Results 2,621-2,640 of 9,252 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Rights and Equality in the Context of Brexit: Discussion (23 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: It is like everything with Brexit; it is very complicated and unpredictable. People do not know the consequences of it. If Brexit happens, as sure as night follows day, there will be quick attempts to remove the United Kingdom from the Council of Europe and to shake off the European Convention on Human Rights. Most of the criticism of the institutions made by certain sections of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Rights and Equality in the Context of Brexit: Discussion (23 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Hear, hear.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (29 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 96. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of preparedness for a no-deal Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4181/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 30. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of serious offences which were not addressed as a result of administrative error or as a result of Garda negligence within Garda youth diversion projects; the actions that will be taken with regard to the cases; the additional oversight of the projects required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4427/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Minister of State will be aware that An Garda Síochána made an announcement a couple of weeks ago about a review it had carried out on the Garda youth diversion programme. The announcement indicated that there were a number of significant concerns about the programme. It showed that many children who were arrested or apprehended were not referred to the youth diversion...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Minister of State will agree that dealing with criminal activity by children is a serious issue. Unless children can be deterred and diverted from criminal activity by the time they reach 18 years of age, there is a strong likelihood they will continue on a criminal path. The Children Act was introduced in 2001 and it established the juvenile diversion programme, which has worked very...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Youth justice is an extremely important matter and I am pleased to hear the Minister of State say he has responsibility for it. Sometimes, it falls between the two stools of the Departments of Children and Youth Affairs and Justice and Equality, respectively. We must recognise that it was not just the children who were not referred to the youth diversion programme who were failed, it was...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Civil Partnership Legislation (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 32. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the ruling that the prohibition on testifying against a spouse extends only to married couples and not to civil partnerships or other forms of relationship; the actions he will take to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4428/19]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Civil Partnership Legislation (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am very aware of the ruling. A decision of the Court of Appeal made two weeks ago threw up a very interesting point for the Legislature. I do not want to deal with the details of the case but it concerned the rule that a spouse cannot be a compellable witness in a criminal trial. The argument made was whether it applied to people in civil partnerships or cohabiting people. The Court of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Civil Partnership Legislation (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister for his reply. This is obviously a complicated issue. To try to simplify the law as it stands, under the Criminal Evidence Act 1992, a spouse is not a comparable witness except in circumstances where an offence has been committed against that spouse, a child or a person under 17 years of age. The reason it is of significance to the Oireachtas is we now find ourselves...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Civil Partnership Legislation (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Another way of looking at it would be that we need to question whether there is a necessity to maintain the marital privilege provision, as the Minister refers to it. The Minister has a concern and the advice of a former Attorney General was that applying it to others in civil partnerships could create constitutional difficulties but perhaps consideration should be given to the existence of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Conventions (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 37. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to ratify the Budapest convention and the Lanzarote convention; the timeline for the ratification of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4179/19]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Conventions (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Ireland signed the Budapest convention on cybercrime in 2001 and the Lanzarote convention, which deals with the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, in 2007. When will the Minister ratify them?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Conventions (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: The online sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children is one of the most serious issues that any country can face. I am sure the Minister will appreciate that we cannot deal with on our own. It is an international problem and needs to be dealt with through international co-operation. That was the reason why the Council of Europe came up with these two conventions. The Budapest...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Conventions (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I hope I am not being unfair but based on what the Minister said, I take it that it is hoped that the Government will ratify these conventions this year. If that is so, it is to be welcomed, notwithstanding the fact that they should have been ratified a long time ago. We must recognise that international attention in this regard will focus on Ireland in due course. We have managed to...

Juvenile Crime: Motion [Private Members] (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I move:That Dáil Éireann: notes that:- a review of the Garda Youth Diversion Office (GYDO) recently carried out by An Garda Síochána has identified serious failings within the Garda Youth Diversion Programme (GYDP); - the review examined 158,521 youth referrals, relating to 57,386 individual children, which were created on the Police Using Leading Systems Effectively...

Juvenile Crime: Motion [Private Members] (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank all the Deputies who contributed to this debate, which has been a very good one. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to read the countermotion put forward by the Government. I will read it carefully and if it can be agreed, it will be. However, I will need to defer that decision until tomorrow because I have not read it. Although this debate started because of the recent...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 74. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated cost of domestic violence to the economy per year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4178/19]

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am glad the Deputy is not pressing this amendment because I agree with the Minister of State. The amendment would make section 4 excessively restrictive. I acknowledge the Deputy is concerned that it may be too qualified but if the provision at the end of section 2A is deleted, it would be unconstitutional. It is just stating that it shall not be deemed reasonable if special treatment...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (30 Jan 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: The Chairman is correct to be concerned and it may be better to leave the amendment until Report Stage.