Results 15,421-15,440 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will deal first with the British opt-out. I have engaged in various discussions with my counterparts in the UK, including the Home Secretary, Ms Theresa May MP, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on this matter. I had discussions with them when the British Government first announced it was going to pursue this issue. That was prior to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: -----but this is the first occasion we have had an opportunity to raise it in this committee and it has been one of great importance for some time. At European Justice and Home Affairs meetings, bilateral meetings between individual Ministers are often held. This issue has been the subject of bilateral discussions between me and my UK counterparts and the Secretary of State for Justice,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: The main concern of Ministers in rejecting it was not to confuse what I describe as operational matters with educational matters. Europol facilitates the exchange of information on matters relating to serious crime. There was concern that if one incorporated Europol and CEPOL together, first, that a substantial portion of funding would be located in Europol rather the CEPOL. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will take the last question first and come back to the right to be forgotten. One of the central kernels of the European Union is freedom of movement across the European Union, which is hugely important. In the original Treaty of Rome in 1958 the focus was to provide for a Common Market across the original six member states with freedom of movement between those states, and matters have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I do not know the answer to that question. I know the work was being done on it. I will make a small confession to members which I am sure they will understand. In so far as any reports may be available it will be my practice on the weekend before the meeting to read them. I am not aware of a report yet coming to us. It may be that I will have a report by the weekend. I will deal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: A point I should make on the right to be forgotten is that in some contexts, people have no right to be forgotten. I was talking specifically about the issues raised by the Chairman. Everyone knows about young people in this context and whatever about the present day, in the early days of the web some older people certainly put up all sorts of unwise stuff that they thought they were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: On the Schengen system, there is an issue of funding to facilitate our participation in the exchange of information. That is a domestic issue. I apologise, but I missed the second question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: It is about providing for a balance in that area, as there are public interest issues. That matter is still part of the discussion process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: It will not come up at this meeting next week. That discussion on data protection will be confined to one-stop shop issues but the working group of officials who are dealing with both the regulation and the directive will be continuing to visit that issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: This is an issue that we are constantly looking at. One of the difficulties in this area is when there has been Garda involvement. I am focusing on the prostitution area where the suggestion is the women have been trafficked for prostitution. Where that allegation has been made, we have had occasions when women who have made that allegation and who indicated they would co-operate with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Achievements of Irish Presidency and EU Justice and Home Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Justice and Equality (2 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: We are continuing to do what we can. The Garda is conscious of this issue. There is a continuing dialogue between the Garda and us, and within the Department. We are preparing a new strategy to address the issue of trafficking, which no doubt we will bring to the committee.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Releases (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I can inform the Deputy that, to date, there have been four prisoners resident in Harristown House, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. None of the four residents have breached the terms of their temporary release to this facility.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Telecommunications Services Provision (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I wish to inform the Deputy that while I do not have any responsibility for the introduction of a three digit 24/7 non-emergency contact number for the various bodies or indeed the policy areas set out in his Question, I do understand and have sympathy with the thrust and intent of his Question. I am informed that the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in Department of Public Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Vetting of Personnel (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 167 to 169, inclusive, together. As I indicated to the Deputy in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 504 of 1 October, the function of the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) is to conduct Garda vetting checks in respect of vetting applications submitted by registered organisations, including applications from the childcare industry and to issue Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Investigations (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána is currently investigating a complaint made by the person referred to by the Deputy. As this matter is under investigation it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I can assure the Deputy that allegations of crimes committed by any individual, regardless of their profession, are fully investigated by An Garda Síochána.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Vetting of Personnel (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that a vetting application on behalf of the individual referred to by the Deputy was received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) on 23 September 2013. The application is currently being processed and once completed will be returned to the registered organisation concerned. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the current average...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Vetting Application Numbers (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: By way of background to the Deputy's question, I wish to advise that the number of vetting applications received by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU) each year has risen from 187,864 in 2007 to 327,903 in 2012 and it is expected that there will be upwards of 350,000 applications this year. It is essential that the GCVU has the resources required to perform this most critical of roles...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (3 Oct 2013)

Alan Shatter: I can assure the Deputy that a comprehensive and robust legal framework is in place with respect to knife crime including heavy penalties for breaches of the laws concerned. In recent years the maximum penalty for possessing a knife in a public place without good reason or lawful authority has been increased from one to five years, and An Garda Síochána also now have an extended...