Results 10,221-10,240 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: -----and correctness.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: It may well be that at the end of the year the Director of Public Prosecutions may decide in effect to take all the cases in the ordinary courts.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: Senator Regan put it very fairly when he said that to accept this amendment would weaken our objective in this legislation. It is important to reiterate that the decision to introduce this provision was not taken lightly. At the same time, as I said before, it does not constitute a seismic change in terms of the powers already available to the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, it...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: He informed the Cabinet during our deliberations of all that he was aware of. Fine Gael's Deputy Kieran O'Donnell-----
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: -----confirmed in the Dáil that, as far as he was concerned, there was jury intimidation in Limerick. Members of the Lower House said to me privately and publicly - the latter group includes Deputy Finian McGrath and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power - that when their constituents got a jury service summons they were shaking like leaves from fear. They tried to use every trick in...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: We did not make the decision because of those examples.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: I agree with Senator Alex White that it does not really matter from where one comes. Equally, however, I resent the implication he offered in his earlier submission to the effect that I put forward the legislation purely and simply because I want myself or the Government to appear strong in respect of this matter. I assure the Senator that I take my job very seriously. I resisted the...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: Yes.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: I will do so. For example, Deputy Rabbitte stated that "The public mood is to assent to measures in the present crisis that people would not otherwise tolerate". He also stated that "the first test of any Government is the protection of its citizens". He further stated: This cannot go on, Minister. There must be some tipping point where the State asserts its democratic mandate and asserts...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: Both of them.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: My Department indicated clearly-----
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: -----the context.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: I have some sympathy with the Senator on this matter, as I did when it was raised in the Dáil, but the advice of the Attorney General is that it would be better dealt with in amendments to the primary legislation rather than in the Bill. We would like to consult with a wider group with regard to the legislation which Senator White proposes to delete.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: This section introduces a new section 72A to the Criminal Justice Act 2006. The new section will permit inferences to be drawn as a result of the failure in particular circumstances of an accused to answer questions. It will apply to organised crime offences under Part 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, including an additional offence of directing. As with other aspects of the Bill this...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: With regard to the issue of solicitors, we considered what the Human Rights Commission sought but its wording does not allow for where a person refuses or does not want legal advice. This would effectively give the detained person a veto as to whether the inference provision could be used against him or her. We felt that we could not accede to that. The Human Rights Commission also...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: There is not a huge amount at issue between us but the advice I have been given is that this order is essentially one of crime prevention and that it is properly imposed at sentence. The order will arise because a person has been convicted and given a custodial sentence for a very serious criminal offence. Given that the order takes effect immediately on release from prison it is an...
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: I do not want to put it any further other than to say that the strong advice from the Attorney General to us, when this amendment was put down in the Lower House, was that it would be better dealt with on the basis of being a criminal matter.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: Yes.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: This is the one we accepted in the Dáil.
- Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)
Dermot Ahern: We accept the making of a scheme.