Results 7,101-7,120 of 15,536 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment 15 In page 28, to delete lines 21 to 25 and substitute the following: "(f) in the case of a nomination for appointment to be a judge of the Court of Justice, an Advocate General of the Court of Justice or a judge of the General Court, he or she is qualified for appointment in accordance with the requirements of the TFEU,".

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: My understanding of the amendments is that there is no reference to removing the Attorney General in either of them. The Attorney General advises the Government but is not a member of the Government. The 1995 Act puts in place a specific recommendation that Attorneys General applying to the JAAB must recuse themselves from any involvement in the overall process. This would absolutely apply...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: Section 46 deals with interviews only but the addition of “has completed any other selection process” seems to have been taken from section 50, which works on its own. The intention is to make sure that everybody not just goes through interview but comes through the selection process. If we look at the functions of the commission, section 10 states: “The general...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I take this opportunity to raise with the committee my intention to consider one or two aspects of the interview requirement which may need an amendment later. The way we had worded it potentially suggests that all members of the commission must interview every person. As that is not the intention, we need to look at whether we will be prescriptive as to who needs to interview or how many...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: To group the amendments together, the only democratic input that there will be in this whole process after the change is essentially the decision to choose one of the three, and that is based on the fact that under the Constitution, the Government must retain the power to make a decision. If candidates are given a ranking of one, two or three, that obviously takes away any democratic...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: The whole point of the Bill is to amend the procedures that we have and to make sure that anybody who comes forward is suitable for the job and, first and foremost, that it is based on merit. Therefore, all three will now come based on merit and suitable for that particular role in whichever court, and all three will be capable of carrying out that job. Obviously, there is a provision here...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment No. 24: In page 37, lines 37 and 38, to delete all words from and including "The" in line 37 down to and including line 38 and substitute the following: "The Commission shall provide the Minister, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in so far as it relates to the judicial office of judge of the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court, with a...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment No. 25: In page 39, to delete lines 2 to 5 and substitute the following: "(ii) in the case of the judicial offices of judge of the Court of Justice, Advocate General of the Court of Justice or judge of the General Court— (I) the requirements of the TFEU, and (II) the criteria used by the panel, established under Article 255 of the TFEU, to assess candidates'...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment No. 26: In page 42, to delete lines 32 to 34 and substitute the following: "(i) the judicial offices of judge of the Court of Justice, Advocate General of the Court of Justice or judge of the General Court, any requirements of the TFEU concerning the procedures for selection of candidates for those judicial offices,".

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment No. 27: In page 43, to delete lines 31 to 35 and substitute the following: "(iii) the effectiveness of the procedures, set out in the statement of selection procedures, in achieving the objectives set out in section 39(2) in relation to membership of the judiciary in each court,".

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: This amendment presents the same challenges as previous ones. What the Deputy is proposing goes beyond what the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, is proposing in her Bill on the Irish language. It would preclude anyone who is unable to understand the Constitution in Irish as well as English from seeking appointment to the Supreme...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: For the reasons I set out in respect of the other amendments, I am not minded to accept this proposal.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 May 2022)

Helen McEntee: I again acknowledge the work done by the committee during pre-legislative scrutiny. It was very helpful even in getting to this point. As the Chair said, that process has worked very well for this Bill. I thank the committee for its work.

Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank Deputy Kenny for putting this amendment forward. I note the concerns of the Deputies. The primary objective, as Deputy Howlin has said, in bringing this legislation forward is to restore the system as it currently is. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, acknowledged yesterday the speed at which the legislation has come through. I very much appreciate Deputies' support and...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (16 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: I apologise for being late. I had hoped to be here from the start. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, for stepping in. As Senators probably have outlined, this is legislation we were not perhaps expecting. I really appreciate the response and speed at which we have received support from both Houses to pass it. That one court alone had 120 cases that had to be adjourned...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: I concur with colleagues that it is important for all of us to stress how grateful we are to An Garda Síochána for the work it does, not least throughout Covid. I do not think there was a day off for anybody and Garda members stood up where they were asked and went above and beyond their duties. On my behalf, I thank them for that. I fully agree with all the Senators that the...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: I thank my officials, who have worked very hard to get this Bill passed so quickly.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (14 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1280, 1295 to 1297, inclusive, and 1356 together. Persons leaving the State are not checked on exit. Therefore it is not possible to give a reliable estimate of persons on particular types of  immigration permissions who have left the State. As there are no definitive numbers on the persons required to leave the State on any given date,  my...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (14 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: A change of status application was received from the person referred to by the Deputy on 16 March 2022 and continues to be processed by my Department. To be fair to all applicants, applications are dealt with in chronological order by date received. My Department endeavours to process applications as quickly as possible. However, processing times may...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (14 Jun 2022)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy created an online Join Family (Non-EEA national spouse) visa application on 17 March 2022. The supporting documentation and relevant fees were applied on 13 April 2022 in the Manila Visa Office. These visa applications were received in my Department's Dublin Visa Office for further processing on 14 April 2022. Processing of this application is ongoing...