Results 861-880 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Closed Circuit Television Systems. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I hope to give him some information about this subject. An application for a Garda CCTV system in Drogheda has been received by the CCTV advisory committee, which was established by the Garda Commissioner to advise on all matters relating to CCTV systems. There are 17 CCTV...

Closed Circuit Television Systems. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not denying the need. The installation of phase one systems in Bray, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire and Limerick has been completed and these systems are now fully operational. Thirteen of the 18 cameras in Galway are also fully operational. It is proposed to install the final five cameras in tandem with major redevelopment works currently being undertaken by Galway City Council in the Eyre...

Written Answers — Foreign Adoptions: Foreign Adoptions (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Applications for inter-country adoption are processed by the Health Services Executive, HSE, under the Adoption Acts 1952 to 1998, as amended by the Health Act 2004. The process of assessment of applicants for inter-country adoption is set out in a framework for inter-country assessment introduced in 1999 to streamline assessments and to provide a transparent system centred on the child's...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform takes the view that the amendment is not appropriate. The legislation we are enacting must be read in the context of the evolution of our criminal law. There is a decided judicial authority on the precise meaning of insanity and on the precise circumstances in which the plea of insanity will excuse an offender from criminal liability. The...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Which amendment are we discussing?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The purpose of amendment No. 2 tabled by the Independent Senators concerning the Long Title of the Bill and the related amendments is to provide that the body carrying out regular reviews of cases involving the detention of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit to be tried in designated centres, including the Central Mental Hospital, should be the Mental Health Commission,...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This amendment adds the appropriate references in the definition section of the Bill. The definition of a prison is included in a definition section within section 2, which deals with the definition of designated centres. However, section 2 is being replaced with a new section in light of commitments made by the Minister during the course of debate on Committee Stage. The definition of a...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Those in the first category will not have proceeded to trial because of their unfitness to plead. Those in the latter category will not have had the mental element necessary to commit a crime. Persons covered by the new arrangements will have been sentenced in accordance with law for the commission of a crime, but will have developed some form of mental illness during the completion of their...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, re-examined section 2 in light of the discussion on Committee Stage regarding Senator Henry's substantive point relating to the need to consult with the Inspector of Mental Health Services. He has recast the entire section in a separate amendment which is being discussed with this amendment. Although he has...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister did not accept a similar amendment on Committee Stage on the basis that it was neither necessary nor desirable. Provision on these lines, which is akin to a reversal of the burden of proof, would be objectionable as it would alter fundamentally existing law on these cases. The amendment also ignores the position that fitness to plead or, as it will be called following the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The difficulty with the amendment is that the matters set out in section 3(2) must be determined solely by a judge. As the Minister stated on Committee Stage, there is no need to hear the opinions of two doctors on an issue which will, in all likelihood, be obvious to the court. Once a determination is made that a person is unfit to be tried, the judge may proceed to hear evidence in the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In the normal course of events the evidence of psychiatrists will be heard by a judge on matters of this type and it would be extraordinary if that were not the case. There is a difference, however, between indicating that a judge will hear evidence as a matter of course and practice and prescribing in legislation that, as a necessary precondition of a judge exercising his or her...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: During the debate on section 3 on Committee Stage the Minister indicated he was considering including a further ground in the section relating to unfitness to be tried. This relates to a person's inability to elect for trial by jury in a case involving an indictable offence. Sometimes a person must elect as to whether he or she wants to be tried in the District Court or Circuit Court. This...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Of course the Minister wants everyone detained under these provisions to have care and treatment in the ordinary sense. However, words we use in the ordinary sense do not always translate in the extraordinary sense of an Act of the Oireachtas. The Minister is convinced that the words must be used disjunctively in this context to ensure the maximum protection for the person and to ensure that...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Let us examine what could happen were the amendment accepted. The courts would require the consent of the clinical director of the designated centre concerned before a person could be committed or referred to it. What would the courts do if they found that no clinical director would accept the person? As the Minister said in the course of an earlier debate, it is appreciated that the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform mentioned on Committee Stage that an amendment would be introduced on Report Stage to remove the word "or" in line 30 of section 3(b). It is a correction of a typographical error in the text.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This is a technical amendment recommended by the Parliamentary Counsel.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As Senator Henry has accepted, the same considerations that arose in my last substantive reply apply to this. The courts would require the consent of the clinical director of the designated centre concerned before a person could be referred there for examination by an approved medical officer. What would the court do if it found that no clinical director would accept the person? I will draw...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: During the Committee Stage debate on amendments Nos. 20 and 24, as moved by Senator Henry, in the context of the involvement of the clinical director of a designated centre in the court process, particularly in regard to whether the particular institution would assume responsibility for a person, the Minister said that the period of referral, as provided for in the sections, could be reduced...