Results 101-120 of 149 for garda speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Bill 2017: Second Stage (8 May 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: ...powers. It seems to me that the only agency of the State that understands criminal investigations is the only agency that has been undertaking criminal investigations for the past century and that is An Garda Síochána. Why is there no dedicated stand-alone division in An Garda Síochána which alone is charged with investigating all white-collar crimes, executing all...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: ...its being worthless. Yet, Billy Kedian is entitled to a military medal for gallantry. He gave his life to save 14 men. Paddy Kelly from Athlone was shot by the IRA during the Don Tidey kidnapping. The garda who was beside him got the gold Scott medal. Paddy Kelly, or Patrick Kelly, got nothing. Dick O'Hanlon, Martin Fahy and two others, saved John O'Connor while they were under fire...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jan 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: ...property right and cannot be touched. We are in the crazy situation that the position of Captain of the Guard in the Houses of the Oireachtas has been advertised yet no retired member of the military or the Garda Síochána who might wish to apply for that position, as their predecessors did, will apply because of abatement while a retired member of the PSNI or a retired British...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: ...passed, if it passes, it will become the Minister's Bill in perpetuity. It will be there for all time as the Minister's Bill. There will be another man sitting in his new electric car outside the Garda station-----

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Nov 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ..., the officials of this country. What do they do when they get caught out? They retire and take off with their pensions. We need to investigate the question of ethics. We have had a senior garda walk out of a job with a pension into a fat job somewhere else in a policing authority, without any accountability for what took place under her stewardship. We have had similar stories in...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Nov 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: ..., but I am not so sure that it is needed now. I read today and yesterday in the newspapers of Ireland’s inability to protect the undersea cables coming into this country. The reason is that An Garda Síochána are responsible for it, but they do not go to sea. The Naval Service could go to sea, if they had enough people. The Naval Service is currently operating at 65%...

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (29 Jun 2020)

Gerard Craughwell: ...front-line workers have been lauded by many people and it is only right that they are. The dangers front-line workers place themselves in on a daily basis was particularly brought home when Detective Garda Colm Horkan was shot and killed in Roscommon. This House should today pay tribute to Detective Garda Horkan and his family. The funeral was an extremely sad occasion and, indeed, we...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...all. I will have more to say tomorrow on an article in one of today's newspapers by Ger Aherne, a former general in the Irish Army. A week after I was elected to the Seanad, I got a letter from a garda recounting for me the events that led to me leaving the British Army in 1974. My mother and father were put through an horrendous time with phone calls at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. telling them I...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (11 Dec 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: ...him on Second Stage and at every opportunity since, this flawed and ridiculous Bill will go down as the Bill of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, rather than that of the Minister, Deputy Ross. Stepaside Garda station will go down as the greatest achievement of the Minister, Deputy Ross, but this will be the Bill of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. The next Government will have no alternative...

Seanad: Order of Business (23 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...the National Security Committee which consists of six persons, four of whom are secretaries general of Departments, one of whom is the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, while the other is the Garda Commissioner. There is nobody overseeing the committee which does not report to the Oireachtas which needs to have oversight. We do not need to know the minutiaeof what it does, but we do...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: ..., a consultant might discover some box that could not be ticked. The name of such a judge could become known if we fail to provide for strong legislation with respect to indicting and allowing the Garda to investigate. The further we go into this Bill, the more dangerous it becomes. I am concerned that the system we will use to appoint judges is dangerous and the consequences being...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Jul 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: ...much as a nut or bolt at the end of the contract. The Defence Forces are in collapse. The Reserve Defence Forces have been waiting for a reply to a letter from the Department for two months. The number of members of the Garda Reserve has fallen from 1,000 to 300. Who the hell has oversight? We are being blocked at every twist and turn. Secretaries General refuse to attend committees,...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Nov 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: ...agreements, which we fought hard on. Many people within the trade union movement are very dependent upon this legislation getting through. However, I can see that we have two difficulties. One is gardaí and the other is teachers. Gardaí say the Minister has reneged on a promise which was a review of structures, remuneration and the industrial relations process within the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: ...us the process she went through in reporting a crime and she went public on this. I call on the Leader to have a debate in this House because these are serious issues, particularly for a woman who goes to Garda station to report that she has been raped or assaulted. We need to kick this debate out into the open to discuss specifically how they were dealt with. We have the evidence from...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Oct 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...man or woman enough to actually repay what they have taken. The Central Bank does not have sufficient powers to take these people on. More importantly, I believe we should be urging the acting Garda Commissioner to go in there and see exactly what happened. We need to know how it happened, when it happened, who took the decisions and who sanctioned them. We must get to the bottom of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Key Developments on European Agenda: Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Helen McEntee (9 Nov 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...Ireland is a neutral country. If there was an attempt to establish a European army, I would be the first person to shout, "Down with that sort of thing". Unfortunately, our security services, the Garda and the Defence Forces, wear two hats, a security and policing hat and a security and defence hat respectively. There is nothing wrong with greater integration in the security of Europe....

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 May 2024)

Gerard Craughwell: ...hear. I thank him for that. It is ironic that we were honouring the Defence Forces and the founding fathers of our State today while at the same time, representatives of the combined uniformed services of An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Fire Service are in Buswells Hotel. These are all front-line people and they are there for something that I have discussed with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cybersecurity and Hybrid Threats Following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Discussion (30 Mar 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: ...regard. Dr. Browne may not want to deal with this, but I will ask it anyway. A number of organisations in the country are involved in gathering intelligence, including the Defence Forces, the Garda, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Justice. Notwithstanding that we have a national security analysis centre, we do not have a director of homeland security. We do...

Seanad: Budget 2017: Statements (11 Oct 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...am delighted the Government is putting such a commission in place. However, it will not be until the middle of next year while the Government has a crisis on its hands today. Tomorrow, the House will debate the impending Garda industrial action. Gardaí and nurses are knocking the door while teachers are in crisis. Our public service deal, the Lansdowne Road agreement, needs to be...