Results 761-780 of 3,337 for speaker:Patrick Costello

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Minorities Engaging with the Justice System: Discussion (24 Nov 2021)

Patrick Costello: As some time remains, I will ask the witnesses if they wish to make a very brief final comment before we conclude.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Minorities Engaging with the Justice System: Discussion (24 Nov 2021)

Patrick Costello: On behalf of the committee, I thank all the witnesses for their participation in the meeting. We have had a good discussion. I have many things to take away with me. This concludes our engagement on the matter. I propose that we publish all the opening statements on the committee's website. Is that agreed? Agreed. I again thank the witnesses for giving their time today on this...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: On this section, I would like to hear the concerns of the Minister of State on criminal legal aid. The system is under strain and ultimately people will lose out in terms of access to justice.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: The Chair cut me off in the middle of waxing lyrical about concerns around criminal legal aid and access to justice. I will leave that where it was. I refer to subhead A7 and the Probation Service. What is behind the drop? Are we losing Probation Service staff? Subhead A7 refers to Probation Service salaries, wages and allowances and the Supplementary Estimate is down by...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I thank the Minister of State.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I hope my sound is working because I want to get up on my soapbox again to endorse what Deputy Daly said about the number of judges and the capacity of the system. Yes, there has been a backlog arising from Covid but there is also a problem with the number of judges. There is a problem with investment in access to justice both through civil legal aid and criminal legal aid, but also in the...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I will make a quick point. I thank the Minister of State for his clear answer and I am glad the money is being kept for the inquiry. Regarding the Judiciary, it is not just an issue of judges. A judge cannot sit without a registrar. We need more registrars as well. There is an expensive judges' pay bill but there is also the added expense of at least two registrars per judge.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I join others in condemning this command paper and the idea that we would simply draw a line under the legacy of the Troubles and think that this would be okay. I joined others, some of whom are members of the committee, in standing with families in Belfast to condemn this. The point has been made several times that there is cross-party all-island unanimity that these proposals are a bad...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: The proposed independent commission for information retrieval, which was in the Stormont House Agreement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with Justice for the Forgotten (2 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: There was detailed agreements between Dublin and London on how that would look and function. For that to function it needed legislation in Dublin and London. Any time that I asked about progress I was told that there was ongoing contact with officials in London. Even if we do not go as far as passing the Bill, we can publish the heads of the Bill and begin pre-legislative scrutiny. That...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Experiences of Migrant Communities Engaging with the Healthcare System and State Bodies: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I ask our guests to be very brief in response to this matter and we can come to some other matters. One Deputy is waiting to contribute after which we will have reached the end of the speaker rotation. We can come back and explore this issue more at that point.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Experiences of Migrant Communities Engaging with the Healthcare System and State Bodies: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: We will definitely come back to this issue. I also have questions on it.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Experiences of Migrant Communities Engaging with the Healthcare System and State Bodies: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: We have almost reached the end of the time allotted to this subject. I shall ask a few questions and then we will have another round starting with the issue of bureaucracy. We have a lot of time after that so we can be a bit more flexible. One of the opening statements mentioned a diploma in public service interpretation that would be similar to that used in the UK. How are...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Experiences of Migrant Communities Engaging with the Healthcare System and State Bodies: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: Deputy Cairns has indicated that she would like to come in with another question.

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Experiences of Migrant Communities Engaging with the Healthcare System and State Bodies: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: Thank you very much. Mr. Killoran, is there anything else you want to come back to or cover before we wrap up?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I have some general comments. I will try to be quick with the speech at the beginning of my contribution. Head 12 relates to the retention of data regarding stop and search. At the moment, the Bill provides that this will be done as part of the code of practice. It is not just the code of practice. The code of practice needs to be rooted in the GDPR and in European Union law on retention...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: No, it is in the context of stop and search being limited. Equally, there was mention of the negative impact on communities and relations with the Garda. In the UK, only 1% of instances where people are stopped and searched result in an arrest. Should we be legislating for it or should we be trying to end the practice?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: To pick up on what the witnesses said about detention periods and their extension, the logic that applies to the search warrant applies to the extension of the detention period. There should be independent, external oversight. The Judiciary is best placed to do this. We should not allow what is essentially self-certification regarding search warrants or the extension of periods of detention.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: If there are difficulties in finding a judge out of hours, it is probably a reflection of the fact there are not enough judges in the State, quite simply. We have 3.3 judges per 100,000 of population compared with a European average of 21. The failure of the State to invest in access to justice and to invest sufficiently in the judicial system should not be an excuse to undermine the due...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Patrick Costello: I want to clarify one thing. One of my earlier points was that head 12, which makes reference to the records being in line with the code of practice, should also state "and in line with GDPR and in line with data retention legislation". Is it enough to have the purpose of the gathering and processing in the code of practice? Should that be in the legislation or, more realistically, should...