Results 3,361-3,380 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (12 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: A response has issued to the correspondence of 10 November 2003. The matters raised in the more recent correspondence referred to by the Deputy are currently under consideration.

Central Statistics Office Report. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is not true. It is the exact opposite of the truth.

Central Statistics Office Report. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: There has been a decrease in the rate in each of the last two years.

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together. I have outlined previously to the House the extensive range of measures which have been taken to deal with the types of crime referred to in the questions. Those measures will, of course, continue. I have been concerned for some time, and this is a concern shared on all sides of the House, that serious offences which have been taking place...

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I welcome Deputy O'Keeffe's support for getting on with the core legislative requirements to deal with the problem. Although some of the provisions of the Criminal Justice Bill are controversial, most of the central ones, such as detention, search and scene preservation powers will assist the Garda Síochána in the fight against this kind of crime. Regarding crime involving organised gangs,...

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——and a very serious offence for which the penalty is life imprisonment. I heard Deputy O'Keeffe on radio discussing whether we should regard hostage-taking as a separate species, so to speak, but we should remember that the penalty for false imprisonment can be life imprisonment. I do not want to speak entirely off the cuff, but perhaps a case can be made for a minimum sentence where a...

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I act in conjunction with the Garda Commissioner in the allocation of funds. Operation Crossover, to which the Deputy referred, was a successful operation. It targeted specific areas on the western side of this city and had a significant effect.

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: We are by no means back to square one. There was a significant improvement in the situation arising from Operation Crossover. I attended the opening of a new offenders' transition home in the Blanchardstown area some days ago and, on that occasion, voluntary groups who are concerned with crime in the Blanchardstown area reported to me that there had been a dramatic improvement in policing in...

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is important that when we engage in a certain type of expenditure, we keep it under review to assess whether it has lost its vitality and whether it is yielding dividends.

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: It would be easy to simply tell the Garda Commissioner that he can have as much money as he wants which can be spent as he wishes, but I cannot do that and I accept the Deputy is not inviting me to do it. I cannot operate on the basis of proclaiming that there is no limit to overtime and that the Garda can do what it wants at any time. If that psychology took hold, we would simply see...

Crime Levels. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I could click my fingers and demand that it be done tomorrow but if it is necessary to buy equipment and to establish new training regimes for the workforce and so forth, time is required. However, I should make clear to the chairmen of the banks, most of whom I know personally and whom I hope will hear my remarks because they keep an eye on what happens in this House, that I am not bluffing...

Garda Investigations. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: There is no difference between my reply to certain parliamentary questions on 12 April 2005 and the factual position on this matter vis-À-vis the British authorities. On 12 April last, I stated in this House that outstanding issues relate to the awaited results of a mutual assistance request to the British authorities and certain police-to-police inquiries with the Police Service of Northern...

Garda Investigations. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I do not intend to publish the interim Garda report which I received some weeks ago or the final results of the Garda investigation. However, I have undertaken to contact the Fullerton family's solicitors with a full response to their concerns, including action I deem appropriate or necessary by way of further investigation. I reject categorically suggestions, one of which was made in public,...

Departmental Properties. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: I assume the Deputy is referring to the four properties purchased in 2000 by the Office of Public Works to accommodate asylum seekers in Rosslare, Carlow, Donnybrook and Macroom, which were not brought into use together with the leasing arrangement entered into by OPW in 2002 for the construction of a custom-built accommodation facility in Kilkenny. I will set out the circumstances that gave...

Departmental Properties. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: The properties that were the subject of recent controversy were all acquired before I became Minister. There is no question of largesse on my part to anybody in regard to them.

Departmental Properties. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: If the Deputy has information that money I or my predecessor expended is ultimately going to criminal or paramilitary beneficiaries, I would like to receive it. I will act immediately on foot of such information and try to confirm it. If confirmed, I would take every step to get the CAB to recover such moneys. The House is not the place to discuss these matters but if the Deputy comes to me...

Departmental Properties. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: If the Deputy has information about sweetheart deals, I would like to hear it. If he brings the information to the Committee of Public Accounts, the deals will be fully investigated. However, if I can conduct an investigation sooner than the committee, I will do so. We should be fair and the Deputy will appreciate the open tendering procedure is fraught with difficulty in these matters. At...

Departmental Properties. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: If people become aware properties are being tendered to the State, there will be a massive outcry every time such a competition is held because every time somebody says he or she has a property, there will be a major problem.

Irish Prison Service. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: The second annual report of the Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention is a substantial document, which raises many diverse issues and concerns of the inspector. It would not be appropriate for me to indicate in the course of this reply, the action already taken or being taken to address each item of concern raised by the inspector. The report is very lengthy, but if the Deputies wish...

Irish Prison Service. (17 May 2005)

Michael McDowell: Deputy Cuffe will be happy to know that I intend to make provision for an independent prison inspectorship in the new prison rules, which will be published in the coming weeks. On the question of my role regarding the inspector's reports, having considered them it has been my habit to publish them. The only circumstance that has prevented me from publishing all of his reports was legal...