Results 18,101-18,120 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: No. I did not say I asked for them. I said that what was happening at that point was that there was a full national audit being done and I was awaiting the results. My Department wanted the results of that national audit.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I was not in discussion with John Twomey at that point. My Department-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I did not ask but my Department was in contact with the-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, my Department asked for the full audit over the period and what they said was that-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The figure for the southern region that was made available to us just in March was that there was a 17% discrepancy at that point, but what has emerged is that the discrepancy in the southern region is far greater than that because the discrepancies across all regions are in excess of that. The lowest is 65%.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: No. What is very clear, and it is one of the reasons the Government made the decision this morning, is that one cannot rely on the internal audits that were done, for example, the southern region audit. It is quite clear that when the full audit was done and they compared what the medical bureau had with their own figures, the discrepancy was much greater, which Assistant Commissioner Finn...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The audit section of An Garda Síochána. It was internal.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes. I think the Policing Authority is an excellent body. It is just entering its second year since its establishment. I have already received its first report on the implementation of the Garda Inspectorate recommendations which I have passed over to the Policing Authority so that it can begin to ensure they are being implemented. It has started a very positive programme of work. It...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: When the Deputy says I have known about this since June of last year, he should be very clear that I have outlined what the position was at the time. It is easy with hindsight to comment on the scale of the issue, but neither the Garda nor I knew the scale that is now very obvious and which emerged just at the press conference last week and in the reports to my Department around 14 March. ...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy cannot draw that conclusion at all because-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Why would he draw that conclusion? What the Policing Authority said was that it reacted, and in a forthright statement, as the Deputy said, when it heard about the scale of the issues. It put out the statement from which the Deputy quoted stating that it did raise the most serious issues. It was disappointed and annoyed, I would say, that the alcohol testing information had not been passed...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It was the obligation of An Garda Síochána. Whether it was the obligation of whoever was in contact with the authority, it should have emerged at the various management meetings it had with An Garda Síochána. Deputy Commissioner Twomey has apologised for not making the authority aware of the audit, but the key point is that the audit was ongoing. The authority is...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: -----it would be concerned about the various issues.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It certainly would have been far preferable if the Policing Authority had been aware on an ongoing basis what was happening in respect of the audit. However, I make the point that a very broad range of work and oversight is being conducted by the Policing Authority over An Garda Síochána and-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is extremely serious. I am not saying it is not serious. However, I wish to make the point that the Policing Authority goes into a whole range of issues in specific areas to discuss, for example, civilianisation, recruitment, the Reserve-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: -----and the general management.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Compensation issues may well arise - that is certainly a possibility - and this will depend on the details of each case. We will have to wait to see precisely what emerges from these court hearings. It is impossible to predict at this point. As I said, all the cases that came to court needed to come to court except for the 5,600 in respect of which there was only one charge. In the other...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is laid out very clearly in legislation whose responsibility it is to take that step should it arise. It would be very wrong, indeed inaccurate, to say that the Dáil removes people in such circumstances. It does not. It is a decision of Government. The independent Policing Authority can also make its views known to the Government. I put that into the legislation. If that...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will not comment on a potential situation. The Government has said it has confidence in the Garda Commissioner to get on with the job it has asked her to do. She got her position as a result of an independent international competition. She has been asked to undertake important reforms of An Garda Síochána, which are under way, which need to be addressed and she has outlined a...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Deputy has talked about a new policing model. There has been discussion for a long time as to whether policing and security duties ought to be done by the one body. There is a range of discussions of management of An Garda Síochána. All of those issues would benefit from the kind of root and branch independent commission we suggest, given their scale. Day-to-day policing...