Results 7,961-7,980 of 10,321 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I do not have a problem with changing it so it is symbolic.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Stations (25 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 219. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of the 111 Garda stations not connected to the Garda network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38546/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Stations (25 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 220. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 222 of 12 July 2018, the detail of each Garda station that does not have access to the Internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38547/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed-Circuit Television Systems (25 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 224. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations that operate CCTV in the custody area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38764/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Funding (25 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 225. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of funding provided to a charity (details supplied) in each of the years 2008 to 2018 in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38774/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Funding (25 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 226. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of funding provided to each rape crisis centre in each of the years 2008 to 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38775/18]

BusConnects: Motion [Private Members] (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I will go first. I wish to start by acknowledging the very good service Dublin Bus provides to the people of Dublin. That is not said frequently enough. Dublin Bus has a very loyal customer base. It provides an efficient and reliable service. The one issue with Dublin Bus at present that anyone travelling around the city in the evening or morning can see is that there are huge numbers of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Light Rail Projects (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister for being here ahead of time. The reason for tabling this Topical Issue matter is that a number of weeks ago I met a group of residents living in a place not far from here called College Gate on Townsend Street in Dublin 2. The reason they contacted me was that they were particularly anxious about the fact that the plan for MetroLink which was published a number of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Light Rail Projects (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Like the Minister and, I suspect, every person in this House, I think MetroLink is a good idea. The city requires such an underground service. In fact, the sooner we have it the better because there is a difficulty for people travelling from the outskirts of the city into the centre quickly. We have seen from another transport proposal, BusConnects, that the intention is to try to get...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister for his opening statement. I echo the Chairman's remarks. I have an open mind in respect of this issue, although I have an inclination towards deletion. Everyone agrees that the provision is inappropriate, outdated and sexist and that it needs to change. There is no dispute about that in this room. The issue is whether the provision should be changed through...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: The eighth amendment, when introduced in 1983, did create chaos in many respects in terms of its uncertainty and how it was interpreted by the courts but that should not make us nervous about amending any provision within our Constitution. It is clearly the case that the current article, Article 41.2, is legally meaningless. It has been referred to in cases but it does not constitute an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I will conclude and I share the Minister's concern. I would not like to see the creation of a new constitutional right forcing an obligation on the State to make payments. That is a matter for the Oireachtas to determine and I would not like to see the courts dictating to the State that sums of money should be paid. It should be viewed in the overall context of a social welfare budget. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the witnesses for their attendance. It is an interesting topic. I will start with the representatives from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. They are definitive and believe it should not be deleted but rather amended. The National Women's Council has a slightly different view as of yet. On what the commission has suggested should be put into the Constitution, does...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I do not criticise the commission for that. It would be unusual if a human rights body was not looking to advance socioeconomic rights. If that happens and it goes into the Constitution, we are then at large as to what can happen. The commission will want wording that is meaningful and that will give effect to rights it states people should have. Let us take the example of an 18 year old...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: The point about statutes is that a statute cannot limit a constitutional right. They can try to give effect to a constitutional right. I used the example of the 18 year old who looks after his or her sister from 2.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day because people can go to court when this right is put in there. While no statute would provide for it, the Constitution would say there is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I fundamentally agree with Ms Logan on that but the problem with creating a constitutional right, as we have seen before, is that extends beyond what was sometimes intended. It is not as though this will always have positive consequences; it can also have negative consequences because the social welfare budget for other areas is then attacked and the State has limited money. I am sure many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: But if in substance-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: The alternative view is that this is really a matter for elected representatives rather than have a High Court judge determine whether the extent of this constitutional right exists. I thank the witnesses. Have they read option 1 as put forward by the taskforce? I will read it out. It is purely symbolic. The proposal from the taskforce is that "the State recognises that home and family...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: But it would like something stronger.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I would also like to ask Ms O'Connor and Ms O'Malley-Dunlop some questions. I thank them for coming in. I thought Ms O'Connor's point a very practical and important one. We can talk about a referendum but there will be a campaign and we as politicians have a responsibility to ensure that what we put forward is likely to win. I listened very carefully to what Ms O'Connor was saying about a...