Results 6,521-6,540 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: Section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 amended the 1977 Act to put in an interpretation clause. The clause emphasised that the decision to depart from the presumptive minimum sentence of ten years must be based on the presence of exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence or the offender which would make it unjust in all the circumstances to impose a sentence of not...

Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: A new IT project is being trialled, led by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham on the implementation of the Irish sentencing information system, ISIS, to allow judges to have consistency of sentencing. They will be able to access a database to see the norm for offences they might be trying. The database is fairly well complete, has been trialled in one area and is being trialled in a second area. It...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together. The context in which financial provision has been made by the Government for the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority for 2009 was outlined in the Budget Statement of 14 October last. While I accept the reduced budgets will cause difficulties in both cases, sufficient funding has been provided to the bodies to enable them...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The Equality Authority was established in 1997 with an annual budget of €378,000. It now has an annual budget of €5.9 million, although it has been reduced this year. Over its 11 years of existence, the authority has received funding of €47 million. I will comment on the proposed cut. I can give some suggestions. I am not in any way trying to kill off the Equality Authority, which...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: When I examined the annual accounts of the Equality Authority last week, I was astounded to see that it is paying an annual rent of €402,000 for its premises on Harcourt Street. If I remember correctly, it spends a further €30,000 or €40,000 on parking. A premises has been rented in Roscrea for €102,000. Twenty staff are already in place at that location, in line with the...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The campaign cost €230,000. I have made it clear to the Equality Authority and all other bodies under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform that I do not want them to produce any more glossy brochures or reports. Such documents should be made available on a disk. I do not want any more of the fanfare we have seen when reports are launched.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I have said what the saving will be.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: There is no embarrassment. We introduced the legislation that set up the authority.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: There is no embarrassment. We are not endeavouring to gut any organisation, not least the Equality Authority. I have justified my decision to do what I have to do. I accept that significant cuts will be imposed on these bodies. I abolished a number of bodies. I decided to focus on some of the more soft issues in the Department to achieve a significant reduction. I repeat that Deputy...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The Deputy does not get many from me.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I reject the assertion that I have given anything other than frank responses. I have also outlined suggestions as to where the Equality Authority can make savings. There will not be a parallel organisation in Roscrea when decentralisation is completed.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The staff are being decentralised to Roscrea. It was not that they alone were identified.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The decision was made at budget time by the Government that decentralisation could continue where Departments had rented property in locations and had staff resident in them. That is what happened in regard to the Equality Authority and Roscrea. I have asked my officials to tell all the organisations that I do not want a fanfare. It was the case that organisations attached to my Department...

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: We are listening to exhortations of people like the Deputies who criticised us for having all these quangos.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: When we make an effort to rationalise and make savings, the Deputies criticise us.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The Labour Party kept quiet about what it would cut. Deputy Rabbitte sat on the fence. At least Fine Gael came out with its proposed cuts.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: One member of Fine Gael came up with the cuts while the other members decided they would ask for everything. They want it both ways.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: Fine Gael does not give recognition to the fact that the Equality Tribunal is the one body that affects real people.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I have not.

State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I only sanctioned this in the full knowledge that I was concentrating on crime.