Results 2,861-2,880 of 4,153 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Inquiries (16 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I listened to the Minister's reply. It truly goes to the heart of this matter. Most of us will probably have met Lucia O'Farrell at some point over the last number of years. She has been a dedicated warrior to get justice for her son. The problem we have in this State is that, when a mistake is made, the initial reaction of many State agencies is to cover it up and then to cover up the...

Co-ordination of International Protection Services: Statements (16 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: In the past year, since the illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we have seen large numbers of people from Ukraine come to Ireland. They come here legally under the EU's temporary protection directive and under international law we are, of course, obliged to accommodate and facilitate these people who are fleeing war. We have also seen large numbers of people come to Ireland...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister. I apologise, as I was late in coming in for his opening remarks. In regard to An Garda Síochána and the additional funding put in place, the real issue as I see it across the entire process here is about recruitment and retention in the first instance. It is really turning into a crisis situation. I acknowledge the targets the Government have had but those...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I reiterate what Deputy Ó Ríordáin has said. I met with Caron McCaffrey, the head of the Irish Prison Service, on this issue, along with her colleague Fergal Black. One of the issues that struck me was that the point of prison has to be to ensure we build a better society and people do not go back into the cycle of reoffending, going in and out of prison. That seems to be a...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: Is it possible to make some Garda stations that were closed available for the same purpose?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: The Minister has mentioned that there are just over 4,400 prisoners in Irish prisons, which means that in some cases there are three persons in each cell. Overcrowding is a real issue. Overcrowding has an impact on the mental health of prisoners and on prison staff who must deal with the results of a highly stressed environment. I do not advocate that we build more space and we should not...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: The Minister has mentioned judges and how a report was due to arrive on his desk.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I hope that the report tells him what everybody has told us. Everybody, including members of the Judiciary, the legal profession and the Courts Service, have told us that there is a crisis situation in all of the court systems, and particularly an acute situation in family law in the District Courts and Circuit Courts. That situation is primarily due to not having enough judges to deal with...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I want to go through a couple of things in the Department of Justice Vote, specifically the issue of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and the commitment from the Department to establish how it will look after that, deal with it and work to propagate and provide a service for those who are in the most dire situations. It almost goes back to the Courts Service part of the Vote...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: This is an issue for which we in Ireland have a particular responsibility because the headquarters of many of the large multinational data centres are located here. This is their home address, whether or not all their activity happens here. This puts a huge onus on the State, in a European context and probably in a worldwide context as well, to act appropriately on this issue. My...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I cannot.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: The present definition of hate is legally adhered to as it stands at the moment. In changing it, we are trying to be more descriptive to reflect what we see raising its head more and more in our society. I take the point that has been made from a legal perspective. Common sense can be one thing while law can often be an entirely different thing. That is what we are faced with here. I...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I move amendment No. 4: In page 6, to delete lines 7 and 8 and substitute the following: “ “hate” includes bias, prejudice, contempt, hostility and bigotry; “hatred” means a state of mind characterised as intense and irrational emotions of enmity or detestation against a person or a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I move amendment No. 12: In page 6, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following: “(i) sexual orientation, (j) migration status, or (k) disability.”. I will withdraw the amendment on the basis that the Minister will look at the issue of migration status. It has been the focus of much of this in recent times.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I move amendment No. 40: In page 10, to delete lines 9 to 11 and substitute the following: “ “protected characteristic”, in relation to a person or a group of persons, means any of the characteristics specified in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g) of the definition of that term in section 3(1);”.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I move amendment No. 47: In page 11, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: "11.For the purposes of this Part, any material or behaviour is not taken to incite violence or hatred against a person or group of persons on account of their membership or presumed membership of a group defined by reference to protected characteristics solely on the basis that that material or...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (21 Feb 2023)

Martin Kenny: I will withdraw amendment No. 47 on the understanding that the Minister will examine the issue in further depth. We may come back to it on Report Stage.