs

Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO).

My Department also allocates funding to schools, for the employment of escorts to accompany children who are eligible for special educational needs school transport and whose care and safety needs are such as to require the support of an escort.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 188, 197 and 198 together.

In 2016/17 and in 2017/18, I provided for the recruitment of in the region of 3,000 teachers at post-primary level.  All of the 2016-2017 posts have been successfully filled and the process for filling the additional posts in the current year is almost complete. We are successfully filling the posts that we are making available and are in the process of actually hiring 2,900 teachers - 21% more than the number announced in Budget 2017.

However, I am aware that some schools have reported difficulties in recruiting teachers in certain subjects at post primary level, and I am committed to examining all possible means of addressing these issues.

At post primary level I have taken certain initiatives to address some of the supply pressures in particular subject areas. These include, as part of the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education, increasing from 2018/19 the number of places available on the existing Irish medium post primary initial teacher education programme in NUIG, to which I have granted two additional posts from September 2017. This measure will strengthen the Irish-language proficiency of newly qualified teachers across a range of subjects and, it is anticipated, also increase the supply of Irish language teachers. I have also increased from 85 to 101 the number of students admitted to St Angela’s, Sligo to follow the Home Economics ITE programme in the current year, with further expansions in future years being considered.

I have also undertaken measures to increase the pool of teachers available to schools in particular to fill short term vacancies. My Department informed all teachers retiring in 2017 that in order to remain eligible for employment in a state funded teaching post for a period of more than five consecutive days or to supervise the State examinations, a teacher must maintain his/her registration with the Teaching Council. My Department also increased the limits for employment while on career break at post primary level to a maximum of 300 hours in a school year and at primary level to a maximum of 90 days in a school year. 

The Deputy will be aware of the report of the Technical Working Group on teacher supply, ‘Striking the Balance’ which, while focussing on the development of a model of primary teacher supply, outlined the work which will be required to establish a long term model of post-primary teacher supply.  The Teaching Council, which has an advisory role in this matter, recently convened a consultative forum on teacher supply with relevant stakeholders with the aim of producing teacher supply proposals and I look forward to seeing the report from this forum which will further inform our thinking in this matter. 

I am reviewing a number of options in order to incentivise students to undertake the two year Professional Masters in Education, including financial incentives.  Specifically, in the recently launched STEM and Foreign Languages in Education Implementation Plans, my Department has committed to undertake baseline data collection and analysis to inform policy on the supply of STEM and foreign language teachers and to develop policy actions to support the supply of teachers of these subjects.

It is essential that all teachers have adequate opportunities to avail of the continuing professional development (CPD) being provided so that they are fully informed about the changes to teaching, learning and assessment required for the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle. 

A variety of delivery methods is being employed to facilitate the attendance of teachers at CPD. Schools may close for a day of whole-school planning and self-evaluation for Junior Cycle implementation for each year of implementation up to 2021/22.  This day is facilitated by my Department’s support service Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT). A second school closure day is used to facilitate CPD activities, including subject specific CPD and is also delivered by the JCT.  These CPD days are delivered in the cluster model of delivery, which allows several schools in a geographical region to close on the same day, ensuring that all teachers in each of these schools can come together for the purpose of attending Junior Cycle related CPD.  The Deputy should note that the majority of support for the Framework for Junior Cycle is delivered during school closure days, for which substitute cover is not required.

CPD for teachers with second subjects is delivered off-site and does require substitution.  To assist schools in planning for the release of teachers, JCT notifies schools of the arrangements for these CPD events as early as possible.  There are also on-line professional development opportunities provided.  It is recognised that the scale of CPD being delivered to support the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle is significant and efforts will continue to be made to minimise disruption to schools.

The Government approved a number of measures relating to public service allowances following a public service-wide review of allowances and premium payments conducted by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in 2012. As a result, a number of allowances were withdrawn from new beneficiary public servants, including teachers.

A rent allowance was not payable to teachers previously and there is no plan to introduce a rent allowance scheme for teachers.

In general, there have been no problems in relation to the recruitment of teachers.  In Budget 2017, we announced 2,400 new teachers whereas we are in the process of actually hiring 2,900 teachers - 21% more than the number announced.

I am aware that some schools have reported difficulties in recruiting substitute teachers at primary level and in certain subjects at post primary level, and I am committed to examining all possible means of addressing these issues.

Regarding issues around finding substitution at primary level, there are strong career opportunities in teaching and the number of permanent full-time positions are currently increasing at over 1,000 per year in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. Due to the additional permanent positions being created, young teachers have greater opportunities to take on permanent positions, and as a result some schools may be experiencing issues in hiring teachers to fill temporary or substitute roles, which arise in schools for a number of reasons, including covering sick leave and career breaks.

At post primary level I have taken certain initiatives to address some of the supply pressures in particular subject areas. These include, as part of the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education, increasing from 2018/19 the number of places available on the existing Irish medium post primary initial teacher education programme in NUIG, to which I have granted two additional posts from September 2017. This measure will strengthen the Irish-language proficiency of newly qualified teachers across a range of subjects and, it is anticipated, also increase the supply of Irish language teachers. I have also increased from 85 to 101 the number of students admitted to St Angela’s, Sligo to follow the Home Economics ITE programme in the current year, with further expansions in future years being considered.

I have also undertaken measures to increase the pool of teachers available to schools in particular to fill short term vacancies. My Department informed all teachers retiring in 2017 that in order to remain eligible for employment in a state funded teaching post for a period of more than five consecutive days or to supervise the State examinations, a teacher must maintain his/her registration with the Teaching Council. My Department also increased the limits for employment while on career break at primary level to a maximum of 90 days in a school year. In addition, as a longer term measure, under my Department’s Gaeltacht Policy, an RFT is currently being developed for a new Irish-medium B.Ed. (primary teaching) ITE programme.

In the school year, 2016/17, circa 950 retired teachers were employed in schools. The vast majority of retired teachers undertake very short periods of teaching.   

The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012). The policy of my Department is to ensure, as far as possible, that the Managerial Authorities of Primary and Post Primary schools give priority to unemployed registered teachers who are fully qualified when filling vacant teaching posts.  My Department has issued a number of Circulars addressing this issue in recent years. Circular 31/2011 details a cascade of measures for the recruitment of teachers, prioritising registered teachers over retired registered teachers and unregistered people. 

In accordance with the normal arrangements which apply to retired public servants who take up public sector work, abatement applies where the combined earning exceed the pay on which the pension is based.  Retired teachers, who undertake casual or intermittent teaching subsequent to retirement are paid at the casual rate generally. Where they undertake teaching for a more substantial period they are then placed on the 1st point of the post-February 2012 pay scale.

I am currently reviewing with my Department other potential initiatives on teacher supply. In that context my Department has engaged with the HEA with a view to obtaining baseline data to support future policy decisions in this area. My Department also intends engaging with other stakeholders, including school management bodies, in this matter.

We have, for the first time, introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage.

The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases, and CSO data from the National Census of Population as represented in the Pobal HP Index for Small Areas which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area. Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is combined with pupil data, anonymised and aggregated to small area, to provide information on the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in the pupil cohort of individual schools. This method of identification has been uniformly applied for all schools in the country, including the school referred to by the Deputy.

A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the Identification process is available on the Department’s website at:

https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.

Schools included in DEIS with effect from September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort. Schools which have not been included at this stage are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification model.

It is important to note that this is the first step in a process and the fact that a school has not been included now does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should the assessment indicate a level of disadvantage that warrants additional supports.

A further assessment of all schools will take account of updated data as it becomes available. Schools are being advised to ensure that their POD/PPOD data is fully correct and up to date including Eircode which can now be recorded by schools on both POD and PPOD databases. The HP Index, based on the 2016 National Census data has been published recently.

Should this exercise reveal that any school, which did not qualify for DEIS in 2017, meets the criteria applicable to schools with the highest concentration of disadvantage based on the updated information then additional schools may be included subject to available resources.

As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and my Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.

The demographic data for Swords school planning area is being reviewed by my Department to take account of updated child benefit data and updated enrolment data.  It is anticipated that this exercise will be concluded shortly.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may, depending on the circumstances, be provided through either one, or a combination of, the following:

- Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

- Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

- Provision of a new school or schools.

We have, for the first time, introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage.

The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases, and CSO data from the National Census of Population as represented in the Pobal HP Index for Small Areas which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area. Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is combined with pupil data, anonymised and aggregated to small area, to provide information on the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in the pupil cohort of individual schools.

A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the Identification process is available on the Department’s website at:

https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.

Schools included in DEIS with effect from September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort. Schools which have not been included at this stage are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification model.

It is important to note that this is the first step in a process and the fact that a school has not been included now does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should the assessment indicate a level of disadvantage that warrants additional supports.

A further assessment of all schools will take account of updated data as it becomes available. Schools are being advised to ensure that their POD/PPOD data is fully correct and up to date, including Eircode which can now be recorded by schools on both POD and PPOD databases. The HP Index, based on the 2016 National Census data has been published recently.

Should this exercise reveal that any school, which did not qualify for DEIS in 2017, meets the criteria applicable to schools with the highest concentration of disadvantage based on the updated information then additional schools may be included subject to available resources.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support, as set out in Circular 0030/2014.

In considering applications for SNA supports for individual students, the SENOs take account of the student's needs and consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the students from its current level of resources. SNAs are not allocated to individual students but to schools as a school based resource.

Details of SNA allocations which have been made to schools for the 2017/18 school year have been published by the NCSE on their website at http://ncse.ie/statistics. Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for 2017/18, but wishes new enrolments or new assessments to be considered, which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, they may continue to make applications to the NCSE.

The NCSE Appeals Process may be invoked in the following instances:

- a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that Department policy was not met in accordance with Circular 0030/2014,

- a school may also appeal a decision, where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying Department policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA supports to the school to meet the special educational and/or care needs of the child(ren) concerned.

All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available at http://ncse.ie/seno-contact-list.

As the matter raised in this question refers to an individual child, I have forwarded the question to the NCSE for direct reply.

The school to which the Deputy refers recently submitted tender documents to my Department for approval.  An examination of the documents has been completed and I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that approval has issued to the school to proceed to tender for the works.

The report of the GMIT working group has now been submitted to my Department. I will consider the findings and recommendations in the report, in conjunction with officials in my Department. Given the importance of this report to the future sustainability of the GMIT Castlebar campus, a full and comprehensive consideration of its findings and recommendations is necessary. Therefore, an exact date for its publication has not been set. However, the report will be published before the end of 2017.

The policy of my Department is to ensure that all children with special educational needs, including children with behavioural or learning difficulties can be provided with an education appropriate to their needs.

Where possible, provision is made for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs. My Department's policy is that students with special educational needs should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream placements with additional supports provided.

In circumstances where children with special educational needs require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places are provided for.

Funding for special education provision in 2017 will amount to some €1.68 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 19% of the gross overall current allocation for education and training and represents an increase in spending in this area of 12% over the last two years.

There are currently over 13,400 special educational needs teacher posts in mainstream primary and post primary schools which includes an additional 900 teaching posts provided to support the introduction of the new model for allocating Special Education Teaching Resources to mainstream primary and post primary schools from September 2017.

In addition, 169 new Special Classes have been opened for the 2016/17 school year, which means there are now over 1,300 special classes in place, compared to 548 special classes in 2011. 1,042 special classes cater for students diagnosed with ASD (including 103 Early Intervention ASD special classes) and 11 cater specifically for students diagnosed with severe emotional behavioural disorders.

125 special schools also provide specialist education for those students with complex special educational needs.

This year, 13,990 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are available for allocation to primary and post primary schools to the end of December, which is an increase of 32% in the number of posts available since 2011.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of SNA support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support, as set out in Circular 0030/2014.

Details of SNA allocations which have been made to schools for the 2017/18 school year have been published by the NCSE on their website at http://ncse.ie/statistics.

Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for 2017/18, but wishes new enrolments or new assessments to be considered, which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, they may continue to make applications to the NCSE.

Schools may seek advice from their local National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) psychologist, from the NCSE’s Support Service through the Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO), or the National Behavioural Support Service, as to how children with behavioural needs can best be supported in school.

The Special Education Support Service (SESS) now also part of NCSE’s Support Service, provides continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers working with students with special educational needs, including training for teachers in the area of challenging behaviour educational needs, including students diagnosed with severe behavioural disorders.

My Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides service to primary and post-primary schools countrywide. In general schools may prioritise the service they receive from NEPS to support children with learning and/or behavioural difficulties. NEPS assists schools to identify needs, and appropriate interventions, to review the efficacy of these interventions and to adjust approaches used for these children, through the use of a student support planning process.

The provision of direct treatment or therapies to children does not lie within the remit of my Department, teachers or NEPS psychologists, per se, but the range of therapeutic services provided by the HSE. It is to my colleague, the Minister for Health, therefore that I would advise that the Deputy’s question be directed in this regard.

In relation to school uniforms, earlier this year, I published Circular letter 32/2017 ‘Measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of school uniforms and other costs’. I want to give parents a strong voice in ensuring costs are always kept to a minimum.

Schools have to do everything possible to keep costs down for parents, including the use of generic items, sew on or iron on crests, and making sure that various elements of the uniform can be purchased in multiple stores.

Following the implementation of the circular, school authorities will be required to adopt the following principles of cost-effective practice which will put a greater emphasis on reducing the cost of school uniforms and other costs:

- All elements of a school uniform should be purchasable from various stores;

- Only iron on or sew on crests should be used;

- Wherever possible, generic rather than branded items should be specified (e.g. uniform, clothing, IT tablets, sports equipment etc.);

- Provide parents with a list of all required items and indicate the likely costs of these required items at best value stores;

- Provide a book rental scheme;

- Phase out, between now and September 2018, the use of workbooks which cannot be reused;

- Where an exclusive supply arrangement applies, it should be tendered for regularly and

- The Board of Management in each school will have to review the cost of items which they require parents to purchase and to make this information available to the school community.

Schools will consult with parents on their views and ask for suggestions on cost reduction initiatives. Parents will be asked for their views about school uniform costs, and other costs, through a questionnaire.

I will further underpin this keen cost approach in schools through legislation to introduce a Parent and Student Charter in every school.

In relation to bathroom policies, my Department has not issued specific guidelines regarding the usage of toilets in schools. Such matters are dealt with at local school level.

As the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. Schools are required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of pupils and welfare of their pupils and it is the responsibility of each individual managerial authority to arrange for appropriate supervision of its pupils.

In accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, it is the responsibility of individual school management authorities to have a safety statement in place in their schools. The Statement should identify potential hazards, assess the risks to health and safety and put appropriate provision in place to safeguard the safety and health of employees and pupils.

The Health and Safety Authority in conjunction with the Kilkenny Education Centre issued guidance to all primary schools in relation to managing safety, health and welfare. I have included a shortcut to this booklet for your information.

http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Education/Managing_Safety_and_Health_in_Schools/Primary_Schools_Guidelines/Guidelines_on_Managing_Safety_Health_and_Welfare_in_Primary_Schools.pdf

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) consulted on proposals for structure and time allocation in a redeveloped primary curriculum between January and June this year. This consultation was the first time, in almost twenty years, when teachers, principals, parents and the wider public had an opportunity to consider how the primary curriculum is structured and how time is allocated within it. The findings from the consultation will be published by the NCCA in early 2018 and will inform the Council’s ongoing work in reviewing and redeveloping the primary curriculum including the area of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). The Council develops its advice through research, discussions and deliberations with education partners, public consultations, and work with schools and early childhood settings. The work is also underpinned by principles of universal curriculum design.

The information as requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tables.

Note: There are also 60 live FOI requests currently being processed for this period

* Up to 1 December 2017

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.

Currently over 114,000 children, including some 11,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest school as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

The Scheme caters for situations where the Department is satisfied that the nearest school is full and in such instances eligibility for school transport will be determined based on the distance a child resides from his/her next nearest school having regard to ethos and language.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply to Bus Éireann for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions that are detailed in the scheme. The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child’s post primary school education cycle.

Bus Éireann has advised that no application for school transport has been received for the child in question.

As the Deputy will be aware, the primary statutory responsibility for child protection rests with the Child and Family Agency (Tusla). The role of my Department is to provide guidance to schools and other educational organisations in implementing child protection policy and referral of any child protection concerns to the Child and Family Agency.

Where child protection concerns are brought to the attention of staff in my Department the internal Procedures for Responding to Child Protection Concerns brought to the attention of Staff Employed by the Department of Education and Skills are followed. While my Department has no role in investigating individual child protection concerns, my Department is very conscious of ensuring any information received by the Department is transmitted to the appropriate authorities in accordance with Children First Guidelines. Tusla and the Gardaí have the necessary statutory powers and expertise to conduct investigations in this very sensitive area.

In February 2014, the individual referred to by the Deputy wrote to my Department. The correspondence referred to an historic child protection concern. In line with my Departments internal procedures, a Standard Incident Report Form was completed and the information was transmitted to both Tusla and the Gardaí. My Department also forwarded the relevant contact details for the Gardaí to the individual referred to by the Deputy. My Department has no role in investigating child protection concerns. This role rests with Tusla and the Gardaí.

Services for former residents of institutions who received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board are available through Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund. Because the fund is a finite one, services are not extended to spouses or family members of those that are victims of abuse.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 211 to 214, inclusive, together.

The 2018 budget allocation for apprenticeship training is €122m which represents an increase of almost 24% on the 2017 allocation of €98.7m. Future years allocations will be determined through the normal budgetary process which takes account of competing demands and the overall availability of resources.

As the Deputy is aware, I published the Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship & Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020 which sets out a series of detailed actions and targets outlining how the expansion commitments in the area will be met. As set out in the plan, we have targeted 10 new apprenticeship programmes to get underway in 2018.

The number of apprentices registered in 2017 at end November is 4,525. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the apprenticeship programmes in operation at end of November and the forecast registrations to 2020 is outlined in the following tables. Please note that SOLAS does not currently have forecast registrations beyond 2020.

As the Deputy has indicated, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and my Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.

The 314 school planning areas nationwide are listed in the following tables.