Results 6,281-6,300 of 7,584 for speaker:Rónán Mullen

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I thank the Minister for his response, which I note is also in good faith. We have a civil disagreement here about the overall impact this Bill would have. The House is in danger of forgetting the psychological context in which whistleblowing must take place and the environment we need to create. We are coming from behind here. Let us remember what there has been in this country on issues...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: On the distinction between the civil and criminal standard, is the Minister stating that the words "misleading, frivolous or vexatious" do not add anything? Would he object, for example, if subsection (3) were to provide that a person who makes a communication under subsection (1), which he or she knows to be false, misleading, frivolous or vexatious, to the effect that another has committed...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: Does that mean the Minister is giving a lower level of immunity to the whistleblower? If the Minister is saying the reason he is not including it in the criminal part is that it would be more difficult to prove what a person said was misleading, frivolous or vexatious, does it not follow that the Minister is exposing such a person to something that would be easier to prove in a civil context...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 7: In page 8, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: "(b) an official of the Standards in Public Office Commission, (c) an official of the An Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, (d) an official of the An Garda Síochána Inspectorate, (e) an official of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, (f) an official of the Central Bank and Financial...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I will press this amendment because given the psychological context we are trying to create I do not believe it is sufficient an argument to state this would have the effect of interposing certain organisations. To some extent, it is in the eye of the beholder as to who ought to be the receiver of the information. I can think of many situations where a whistleblower might wish to report to...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: On a point of order, I wish to table an amendment on Report Stage in regard to a matter that has been previously discussed.

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: The Minister will be accused of filibustering if he is not careful.

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I have been very engaged by the previous speakers' comments. Having considered Senator Bacik's argument, I am starting to lean against her proposition to introduce the word "suspicion" given what can happen when people are irresponsible in the formation of a certain opinion. Be that as it may, while I may have misunderstood Senator Regan, having thought about his argument, I am not sure the...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I will offer a rationale for my amendment in due course.

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I might persuade both Senators.

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: That is making a swansong.

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: If the Minister could at least form a suspicion, as distinct from an opinion, he might-----

Seanad: Business of Seanad (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: What would constitute a sufficiently expansive gap?

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: This amendment is closely related to the previous amendment proposed. It might be of use to think of this in terms of a situation where a person has second-hand rather than first-hand knowledge. Are we discussing the facilitation of potential whistleblowers who do not have a direct handle on the evidence of wrong-doing but who are, say, approached by a person they trust within an...

Seanad: Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed). (1 Dec 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, lines 26 to 29, to delete all words from and including "misleading," in line 26 down to and including "vexatious," in line 29. In many ways, what we have been discussing recently and what I am proposing concern different paths up the mountain. We want to achieve a culture of transparency in which people will not feel there will be a chilling effect in...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (30 Nov 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I join others in congratulating Senator Doherty on his election to the Dáil. At the rate at which people are leaving politics it might almost seem indecent to say I intend to stay on.

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (30 Nov 2010)

Rónán Mullen: What does the Leader think of what the prison chaplains have said in recent days? When the State's prison chaplains say current prison policy is a disaster, they have to be taken seriously. When they say conditions in many prisons are an insult to the dignity of any human being and an affront to the basic tenets of decency, does the Leader not think we should take them seriously?

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (30 Nov 2010)

Rónán Mullen: When the prison chaplains point out that at one point last year 129 prisoners did not even have a bed to sleep in and some did not even have a mattress to sleep on, does the Leader not think we should take them seriously? When they point out that there are over 800 assaults by prisoners on other prisoners each year-----

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (30 Nov 2010)

Rónán Mullen: I ask a Leader for a debate on the matter. The prison chaplains who are honest brokers and do not have a political agenda have pointed out that some of the attacks that took place on prisoners last year were fatal. Why is the Ombudsman for Children explicitly prohibited from investigating complaints and allegations made by young people in St. Patrick's Institution? Why is it the case that...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (30 Nov 2010)

Rónán Mullen: Does the Leader agree that whatever about the Government's general political legacy, it has shown little desire to view prison and prisoners as anything more than a numbers game and that there has been an attempt to consider our justice system-----