Results 141-158 of 158 for long speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (23 Mar 2022)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and I commend the Minister of State and the Department on bringing it forward. This Bill is long overdue; it has been called for and required for more than two decades. We need to appreciate it is complex and complicated legislation. Notwithstanding the delay, I can understand why the Minister of State and the Department have had to...

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Oct 2016)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...and the courts stated it needed to be put to the people. There are hundreds of other examples where Ministers have been given what the Taoiseach would refer to as a "wallop" by the courts and long may that continue. Nonetheless, the manner in which judges have been nominated by the Government has been shrouded in mystery and the people do not know the basis on which individuals are...

Prisons (Solitary Confinement) (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (1 Dec 2016)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...to use the prison system as a means to train persons who are within the prison system. On the specific issue of solitary confinement, we know that solitary confinement has been a part of the prison system for as long as the prison system has been in operation. It dates back to classical times. There have been numerous references in literature to people who were confined. Charles...

Report on Recognition of Traveller Ethnicity: Motion (1 Jun 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...are also embarrassing, which is a polite way to put it, from the point of view of this country. We must ensure, having recognised Traveller ethnicity, that we take further steps to ensure that the disparities in the health of Irish Travellers no longer continue throughout the 21st century. There was no reason for those disparities to develop and it is essential that there is...

Report of the Fennelly Commission: Statements (12 Apr 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...phone calls first, a practice develops in Ireland to record phone calls in Garda stations and no one gives any consideration to whether it is lawful or not. Second, the practice continues for a long period, and even though its unlawful status is noticed by people in authority, nothing is done about it and no one takes responsibility in respect of it. Third, this is not a devious...

Establishment of a Tribunal of Inquiry: Motion (16 Feb 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...it comes to the efficiency of a tribunal of inquiry is the setting of its terms of reference. Some terms of reference in the past have been exceptionally broad and have led to those tribunals continuing for a very long period of time. I believe that the terms of reference that have been put forward by the Tánaiste with the assistance of other Members of the House are very...

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Oct 2016)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...any medal for bravery for introducing this legislation. It is perfectly coherent legislation that all Oireachtas Members should be thinking about. It is something that should have been done in this House long ago, I accept that. I welcome the fact the Minister, Deputy Ross, is interested in this area but it is instructive that the Minister, who has been in the Oireachtas for 35 years,...

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...to as the Troubles. One thing that jumped out at me from the documentary was that there seemed to be a general recognition of the pointlessness and uselessness of violence that was perpetrated for so long in Northern Ireland. That may be related to the age of the people who were being interviewed. In addition, there was a recognition on both sides of the sectarianism of it. Many of the...

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...Advisory Board. We are going to set up a new commission. I wish to look at the grounds on which I state this will damage the administration of justice. Under the new proposals, there will no longer be an advisory board of 11 members. Instead there will be an advisory body of 13. Those 13 members will be made up of three members of the Judiciary, down from five; seven lay people, up...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (9 Nov 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...it would be managing the Garda Commissioner's office. I do not think so. The word that is used is "supervision". It is important that the Policing Authority establishes policies and procedures for An Garda Síochána and that it keeps an overview of the functioning of the Garda Commissioner's office. That would be to the long-term benefit of An Garda Síochána. The...

Criminal Records (Exchange of Information) Bill 2019: Second Stage (25 Sep 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...we did not reflect on the fact that it has taken us ten years to start to transpose these decisions into Irish law. Such is the antiquity of these decisions, as with the framework decision, that we no longer have framework decisions as they were finished as a result of the Lisbon treaty. Both decisions seek to regulate the exchange of information around criminal records within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Scrutiny of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons (Amendment) Bill 2021 (28 May 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...conviction for offences under subsections (4) and (5) as a more serious matter. The increase in the penalty should reflect our concern about the increase in seizures and the increasing instances of knife crimes. I have gone on long enough. I am happy to answer whatever questions members have. Obviously, it is entirely a matter for the committee to conclude its pre-Committee Stage...

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (8 Nov 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...competition between the different grounds. Each is commendable and should be there but I see no reason that we should not keep trying to evolve and promote our laws on equality. They continually change along with the society in which we live and it is important that we send out a message that it is unacceptable for people to discriminate against individuals on the basis that those people...

Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Bill 2020: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jul 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: .... At some stage after this, those businesses will be able to walk fully on their own but they need to recognise that they also have a societal responsibility, just as the State does. For too long many businesses have seen their exclusive role as being the generation of profits for shareholders. The people managing the businesses try to maximise profits for shareholders, which they do...

Level 5 Response to Covid-19: Statements (Resumed) (23 Oct 2020)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...country is now at 37%. We need to recognise that a significant number of the people who lost their jobs from Thursday morning were young, low-paid workers. I do not believe we can sustainably continue in the long term with repeated policies that are damaging to the lives of young people. That is something we have to factor into our deliberations. There is also the economy. When...

Bail (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (8 Feb 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...was very anxious that legislation would be introduced to strengthen the bail laws. The Bill brought before this House today constitutes a strengthening of our bail laws and targets individuals who may be categorised as persistent offenders or individuals who have long previous records in respect of convictions. It is not a threat to our civil liberties. Courts will always seek to...

Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters Relative to the Cavan-Monaghan Division of An Garda Síochána) Report: Statements (25 May 2016)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...House in 2004. The reason the Oireachtas introduced such a method of investigation was that we wanted something cheaper and quicker than traditional tribunals of inquiry, which can go on for too long. It is important to point out that the primary difference between the tribunal of inquiry procedure and the commission of investigation procedure is that, in respect of the latter, the...

Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Second Stage (1 Mar 2017)

Jim O'Callaghan: ...of being presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, there is another strand and this involves the victim. Unfortunately, under our criminal justice system, that strand has lagged behind the first strand for far too long. As stated, the law began to change in the 1990s. The first item of legislation that took into account the circumstance of victims was probably Criminal...