Results 9,341-9,360 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Topical Issue Debate: Child Detention Centres (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: Judge Reilly indicated that as part of the disciplinary processes, young people aged 17 were being denied family visits. A stop was put to that practice on 1 May last, as soon as we learned that was a difficulty. No matter what disciplinary issues are evident, when children are in prison, it is important - no matter the background - that some contact is maintained with family members. That...

Topical Issue Debate: Child Detention Centres (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I will commence by thanking Deputies Niall Collins and Ó Ríordáin for raising this important matter and for the opportunity to speak on the issues arising from the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention's report on St. Patrick's Institution, which I published yesterday. I would like to begin by thanking the inspector, Judge Michael Reilly, for his report. He has a...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Strength (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy well knows, it is nonsense for the purpose of rhetoric to suggest the Garda is not getting support. It has my full support and that of the Government. However, we must live in a world of reality, from which the Deputy is semi-detached. This year, the State requires to borrow €16 billion simply to maintain services. We entered into government under the shadow of an...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Strength (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I heard what he had to say about the petrol bomb incident. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that I cannot refer to the detail of a matter that is under investigation by An Garda Síochána in the House. The Deputy will be aware that the allocation of resources by the Commissioner is constantly monitored in the context of crime trends,...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: There are what I describe as due process provisions expressly contained in the legislation. For example, in relation to dealing with soft information, the person being vetted must be informed about what information is available and be given the opportunity, through the processes prescribed in the legislation, to address it if he or she believes it to be untrue or inaccurate in some way. ...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 17: In page 19, subsection (4), line 46, to delete “subsection (2)” and substitute “subsection (3)”.This amendment simply corrects a cross-referencing error in the Bill and has no other function.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 19: In page 25, subsection (1), line 37, to delete “16(3)” and substitute “16(4)”.This is a technical amendment to correct a cross-referencing error in the Bill.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 21: In page 28, lines 39 to 44, to delete paragraph 6 and substitute the following:“6. Any work or activity which consists of the provision of advice, guidance or developmental services (including by means of electronic interactive communications) to children unless the provision of the advice, guidance or developmental service is merely incidental to the provision...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 22: In page 30, lines 14 to 20, to delete subparagraphs (e) and (f).This is a minor amendment to delete these two sub-paragraphs because they duplicate the provisions already contained in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this part of the Schedule.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 23: In page 30, lines 37 to 43, to delete paragraph 5 and substitute the following:“5. Any work or activity which consists of the provision of advice, guidance or developmental services (including by means of electronic interactive communications) to vulnerable persons unless the provision of the advice, guidance or developmental service is merely incidental to the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I very much appreciate the work the committee did when we published the heads of the Bill and I read with great interest the committee's proceedings and the report it produced. The fact that we were able to have a smooth Committee Stage debate is indicative of the value of that type of input before we publish a Bill. I am looking forward to similar input in other areas and in that context,...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy can resubmit any amendments we have not voted on and if we agree with the Deputy's amendment on Committee Stage, we will bring forward a similar amendment on Report Stage. I do not mind whose amendment we use if we get advice from the Attorney General that we are not creating any unintended consequences.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: The bureau will access the PULSE system on which convictions or pending prosecutions are recorded. In effect, gardaí record the information and there is no reason for the vetting bureau to access it unless a vetting request is submitted for someone who has applied for a post involving children or vulnerable adults.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: The suggestion is that if someone has been vetted, deemed suitable and given employment, should something emerge later on that indicates unsuitability, the vetting bureau would report that to the employer or sporting organisation. I would ask for the opportunity to consider that. There may be difficulties as a result in the sense that we could not have a situation where if an incident...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: That is the principle.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I am sorry. I was looking at amendment No. 15 to section14. We have dealt with amendments Nos. 10, 12 and 14.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 11: In page 14, lines 1 to 20, to delete subsection (2) and substitute the following:“(2) The register of vetted persons shall contain the following information in respect of each vetted person:(a) his or her name and, where he or she also uses one or more other names, each of those names; (b) in a case where he or she has a former name, including where...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I move amendment No. 13: In page 16, lines 10 to 22, to delete subsection (5) and substitute the following: “(5) The following information is specified for the purposes of subsection (4)(b) in relation to a person in respect of whom an application for vetting disclosure is made:(a) his or her name and, where he or she also uses one or more other names, each of those names; (b) in a...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: This is an interesting amendment. In practical terms, the Garda has informal relationships with a variety of police forces around the world for vetting purposes. We cannot compel the police force of any other country to co-operate with us, but a number do. If we receive similar requests, we also co-operate. The Deputy is seeking to amend the section to provide expressly for something that...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Oct 2012)

Alan Shatter: I agree that we must adopt a precautionary principle. There is no doubt that the State, like every other state, has had the experience of individuals coming here with significant criminal records, some of them horrific, who have perpetrated horrendous crimes, including rape and murder, in this country. We are all aware of a number of cases in which that has occurred. However, in the...