Results 9,481-9,500 of 15,638 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: My understanding is that it is for the court to decide whether such footage is admissible. It certainly can be used in the development of a case or as part of gathering information. I can clarify that for the Senator. My understanding is that the decision on whether anything is admissible will still very much be a matter for the courts even if this legislation is enacted.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: This is very much in line with the discussion we have just had regarding when and where a member of An Garda Síochána can turn on or off the devices. This will be clearly set out in the code of practice. Obviously, if members veer off the code of practice and turn a camera off when they should not or do not turn it on when they clearly should, they are open to disciplinary...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I wish to apologise regarding the previous amendments. I thought we were going through them separately. On the question of the sharing of images, that falls under other legislation, including the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, known as Coco's law. Under that legislation, it is a crime to share information that gardaí may have. I offer my apologies to the...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendments to sections 17 and 18 deal with focused monitoring and have been grouped together. These are designed to replace the requirement for an authorisation from a garda ranked not below superintendent with an authorisation instead being required from a District Court judge. The proposed changes make it inoperable, essentially, as the provisions will cease to make sense. For example,...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: We are talking about applying this to any type of investigation relating to an arrestable offence or matters relating to security of the State. The three-month cut-off where one would have to go to a judge afterwards is a maximum. The intention is that there would be less than three months applied where one is specifically focused on targeting a particular individual relating to a...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendments Nos. 36 and 37 seek to include the impact of such focused monitoring on the privacy and fundamental rights of the individual or individuals concerned. The Senator is essentially asking that a garda of any grade make such an evaluation on privacy and fundamental rights when obviously that is taken into account. Gardaí are also trained to make decisions based on necessity and...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I was not fully sure as to the reason behind this amendment. There is probably a view that certain people would not want to speak to someone directly and that they would prefer to leave a voicemail. The provisions in this section allow the Garda Commissioner to designate telephone lines or numbers that are to be recorded, for example, 999 lines or fixed penalty notice lines. There could...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The intention behind this particular part of the Bill is to rectify issues that have arisen whereby communities have not been able to roll out CCTV in recent years because of GDPR concerns that were raised by the Data Protection Commissioner a number of years ago now. This clarifies how they can be rolled out and used, and where they can be used. It is very much about the local authority...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Section 40 was proposed for deletion from the Bill and amendments Nos. 59, 62 and 66 are consequential on its deletion. The intention behind section 40 was to provide for those limited circumstances where a person refuses to provide An Garda Síochána with CCTV footage of a crime. However, after meeting with various stakeholders, concerns were voiced to my Department regarding the...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendment No. 65 will extend the offence provision for Parts 2, 3, 5 and 6 relating to the making of data unavailable as evidenced in Part 7 with the insertion of a new offence. For sections within this Part, the offences set out mirror those in other Parts of the Bill.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legal Aid (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962, is the primary legislation covering the operation of the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme and gives effect to the Constitutional right that legal aid may be granted for the defence of people with insufficient means in criminal proceedings. As the Deputy will be aware, under the current legislation, the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the courts,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 392 and 393 together. It has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I have sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that the estimated cost of providing one Crime Prevention Officer is approximately €82,000 per annum. As such, the estimated cost of providing seven new crime prevention officers per annum is €574,000. This includes the estimated cost of salary, fixed allowances,...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The unprecedented allocation of €2.31 billion to An Garda Síochána in 2023 and 2024, up 23 per cent since 2020, demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring An Garda Síochána has provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and personnel it needs to carry out vital policing work. I can however assure the Deputy that the Government is...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The unprecedented allocation of over €2 billion for 2023 and €2.3 billion for 2024 to An Garda Síochána, up 23 per cent since 2020, demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring An Garda Síochána has provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and personnel it needs to carry out vital policing work. As the Deputy will be aware, under the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The unprecedented allocation of over €2.3 billion to An Garda Síochána for 2024, up 23 per cent since 2020, demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring the Gardaí have provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and personnel it needs to carry out vital policing work. Following Budget 2024, I announced that this allocation would allow for the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Currently, admission to the Garda trainee programme is governed by the Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) Regulations 2013 (as amended). The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland recommended a variety of entry pathways to An Garda Síochána. One of the recommendations was that police officers applying to transfer to An Garda Síochána...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: State Bodies (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: It has not been possible to collate complete information as requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy directly when the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, the activation of the EU Temporary Protection Directive is an emergency provision designed to quickly and humanely respond to the mass displacement of Ukrainian people by Russian aggression. Ireland participates in this EU measure, which is given legal effect under section 60 of the International Protection Act 2015. Those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine and...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Local Government Reform (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I wish to advise the Deputy that no functions of my Department have been transferred to local authorities under section 72 of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended by section 45 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014.