Results 12,681-12,700 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Garda Síochána has a range of facilities available to it for firearms training and plans are well under way for the provision of dedicated and improved facilities for the force. Currently the Garda makes use of military ranges; the Garda specialist training units have access to 12 of these ranges countrywide. In addition, the Garda Síochána last year procured three virtual firearms...

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: A number of gardaí have given me a first-hand account of the simulated ranges and they all spoke very highly of them.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is not child's play or a computer game. The gardaí say the training is far more effective than pointing one's rifle——

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: ——or pistol at static targets. The Deputy should acquaint himself with these facilities.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: I have had first-hand accounts from a number of gardaí.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: I have not but I do not have to see every facility myself. The Deputy is obviously a doubting Thomas.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: When gardaí tell me they are very happy with this new facility and when those I know and trust tell me how good it is, I am inclined to believe them. I do not deride them, belittle them or accuse them of playing computer games. The facility is nothing of the kind.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: Sending gardaí to the North for firearms training would not be practicable. It is not reasonable to send them on day trips to Belfast for this purpose. There are outdoor ranges in this jurisdiction. The indoor range constructed at the Phoenix Park, with which the Deputy's party was involved when in government, turned out to be dangerous.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: Although it is a comparatively modern facility, I am now in a position to build a dedicated indoor range in the park.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: They are not grand plans. I just have to do things, while the Deputy just makes a mess of them; that is the problem.

Garda Training. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: If I were the Deputy, I would stick to broadcasting.

Garda Operations. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: I refer to my answer to Questions Nos. 422, 464 and 465 of 31 January. The House will appreciate that the granting of bail is a matter for the courts and that the Director of Public Prosecutions who is independent in the performance of his functions represents the State for the purpose of dealing with such applications.

Garda Operations. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: Moreover, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the circumstances in which bail may have been granted, or refused, in particular cases. I can confirm, however, that I was made aware by the Garda authorities of their concern that in a substantial number of cases involving operations they had launched against gun and drugs criminals, bail had been granted despite Garda objections....

Garda Operations. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is interesting that Deputy Howlin is so selective in quoting the Dáil record because, if he turned back a few pages, he would note that he raised the matter for the first time in this House. He asked: Does the Minister accept that his current policy has not worked and that the first step to a successful policy lies in recognising his failure to date? He stated yesterday and today that...

Garda Operations. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy should not get so excited. He continued: "Does [the Minister] accept that 23 are out on bail and walking the streets and what does he propose to do about this?"

Prison Literacy Rates. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Irish Prison Service report, The Prison Adult Literacy Survey: Results and Implications, which was published in September 2003, is the most recent information available to my Department. The major results of the survey indicated that a significant number of prisoners have virtually no literacy skills and 52% were at level one or pre-level one literacy levels. In other words, more than...

Prison Literacy Rates. (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: I fully agree with the Deputy that rehabilitation must be at the heart of the prison process. At present, 210 whole-time teacher equivalents work in the Prison Service, of whom 37 have been assigned specifically to literacy duties. Consequently, resources are being devoted to this area. The Deputy referred to the curtailment of education services that obtained during the emergency...

Written Answers — Garda Operations: Garda Operations (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: Operation Anvil commenced in the Garda Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) on 17 May, 2005. It is an intelligence led policing initiative, the focus of which is the targeting of active criminals and their associates involved in serious crime by preventing and disrupting their criminal activity through extensive additional overt patrolling and static check points by uniform, mobile and foot...

Written Answers — Prison Drug Treatment Service: Prison Drug Treatment Service (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The new Irish Prison Service Drugs Policy & Strategy — 'Keeping Drugs Out of Prisons' — will see existing drug treatment programmes, including the provision of methadone maintenance programmes where clinically indicated, being expanded and enhanced. This policy envisages a multifaceted approach towards tackling the problems associated with substance misuse in the prison environment....

Written Answers — Garda Reserve: Garda Reserve (22 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Garda Commissioner is proceeding with the recruitment and training of 1,500 members of the Garda Reserve. The first group of 36 Garda Reserves completed their training and were formally attested as members of An Garda Síochána on 15th December 2006. They have been deployed in Dublin (Store Street and Pearse Street), Cork (Anglesea Street), Galway City and Sligo. The second group...