Results 381-400 of 498 for speaker:Séamus McGrath
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I am not being rude, but can we be brief with the answers because the clock is ticking?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I thank Ms Toale. I turn to the Garda Reserve. According to the 2023 accounts, €123,000 was spent versus a budget of €1.395 million, which is a significant underutilisation of the budget on the Garda Reserve. Where do we stand with that? Is the service of the Garda Reserve a core part of the service now, or has it diminished in recent times?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: It is still very much part of the Garda service.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: That is perfect. I turn to civilian staff. The public wants to see gardaí visible on the streets and part of the argument is that civilian staff would assist in the work carried out in Garda stations. Where does the Garda stand on recruitment of civilian staff versus the budget that has been provided for that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: The Commissioner is on record saying that he would like to see the Garda force at approximately 18,000. Is that still his view in the context of providing the service required?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I turn to the provision of the service, how it is on a national basis and whether there is equality in the provision of service. What I am getting at is the allocation of gardaí to various districts and divisions. I will be a bit local and ask about the Cork city division, which is an area that feels under resourced in allocations. Following recent attestations, the allocations to...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I will stay on the theme of service and value for money with our Garda stations. I represent a constituency where Garda stations in large urban areas are simply not open. They are not accessible, manned or staffed. I live in Carrigaline, which is a town of 20,000 people, with a hinterland of more than 30,000. There are a number of Garda stations in Passage West, Crosshaven and Carrigaline...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I appreciate that. The Commissioner knows the importance of people being able to walk into a Garda station locally and speak to whom they consider to be a local garda. It is important and that familiarity is the bedrock of An Garda Síochána in the area of community policing. I appreciate him saying that. I turn to the non-public duty events and what the C and AG has...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: In his opening statement, Mr. Harris referred to air support and the acquisition of two new helicopters and a fixed-wing plane. These seem very welcome. We are moving towards more modern methods of policing and so on, and in this regard the deployment of the technology is very welcome. Have we one helicopter currently?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: Typically, how often are the aircraft deployed each week?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: That is good. The staffing of the aircraft, with pilots and so on, is all in train. May I turn to the issue of GoSafe, which the Comptroller and Auditor General has highlighted? Between 2022 and 2023, there seems to have been less paid in respect of the GoSafe service. Does that mean there was less GoSafe activity in terms of speed enforcement? It appears that we bring in more from the...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I thank the witnesses.
- Middle East: Statements (2 Jul 2025)
Séamus McGrath: I thank the Minister for being here to facilitate the debate on the Middle East. All of us in the House can agree on how horrified we are by what we are seeing on our televisions day in, day out in terms of the atrocities that are taking place in the Middle East. The massacre of human life is absolutely atrocious. A number of years ago we would not have expected to witness this in the year...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I have a couple of quick questions and I ask that the answers to them be brief. Regarding recruitment and trying to build up the numbers, I was contacted by someone who had to resign from the force for family reasons but is now seeking reinstatement. The individual's application has been before Garda management for several months. The person believes the application is bundled together...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: It is important to try to speed up the process as much as possible. There may be issues to resolve but these people are trained and qualified. In the case I mentioned, the individual's application seems to be stuck in a bundle with three or four other applications.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: I appreciate it. On the CCTV issue the Cathaoirleach raised, the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 cleaned up some of the issues with data protection and so on. The local authorities have repeatedly said they do not have the budgets to install CCTV, so it appears the money has to come from either An Garda Síochána or the Department of justice. Is any...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: That is welcome. I have time for a final question. We have seen high-profile cases where members of the force have been suspended while an investigation is ongoing. I do not want to go into individual cases other than to mention the instance involving the bicycle. In that case, the suspension was apparently for up to four years. Has the system been reformed such that investigations can...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (26 Jun 2025) Séamus McGrath: Ninety-seven is a high number of gardaí who are no longer on duty. I presume they are on pay while they are suspended, which amounts to a significant amount of public money. It is important that these processes are sped up as much as possible.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025) Séamus McGrath: I thank all the witnesses for being here. I am the last in the line so I apologise if there is some repetition. I will take a step back to the 2021 report. What sparked the report?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025) Séamus McGrath: Was there specific concern around referrals to private practice?