Results 15,561-15,580 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: That is the way it should be.

Crime Prevention (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The increase in activities by the groups in question in recent months is obviously a matter of concern for the Government. I know that all Members of the House will join me in condemning these groups without reserve. We should be clear that these people are no more than criminals using violent means in pursuit of their own ends. They have no support in the wider community for their...

Crime Prevention (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The situation in particular on the northern side has eased in terms of the militarisation to which we were used in the past 30 years, but it is safe to say that there has not been an easing of the Garda focus on the side of the Border. That is instanced by the fact that this year alone 50 people have been arrested and 22 people are before the courts. Recently at my insistence the Garda...

Crime Prevention (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I have seen press reports on that particular research. It is safe to say that it does refer to the support being small by any standard. The author refers to small-scale support. None of us is complacent in that regard. It is not correct to equate it to the type of support the Provisional IRA had especially in the North during its campaign of 30 years because the majority of people North...

Crime Prevention (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: Sure. The issue of the threat in Britain is not regarded as severe as that to the North of Ireland. The threat in the North has been there for some time. That is the considered view of the Garda Síochána and the PSNI Chief Constable. Equally, I know from the Garda Commissioner who is in contact with the security services in Britain that he is satisfied with the raising of the level of...

Crime Prevention (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I do not want to go into the different groups as they are disparate but there is no doubt that there is some cross-fertilisation between two of the major groups. That is something the Garda Síochána is examining very closely.

Garda Disciplinary Proceedings (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I understand from the Garda Commissioner that, in the course of preparing a comprehensive investigation file into the criminal activities of an organised criminal group for consideration by the DPP, a small but nonetheless important portion of the investigation file was brought under gardaí supervision to the premises in question. During the course of the gardaí visit to the premises, and...

Garda Disciplinary Proceedings (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I do not want to go into specific details of the premises because a criminal investigation is ongoing. It is safe to say the gardaí involved in the preparation of the file for the DPP decided to bring it to an outside printing operation. That was not done because of a lack of resources, the gardaí have a full printing and photocopying capability in the office, but a decision was made for...

Garda Disciplinary Proceedings (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The Garda Commissioner has issued a directive to ensure this does not happen again. Clearly there was an element of human error in this.

Garda Disciplinary Proceedings (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The Garda Commissioner is satisfied the members involved acted in good faith and it was a human error. I can say categorically that this will never happen again. Those involved are now wiser. It was not just a matter of photocopying because the Garda Síochána has such facilities, it was to present the file in a better format for presentation to the DPP. This file was not left on the...

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: This is a despicable type of crime. The abduction and false imprisonment of a person's family or friends, in order to coerce them into assisting with a robbery, is a particularly abhorrent type of crime. The trauma visited on the innocent victims involved by heartless criminals can be only imagined by the rest of us. I know my contempt for those responsible will be shared by Members of the...

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I agree with the Deputy that these are despicable crimes but I do not agree that I in any way insinuated that people did not adhere to the protocols. I have been assiduous in saying that, while the protocols are there, it is easy for us to talk about compliance with protocols.

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: If we were in the situation any of these people were put in, God only knows how we would react. It is proven that any time these protocols have been adhered to, the operation has ended successfully. When they have not been complied with, for whatever reason, there has been an unsuccessful operation. The protocols are not used on their own in these instances. I would not want the message to...

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: At no stage did I suggest a kidnap tax or an increase in taxation.

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: It is disappointing that we in this country cannot have a rational discussion on a matter of life and death for bank officials. I have met the Irish Bank Officials Association, IBOA, bank managements and the Garda Síochána. They told me that one of the difficulties highlighted by these incidents is the preponderance of cash in our banks and society. The more cash, the more opportunities...

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I was trying to make a point. Given that our society is on the other side of the scale in terms of its level of cash, we as a society must examine the issue.

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: I most certainly did not.

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: The shrill, hysterical, incorrect and disingenuous press statements by Deputy Shatter and his like will not-----

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: -----solve one iota of the difficulties posed to the bank staff who must live with this danger on a daily basis. I was trying to make a genuine point in response to the suggestion that there might have been a better way to go about this. Deputy Shatter stated that criminals were going from issue to issue. The number of tiger kidnappings is significant, but that was not the case heretofore.

Garda Investigations (7 Oct 2010)

Dermot Ahern: ATM machines were being raided by robbers.