Results 1-20 of 194 for going forward speaker:Brendan Howlin

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy Report: Statements (22 Nov 2023)

Brendan Howlin: That is the additionality the Government is talking about. It is 1%. In truth, we are not serious. In this country, we are really good at developing and devising policies. I hear the Tánaiste is going to have another document produced in the next couple of months. We will have had a forum, White Papers, discussion documents and reports. If we are ever invaded, we will have enough...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Fiftieth Anniversary of Ireland’s Accession to the European Community: Discussion (8 Feb 2023)

Brendan Howlin: .... I hope we will present a report that will help us to prepare better for the next 50 years of membership. Today, we are privileged to have two exemplary guests. First, we have Mr. Rory Montgomery. I have had the pleasure of working in government with Rory. I know him to be an exemplary public servant who has given remarkable service to this country. We talk about the scale of our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Proceeds of Crime (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill 2020: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ...the Department of Justice, CAB and Mr. Browder, with whom I have had conversations. I will make a few general points. First, Magnitsky is a general heading. When I looked at this some years ago, and this predates any current human rights abuses ongoing in Ukraine, I wanted to see how we could have something effective in our jurisdiction. I was a member of the Government when the...

Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (17 May 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ...or injury and for the family members of murdered members and to allow them to expect compensation to arrive in a predictable and timely manner. I am mindful of the fact that members of An Garda Síochána go out and protect us day in and day out. I attended the opening of the new divisional Garda headquarters in my home town of Wexford, which is a magnificent new building....

Defamation Act 2009 Review: Statements (11 May 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ...especially to the press. It is an extremely important bedrock of any democracy to have an uninhibited free press. Balancing those sets of fundamental rights against the right of persons to their good name and privacy is sometimes very difficult to achieve. I acknowledge that because it has been debated many times in these Houses. The last attempt made at striking a balance was the...

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Second Stage (27 Apr 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ..., system is, in essence, as the Minister will know, the outworking of the agreed system for judicial appointments after the major disagreements that occurred between the Fianna Fáil-Labour Party Government in the mid-1990s on the appointment then of Harry Whelehan, Attorney General, to the presidency of the High Court. The Minister will be aware I, as a member of that Government,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Ukraine's Application for Membership of the European Union: Engagement with Ambassador of Ukraine. (15 Mar 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ...response of their nations and peoples to the unprecedented crisis that has unfolded because of the viciousness of one individual. I hope the discussions we have had today will be the start of an ongoing dialogue because, while we have gathered an enormous amount of information, this situation is going to evolve and we will interact again. The ambassador, H.E. Ms Sochaska, referred to...

Proposal for a Council Decision on Hate Speech and Hate Crime: Motion (9 Mar 2022)

Brendan Howlin: ...circumstance or alternatively that such motivation can be taken into account in determining the penalties. Hate crimes and hate speech are very important matters for our times. We look forward to the legislation coming before the House so that we can deal with these in more detail. These matters go to the core of our humanity, the essence of being a person that all people can be in...

Proceeds of Crime (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill 2020: Second Stage [Private Members] (16 Dec 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ..., Deputy Browne. I am very conscious that this is the last item of business in a very busy schedule, a unique schedule in many ways. It is important that individual Members still have the right to bring forward legislation and it is with great pride that I present a Bill that enjoyed cross-party support when I introduced it on First Stage. I believe it is an important part of...

Appointment of Member and Chair of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (15 Dec 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. I had long discussions with former ombudsman Nuala O'Loan, who came to Dublin and spoke to a variety of groups here about her experiences in Northern Ireland. The Irish Government, after a lot of urging, decided to have a commission rather than an arrangement modelled on that in Northern Ireland. We are going to adjust that now in the new...

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...have failed? How many investigations have reached the point of "if only we could prove this net point, we could prosecute". We do not know that. Deputy Connolly's amendment No. 5 provides that going forward we should be armed with that data. That is not only a reasonable proposal, it is an essential one. The amendment provides that the Minister shall, on an annual basis following the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...mind. We need to ensure we provide adequate housing and showering facilities for our enlisted personnel. I would like the Minister to state that this would be prioritised in the development plan going forward. I also want to ask him about the promised secondary school on the site. Apparently there are still legal difficulties with the transfer of title of same. Is the Department in...

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (4 Nov 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...park in Wexford town, no more than a mile from my own home. Eight Turkish males, including four children, were found suffocated inside that sealed box. Five others miraculously survived. I remember going to Wexford General Hospital that day. I remember in particular talking to the then parish priest of Wexford, Fr. Jim Fegan, whom the Minister of State would know well. He was one of...

Garda Siochana (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Sep 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...these proposals is now to be done at the larger divisional level. As we have heard, there are to be no more Garda districts. Like the trawl that my own former Department, that of Public Expenditure and Reform, had to go through, one must go through every statute to find where there is reference to a Garda division. That throws up hundreds of statutes, often going back to Victorian...

Private Security Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 May 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...to 2004 believed that individuals involved in situations such as that which arose in 2018 would be covered but clearly they were not. Sinn Féin and Deputy Ó Laoghaire proposed a very straightforward Bill to extend the list of covered individuals under the Private Security Services Act to include those private security firms involved in the enforcement of court orders. The...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (28 Apr 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...is in the mind of Members of the Oireachtas in determining criminal sanctions, namely, the effect of a deterrent. Thus, clarity, consistency and acting as a deterrent are the normal arguments put forward for mandatory sentences. However, there is an argument against, namely, that every case is different and every set of circumstances is unique. As we listen in more and more to court...

Children (Amendment) Bill 2020 [Seanad]: Second Stage (11 Mar 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...the opportunity to speak on this short but important piece of legislation. I was a member of the committee that worked on the Children Act in 2000. As I recall, that legislation took a year to go through the Houses. There was very detailed committee consideration and nobody around the table envisaged that section 252 would be interpreted in the way it has been. The president of the...

Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (27 Jan 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...by all of us in pressing that legislation. Obviously investigations take some time, and obviously they have to be done in a degree of secrecy because people's reputations are at stake, but there needs to be an ongoing explanation to people as to what is happening. The recent killing of George Nkencho will require not only a robust independent investigation but also an explanation, as...

EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement: Motion (20 Jan 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...place to make it more difficult to have trade. We will have to parse and analyse many parts of it as their actual effect is focused upon. As such, this is far from being the end. There will be ongoing and deep negotiations for a protracted period - forever in fact, because all of our trade agreements and trade interactions with the UK will be subject to ongoing evolution and...