Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 December 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021

Photo of James LawlessJames Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will move on to the next member. The Deputy has made very strong points but he has taken up a little more than seven minutes. We might come back to him in the second round. To add to his litany of points, I also suggest there is a degree of postcode lottery in terms of special sittings. Some districts can convene a special sitting within hours, while others can take until Monday morning, which backs up the Deputy's real-world examples.

They may get a better sitting, but they may have to travel to the criminal courts of justice for it. They are then outside their own district and a postcode lottery is at play in some of the scenarios the Deputy has described, just to add to his long list.