Results 1,761-1,780 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I am inclined to agree with the principle of the amendment but perhaps most of what Deputy Ó Snodaigh has said will be covered by the annual review proposed by the Minister. This debate has certainly shown that the area is extremely complex, not only in terms of legislation passed by the House but in terms of the significant number of statutory instruments attaching to the various Bills as...

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I move amendment No. 9: In page 22, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following: "3B.—The Minister shall conduct an annual review of the operation of this Act and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the number and classes of certificates issued under this Act.". I will be brief as I do not wish to be repetitive. I note the content of amendment No. 10 in the Minister's...

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I move amendment No. 11: In page 23, line 50, after "shooting" to insert the following: "save and except any firearm used for legitimate and controlled sporting purposes as may be specified in Regulations". Members will recall our debate on Committee Stage regarding the Minister's intention to ban handguns. Amendment No. 11 would preserve the ability to hold a handgun or other firearm used...

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I express my disappointment that the Minister is attempting at this late stage to misrepresent in their entirety matters I raised.

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: The Minister should forget about the IPSC and deal with target bull's eye static shooting.

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: On Committee Stage the Minister misrepresented the position. He spoke about firearms being purchased on the Internet. He knows purchase of firearms on the Internet is impossible under current legislation. A firearm cannot be legally imported----

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: -----by an individual without a licence. Instead of an outright ban, I suggest the Minister introduce a capped number of licences which could be monitored and reviewed each year in line with the amendment we considered earlier. The outright ban on bull's eye shooting as a legitimate target sport is over-restrictive and an over-reaction. The Minister is using the argument about extreme...

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: Olympics style.

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I am not.

Written Answers — Prison Staff: Prison Staff (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: Question 88: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position in respect of employment opportunities within the Prison Service; when recruitment will next take place; the number of places which will be available in 2009 and 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26936/09]

Written Answers — Prison Committals: Prison Committals (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: Question 92: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of prisoners currently in prison for debt default; the number imprisoned annually since 2000 to date in 2009 for debt default; if 21 days remains the average timeframe for debt defaulters to be imprisoned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26960/09]

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (2 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: Question 161: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when it is anticipated that a farm waste management grant will be awarded in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26891/09]

Redundancy Payments. (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: Question 36: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will honour the commitment to allow employers to offset against tax, a redundancy scheme refund, that has not been paid by her; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27557/09]

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I do not oppose this amendment but I require some clarification from the Minister. The amendment refers to section 70 of the 2006 Act which was debated at length in the last Dáil. How many cases have been brought referring to this section? What were the difficulties with the section that gave rise to this amendment? Section 70 of the original Act described a criminal organisation as: a...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: The Minister would not even talk to the spokespersons about this. Although he speaks of United Nations conventions being disregarded, he did not even talk to the spokespersons.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: The time remaining will not give me sufficient opportunity to deal with the Minister's rather general overview of the Bill and the reasoning behind its introduction. This is a pity because time is of the essence if we are to give this Bill appropriate scrutiny. I regret that the Minister started off with a general debate and a high degree of party political content. This is a subversion of...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I do not wish to detain the House but the Minister engaged in some general debate on the background to the legislation and said that he was accused of plucking it out of the sky. I do not know who made that accusation. I have not heard it but the Minister has shown himself to be a dab hand at manipulating many of the comments on this legislation for partisan purposes, which is a pity...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: They may be. If the Minister acts on this in the same way as he acts on the anecdotal evidence of his colleague, the Minister for Defence, the point made by Members on all sides of the House, and beyond, that we should deal with the small print in a way that ensures we get it right is valid because the Supreme Court will test every line of this legislation. I ask the Minister to give us...

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I agree and accept the Chair's comment. I have a specific question on the section. We are dealing with section 3 and are inserting a new section 71, from the 2006 Act, an Act that has never been brought into force or used in any way that could be described as successful.

Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (7 Jul 2009)

Charles Flanagan: I am talking about the change being made to the old section 70. The Minister said we are changing it in order to simplify the definition. How does the Minister believe that by changing it from a gang of three to where two persons can be acting in concert will simplify matters? Now there is no need to prove there were three members acting in concert but evidence can be given there were two...