Results 9,981-10,000 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: We did not draft it.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I thank Senators for acknowledging that we have put significant checks and balances in the Bill concerning the implications of the Laffoy judgment. In my 21 years as a practising solicitor, from 1976 to 1997, I had some practical experience of the use of instalment orders, garnishee orders and judgment mortgages, to try to use every trick in the legal book to get money or, as they say, blood...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Did I say "debtor"? I meant to say "creditor". The 1940 Act is an old Act but we have put in a range of balanced safeguards and protections. We took into account what Senators said yesterday. We consulted the Attorney General on the safeguards and we are satisfied those built into the Bill are correct. We have gone further in the legislation in that no debtor can be imprisoned until the...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: As I mentioned in dealing with Senator Regan's amendment, in light of discussions yesterday, we talked overnight to the Attorney General on this. There were two helpful amendments from Senators Bacik and Alex White and we have incorporated the main points made in those into this amended paragraph. New paragraph (c) provides that the summons will set out in ordinary language the options...

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: It is a bit like the Minister.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: In defence of the Leader of the House, to be fair I had no conversation with him on this matter. We listened to the comments that were made by Senators overnight. We are amenable to amend legislation based on the comments people make.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: To be fair to the Leader of the House, obviously because of the time pressure we wanted this legislation finished as soon as possible so we could take it into the Dáil on Friday.

Seanad: Enforcement of Court Orders (Amendment) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (8 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Overnight we consulted with the Office of the Attorney General on the amendment and it sees no necessity to amend the section. Section 6(10) commences "Where a debtor is imprisoned on foot of an order made under subsection (7)(c) or (d)". We believe that is sufficient in that it links the two and there should be no doubt as to the amounts payable, the sum of money consisting of the amount...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The purpose of Amendment No. 2a and those associated with it is to emphasise that the person giving evidence as to the existence of a gang must establish, to the satisfaction of the court, that he or she is an expert. Any garda will not be sufficient. The garda giving evidence must establish that he or she has the appropriate expertise. A garda, "who appears to the court to possess the...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Were we addressing this matter under the scheduled offences in the Offences Against the State Act and opinion evidence was being given as to the guilt of a particular individual by a chief superintendent, I would agree that there would need to be corroborative evidence. The courts have stated this point umpteen times. After the Shane Geoghegan murder, I asked the Attorney General to...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I genuinely wanted to move in the direction of opinion evidence as regards membership of a criminal gang but the Attorney General confirmed advice given by a preceding Attorney General stating the difficulty was not just the necessity to have corroborative evidence but also that membership of a gang would be difficult to establish. It was relatively easy to prove membership of a paramilitary...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: It has to be said that people did not recognise the court because they were not prepared to give evidence to oppose what the chief superintendent was saying.

Written Answers — Closed Circuit Television Systems: Closed Circuit Television Systems (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am advised by the Garda authorities that significant progress has been made on the installation of the Garda town centre CCTV system in the area referred to by the Deputy. This system is expected to become operational in the coming months.

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: As the Deputy will be aware, Revenue's Customs Service has primary responsibility for the prevention, detection, interception and seizure of controlled drugs at ports of entry into the State. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that Customs continually assesses the risk along the Sligo and Donegal coast for the illegal importation of drugs and patrol the coastline on an ongoing basis....

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am advised by the Garda authorities that the total number of full-time staff assigned to drug detection and surveillance in Counties Donegal, Sligo and Mayo in 2007, 2008 and to date in 2009 is as set out in the following table: Division 2007 2008 2009 (to date) Donegal 4 8 10 Sligo/Leitrim 5 (3 part time) 5 (3 part time) 5 (3 part time) Mayo 4 6 6 Garda personnel assigned throughout...

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: In the time available it has not been possible to provide the information requested by the Deputy. I will communicate further with the Deputy when the information sought is to hand.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The Department's Probation Service has regional offices in Dundalk and Drogheda. In the Dundalk office there are nine staff, of which four are full time and five are part-time. Of these, eight are permanent, established civil servants and one is a State industrial employee on a permanent contract. With regard to the Drogheda office, there are six staff, of which two are full time and four...

Written Answers — Visa Applications: Visa Applications (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The visa application referred to by the Deputy was received in the Visa Office, Dublin on 17 February 2009. Following consideration by a Visa Officer it was refused on 23 February 2009 for the following reasons: 1. The evidence of finances provided was deemed insufficient; 2. It is not the general policy of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service to allow family members of people...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: An application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question was received in the Citizenship Division of my Department in June 2006. The average processing time from application to decision is now at 23 months. More complicated cases can at times take more than the current average while an element of straightforward cases are now being dealt with in...

Written Answers — Public Service Review: Public Service Review (9 Jul 2009)

Dermot Ahern: At the commencement of its work, the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes requested all Departments to prepare evaluation papers outlining potential areas for savings in staff numbers and expenditure. The Special Group met the Secretary General of my Department, Accounting Officers in the Vote Group and other senior officials in the course of its deliberations....