Results 7,321-7,340 of 18,729 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is standard practice for visiting Heads of State and other similar VIPs to make the Government, via the Department of Foreign Affairs, aware of any intention to visit or pass through the State so that any necessary security arrangements may be put in place to ensure an incident-free event from the perspectives of both the visiting VIP and the local communities. In the case of two stopovers...

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform does not decide the security arrangements at any event. Such decisions are for the operational judgment of gardaí under the Commissioner. I am not consulted in advance and have no input into Garda security arrangements. I do not micro-manage them. The strength of the Garda Síochána at either event or at any other is not dictated by me so my...

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am not acquainted with the websites that Deputy Gormley stares at in the early hours of the morning, but one of them, www.indymedia.ie, has in the past produced interesting footage. On this occasion, it produced footage — from outside — of the Progressive Democrats Party offices being ransacked by a group of Deputy Gormley's type of people.

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: It made interesting viewing. We downloaded it and sent it to the Garda for investigation.

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am merely saying that the party and viewpoint with which most people, including me, would most closely associate the anoraked group which descended on my party's offices would be the Deputy's.

Garda Deployment. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: There was muesli in the air and open-toed sandals on the street.

Garda Training. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Firearms training forms part of all specialist training conducted by the specialist training unit under the authority of the Garda College. I am advised by the Garda authorities that they have the use of Army firing ranges to facilitate Garda firearms training and have access to 12 such ranges countrywide. The total expenditure for the specialist training unit for 2005 was €1,959,266 which...

Garda Training. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I reject the suggestion that there is a crisis. The fact that more than 3,600 members of the Garda Síochána are issued annually with a certificate for which they undergo testing every year speaks for itself. In 1985 when two certain parties were in government an indoor range was built in Garda headquarters. This range is out of service and awaiting complete refurbishment because concerns...

Garda Training. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I assure the Deputy that if the Garda Commissioner asks me for resources for firearms training and makes proposals — he has already proposed the establishment of two centres — which can be implemented, the question of resources will not arise. It is simply a matter of giving the Garda approval to put in place what is appropriate for the force. No Minister in the history of the State has...

Garda Training. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The other facilities to which I referred will be provided when sites are identified for them.

North-South Co-operation. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I welcome this important document because it represents a positive contribution to the agenda of North-South co-operation. The Government is focused on developing North-South co-operation across a full spectrum of areas. In terms of the specific areas referred to by the Deputy, a wide range of co-operation is already in place. An intergovernmental agreement on police co-operation was signed...

North-South Co-operation. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I have great sympathy for the Deputy's point that a single agency should combine the functions of CAB and ARA on an all-island basis. There is significant scope for cross-Border agencies of this kind and the changes made to the Constitution in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement make provision for their establishment. As a footnote, on a recent perusal of archival material in my...

North-South Co-operation. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy wants to find one point of disagreement.

North-South Co-operation. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The document will be closely studied and the Deputy can rest assured the Government has a substantial appetite for North-South co-operation in criminal justice matters.

Criminal Prosecutions. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: As I have informed the House on previous occasions, this matter has been the subject of a considerable amount of correspondence over the years. The Garda authorities inform me that the case concerns an offence in which the person referred to by the Deputy was fired at and assaulted. The case was the subject of a thorough Garda investigation and a file was submitted to the Director of Public...

Departmental Funding. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am satisfied there is adequate provision in the 2006 allocations to implement the major provisions of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The Garda budget for 2006 is €1.29 billion, an all-time high, and represents an increase of 13% on the allocation for 2005, which was itself a record allocation. The Act provides for the establishment of a number of new organisations, in particular the Garda...

Departmental Funding. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: With regard to local policing committees, these will not be provided with new buildings or furniture. The committees will function in existing premises. Most of the associated costs are administrative, and most of the support for the committees themselves will be supplied by administrative staff from existing bodies. There are funding programmes which already aid bodies such as community...

Departmental Funding. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Under the Garda Síochána Act, the Minister gives overall policing priorities for the year to the Garda Commissioner. The Commissioner's function is to come up with proposals of his own with regard to individual areas of policing operations and give them to the Minister. If the Deputy is asking me if I order the Commissioner to buy an extra set of trousers for every garda——

Departmental Funding. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——and cut back on batons or overtime, I do not.

Departmental Funding. (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The water cannon is a very simple issue, and perhaps the Deputy will hear my answer. I asked the Commissioner, in light of recent events, whether it was satisfactory that the six water cannons in Northern Ireland, costing approximately £800,000 sterling, or over €1 million each, are the sole source of water cannons on this island.