Results 5,561-5,580 of 13,254 for speaker:Seán Sherlock

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I apologise.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: The wording is clear. I apologise to the Minister. Section 37(1) states, "one or more members of staff of the Office of the Commissioner may be the subject of such an appointment".

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: The investigation officer can enter and "search any premises in or at which the officer has reasonable grounds for believing there may be found any document or thing relevant to an investigation being conducted under this Chapter and may seize and remove any document or thing so relevant that he or she finds in or at the premises." If this power is being conferred on the deputy commissioner,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I am not saying that at all and do not want to be associated with that comment.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I do not want to be associated with that comment because I am not saying that. I just want a deeper understanding of the dynamic that is at play here in relation to the power of the deputy commissioner and his or her staff.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: Yes, but what is inherent in the legislation is that the commissioner has the powers and the power to appoint a deputy commissioner. Whether or not the investigation officer proceeds by virtue of an appointment internally by the deputy commissioner or the commissioner, the commissioner can still do what is outlined anyway. What is pertinent here is that the legislation provides for entering...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I accept the changes and the motivation. Would it be possible for a report to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, perhaps annually? I do not want to anonymise the efforts but I am referring to a report stating publicly the number of cases that have been investigated or where these powers have been used. In that way we would have a sense of how this new legislation will take shape....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: Okay.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I said "anonymise". I did not say we should publicly name people.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: The presumption is innocence. We have to vindicate a person's good name as well. I do not believe any of us are against this legislation but we want to make sure that sufficient checks and balances are built into the investigatory powers provisions to ensure that nobody acts in a nefarious fashion to bring somebody down, so to speak, in a malevolent way. We want to make sure that the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I have a semantic question. Section 39(1)(a) states "consider the evidence (including documents or other things)". What is that?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I thank the Minister.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: Is this a semi or quasi-judicial process?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: Are the contents of that section similar to criminal proceedings per sein common law?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: It is judicial.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: On section 40(13)(c), which refers to "enabling the person, the subject of the investigation, and complainant (if any) or a person representing the complainant to be present at the relevant sitting", does that mean legal representation?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I just wanted to get that on the record.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: I understand what privilege means in the context of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Can the Minister please explain what it means in layman's terms for the purposes of this section?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: Yes.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Data (11 Apr 2017)

Seán Sherlock: 323. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of fire and safety inspections that have been carried out in each local authority, in tabular form, on new builds in each local authority area; and if these inspections have passed approved regulations. [18162/17]