Results 13,521-13,540 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: In the context of gardaí exercising discretion before fixed-charge tickets are issued, as an aside during our conversation the Commissioner mentioned to me the incident to which Deputy Wallace referred. Deputy Niall Collins asked me how the Commissioner knew of the incident. I do not know how he knew of the incident. Did I get a briefing in writing on it? I did not. Did I go looking...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will answer the last question first. All I can say is that the Deputy should ask the journalist. One thing the journalist will be able to confirm is that they got no information from me. I do not know where the journalist got the information. It seems to me that it was only after the journalist got the information that Deputy Wallace had a mature recollection of the particular event. I...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: Journalists find me quite awkward, as some of them might tell the Deputy-----

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: -----because I do not reveal information until it is appropriate to reveal it. That is the reality. The Deputy asked how did the information reach the Commissioner.

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: Let us deal with the more amusing part of this. Of course I do not get information on a regular or any basis about who might get warnings from the gardaí. This arose as an aside. I am assuming it arose in a normal human context in circumstances in which first the Commissioner, who, as the Deputy says, has wide powers under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, would be conscious that...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will come back to that.

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: Does the Leas-Cheann Comhairle want me to reply to that question now?

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I have already said that.

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will come back to some questions Deputy Clare Daly raised. She seems to have a difficulty with me issuing a statement on Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan. He wrote to have a fixed-notice charge cancelled. Subsequent to it being cancelled, he then complained about it being cancelled. When all of this came out into the public arena, I asked that the matter be investigated by the...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: Subsequent to that, I received a letter from Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, in case the Deputy believes I was meddling in some way. I was anxious to get to the bottom of the issue. On 21 March, Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan wrote to me. He stated:Dear Minister Shatter, As you may have noticed from my contribution on the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012, I made it clear that...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: He continued in the letter:This was an individual who was among those whom I met at a meeting in Roscommon County Council in 20 December and to whom, along with others present, I casually mentioned that I had just been caught on my mobile phone while driving. It was Mr. [Blank] who rang me after the meeting to say I would not be getting points.

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: He then went on to say: “I do not bear any malice towards Mr. [Blank] for this but I believe the truth about this situation must be established in order that such an event does not re-occur.” Later he named a particular garda, now retired, of a named Garda station who contacted him about the fixed-charge penalty points which were issued to him for using his mobile phone while...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: The letter continues:In fact, I believe it was a genuine attempt to help me. While in this case I believe I would have had a very strong argument for having the points removed, it does not change the fact the system used is open to some. This must change. If at the end of this process [I do not know what process the Deputy is referring to] it is decided that I should in fact have received...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: -----out of a newspaper report. Whatever appeared in the newspapers about Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s initial imbroglio with this issue, I did not raise it. The journalist who reported it first would know I did not raise it. My only role in this particular matter has been to ask the Garda Commissioner-----

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: -----to investigate the matter. In the context of the two reports I received about the fixed-charge ticket issue, I inquired whether the investigation into this matter, on which Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan had written to me and was anxious to have investigated, had completed. I was informed by the Garda Síochána that any relevant person had been interviewed except...

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: In case Deputy Clare Daly thinks that I had any hand or any part in anything to do with Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s points, I did not.

Issuing of fixed ticket charges and exercise of Garda discretion: Statements (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: On the whistleblowers, what I said last week and what the report shows is that some of the more extreme allegations made against members of the force are not valid. One of the more extreme allegations, which one Sunday newspaper gave much airing to, was that nine people had lost their lives on the roads because a fixed-charge ticket had not been paid. Each of those matters was investigated...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residential Institutions Issues (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 513 and 515 together. I met with members of the Bethany Survivors Group together with Minister for State Katheen Lynch on Tuesday 16 April. The group raised the question of their inclusion within the Residential Institutions Redress scheme or a similar type scheme designed for children who had been in the Bethany Home. They also raised the question of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Commercial Rent Reviews (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 514, 516 and 538 together. As I have indicated in my replies to previous Parliamentary Questions on the subject of upward only rent review clauses, there are no plans to re-examine the decision which was taken in 2011 not to proceed with legislation to abolish such clauses in commercial leases which were entered into prior to 28 February 2010. Neither of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Equipment (21 May 2013)

Alan Shatter: The provision and deployment of Garda resources, including bicycles, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner in the context of his identified operational requirements. I am advised by the Garda authorities that the full information requested by the Deputy is not readily available and could not be compiled without a disproportionate use of resources. However, I am informed that the current...