Results 61-80 of 90 for garda speaker:Barry Ward

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (10 Sep 2020)

Barry Ward: ...necessary and proportionate. That is exactly what they are. I do not purport to be an expert on licensing law but I am aware of some of the provisions involved. The Bill introduces important new powers for gardaí to step in where they can see that breaches have occurred. I welcome particularly the Minister's statement to the effect that there is a necessity to afford an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Barry Ward: ...offences that there are difficulties believing people? How do we address that? I also agree with sending out the message that people will be taken seriously when they bring these offences to Garda attention and potentially in a way that they never have been before. People need to understand there is a listening ear for this kind of thing. I am conscious of what was said about the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Feb 2021)

Barry Ward: ...representatives or members of the public to check or verify what exactly constitutes essential travel, instead of having a situation where people have to book flights and then rely on the whim of a garda who might stop them at a checkpoint on the way to the airport. This is no reflection on gardaí because they do not have the guidance either. If we are telling people they can only...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Barry Ward: ...Minister gave one example, the Misuse of Drugs Act, but one could also have given the examples of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 or the firearms legislation. If I am walking down the street with a knife in my pocket and get arrested by the Garda, for whatever reason, it is reasonable to require that I explain why I have a knife in my pocket. There would be a...

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

Barry Ward: ...certain intellectual or learning disabilities or autism or whatever it might be in circumstances where they just need a moment to formulate their thoughts or say what they need to say to a judge, a garda or whomever it may be. I am a practising barrister who works regularly in the courts. I had never heard of this card before. What has the experience of our guests been? Have they found...

Seanad: Offences against the State Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (22 Jun 2021)

Barry Ward: ...is that people are still committing these crimes at a very high level, are intimidating juries and have done so in the past. Consequently, it is entirely appropriate that until the Minister, An Garda Síochána or another arm of the State can show us that this is not happening and that there is no longer a threat of jury intimidation or of attempts to otherwise pervert the course...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

Barry Ward: ...amount of money we spend fighting the kind of cases the witnesses are talking about and what could be done with that money, even if never left the criminal justice system and was reinvested in An Garda Síochána, in particular in diversion programmes or programmes to deal with crime in other areas outside of drugs, we would do a huge service to the country. That said, it is not...

Seanad: Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021: Second Stage (5 Mar 2021)

Barry Ward: ...a marker in respect of illegal dumping and this is one way, among others, in which we can do it. It is also important to recognise that there is capacity in local authorities to do this work. We cannot constantly rely on An Garda Síochána to be everywhere in the country. This is a role that local authorities can take on. At a time when it seems the Oireachtas more than ever...

Seanad: Automated Data Exchange for Police Co-operation: Motion (26 Apr 2022)

Barry Ward: I welcome the Minister to the House. Because this is the first opportunity have had to address the issue, I congratulate the Minister and the Department, as well as An Garda Síochána, in particular, for the work that has been done in Ireland and internationally in regard to the Kinahan gang. We have taken extraordinary steps forward. If ever there were a case for international...

Seanad: Report on Victim’s Testimony in cases of rape and sexual assault: Motion (17 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...because of anything any government in this jurisdiction has done but because of the victims directive at European level, which forces the Director of Public Prosecutions, prosecutorial authorities and the Garda to take a much more victim-centred approach and to have much greater consideration for the perspective of the victim and the difficulty and trauma a victim has gone through. Even...

Seanad: Recent Violence in Dublin City Centre: Motion (29 Nov 2023)

Barry Ward: ...who are expected to read the minds of people who are not predictable and who may have other difficulties that have caused them to behave in a certain way. It is appalling. The last speaker said that gardaí are there to protect us and that is exactly what I saw them doing on Parnell Square last week. They arrived at the scene and put order on it. They put protection in place...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (16 May 2024)

Barry Ward: ..., tell-tale signs of somebody who might have been trafficked. It is not so we can all be vigilantes. It is in reference to the national referral mechanism and the idea that people should be able to report this to the Garda. It is very difficult for people to do that if they do not know what they are looking for.A public awareness campaign should be coupled with training for people to...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (28 Jun 2023)

Barry Ward: ...new section will make it easy for complainants to give evidence. It is always difficult to make a complaint against a person and go through the process of giving a statement and evidence to the Garda and then go through a court process, if that is what happens, and go into a courtroom and swear an oath and affirmation and then recount what happened. That is always going to be difficult....

Seanad: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (18 Dec 2020)

Barry Ward: ...to be the person’s. I doubt that the framers of the Bill intended for the definition to be quite as wide. I rely entirely on the prosecutorial discretion of our prosecutory authorities be it the Garda at summary level or the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, at the indictable level. I am concerned that if we frame the definition too broadly one will bring into the scope of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Antisocial Behaviour (23 Mar 2023)

Barry Ward: ...has conducted surveys with its own members showing that 95% of them have been the victims of crime and 93% of them have been the victims of shoplifting. I know the Minister of State is part of the retail theft forum also involving the Garda. The Garda's own figures have shown a 41% increase in this kind of behaviour. Shopkeepers have said this grew during the pandemic and has not abated...

Seanad: Night-time Economy: Motion (13 Jul 2022)

Barry Ward: ...to businesses and the communities in which they operate; codifying alcohol licensing law into a single Act will make it more accessible and user-friendly for the general public, the licensed trade, courts, and An Garda Síochána; - extensive public consultation has taken place in relation to the modernisation of Ireland’s licencing laws and also in relation to the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...mar dheadh. We continue to fight the drugs, and the danger is that the casualties in that war are the middlemen or lieutenants and not the kingpins. We must work on a continual basis. We hope that An Garda Síochána and the prosecutorial authorities in the State are constantly working away at those kingpins but there is collateral damage in that war. People have been unfairly...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2023)

Barry Ward: ...concern, however, in respect of the way section 16(3) is set out, which is with a view to setting up a body that has a specific skill set in terms of experience or knowledge of "the functions of An Garda Síochána", the "organisational governance" and the "financial matters". Looking at section 12(1), it would appear that this seems to be the main impetus of the people who will...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...The context in which an assault on an emergency worker is carried out is clearly an aggravating factor in any subsequent sentencing. It is therefore entirely appropriate for the Oireachtas to make it clear that this is a specific aggravating factor in the case of ambulance workers, members of the fire brigade responding to an emergency, members of An Garda Síochána or - and this...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Coroners Service (29 Mar 2023)

Barry Ward: ...as possible have to deal with it but when unexpected deaths occur, it falls to the coroner to step in. That could be a death in hospital or in custody, be it a mental health institution, prison or Garda station, a death from an accident or a death at home in unexplained circumstances. It is great we have a service that is independent and inquisitorial rather than adversarial, which helps...