Results 141-160 of 10,057 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am not sure about that.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I cannot give him the detail as to why. What was the 4,885?

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: That would not necessarily mean a significant majority of them would translate into fixed charges.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I will have a look again, but we cannot have a situation where we are going out of our way to ensure every complaint results in a fixed-charge fine being involved.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: We have to be reasonable with people.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I hope that does not happen.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: My understanding is that the increase in the Garda resources in Dublin city centre has involved very large numbers of the people passing-out from Templemore in the past two tranches being allocated to Store Street and Pearse Street. In fairness, part of the issue Deputy Kelly and others may have a concern about is the question of why they are all going to Dublin, but there is a plan there....

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: We can agree on this: we need to recruit as many gardaí as we can.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: The more we have, the more confidence it is going to give to the local communities. We are in an unusual position in this country in that every community, including his and mine, wants to see more gardaí. Whatever constituency or community we go to, people want to see more gardaí on the street. Some countries do not have that and the people want to see the police force out of the...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It has.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Okay.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I hope this will not happen and I think it is unlikely. This is my assessment in respect of it. I have no doubt this project will need to be tinkered with and changed as it progresses but I welcome the fact that Deputy Gannon agrees it is a worthwhile policy to start.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: All I can say is that I have seen the CAST project in Limerick and we need to roll it out throughout the country. I hope this will operate in the same way, and that we have people such as drug counsellors working in collaboration with the Garda. Gardaí will have to know where they are going to refer somebody. This will put in place a system for gardaí to refer somebody, and...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I appreciate that. Five or six weeks ago I launched with the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, a programme to try to give confidence to people to be able to confront the harassment and intimidation they get from drug dealers. I have been contacted by people in my constituency who have said their child is being threatened, and they are asking what they...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Yes, it is very good.

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Deputy Brabazon. I am limited in what I can do in respect of trying to change the pension schemes that operate for certain public sector workers. I have listened to the GRA in respect of it. I know it is not as attractive a scheme as the previous one was. It may be having an impact on recruitment but what I think is probably having more of an impact is the competitive nature of...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: Recently I introduced a new statutory instrument in respect of disciplinary rules and performance rules in An Garda Síochána, and this sets out a new procedure. I certainly want to see any procedure expedited and dealt with as quickly as possible. Any person suspended from their employment deserves to have the allegation against them determined as quickly as possible. I note what...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: At the two attestations I have been at, I was impressed by the fact that some of the people were clearly over 35 years of age. There is a benefit to this. People are well able to do Garda work after the age of 35 so there is no reason we should not be recruiting them. As Deputy Brabazon has said, the allowance is €354 at present. I want to see how we will get on in terms of the...

Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (24 Jun 2025)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is a fairly straight question, in fairness to Deputy Ward. It is my ambition to get to 5,000 but I will not get 1,000 this year. I am dependent on getting more than 1,000 in the next four years. The number at present in An Garda Síochána is 14,227. We also have the Garda Reserve and Garda staff who do lot of the work gardaí used to do. We are getting more gardaí...