Results 2,281-2,300 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Can I just say-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I need to say that the Department pursued these issues very diligently-----

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: In regard to the point the Deputy makes about alcohol, if anything, what has emerged raises more serious issues about our approach to alcohol, how robust the legislation needs to be and how we need to get on with the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. Effectively, and this is very upsetting, what has emerged from the statistics on the number of cases is the fact that the number of those who are...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, but it is a very important point in regard to the Deputy's point. In regard to the fixed point penalty notices, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport would have been copied with the information that had been given to my Department in June 2016. The other point raised by the Deputy in regard to alcohol would have been on the agenda of the transport and justice committee meetings...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: These are the reasons I and the Government believe an independent investigation is necessary. Of course, the point I would make to the Deputy is that the scale of it only emerged when the comparison was made with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, so the internal records, as such, will need to be examined to see if, at the time they did the internal audits, it was actually a 17% discrepancy....

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is why we need to have an independent investigation. It is quite clear the audit function in An Garda Síochána took too long. Again, I want to make the point that we were talking about paper-based records that had to be collected from every part of the country. Assistant Commissioner Finn took up office in December and he is the person who has now come and put all of this...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Garda would not have been aware of the scale of the problem at that point because the audit had not been completed.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Well, that is my information.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am informed by An Garda Síochána, indeed the public has been informed by An Garda Síochána, that the scale of the problem only became clear when they had the full figures of their own audit, just a few weeks ago, and these figures were compared with the database. The database had always been available, and one of the points I would make is that there should have been...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: No. At that point, no. They identified it as an issue that needed a national audit.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Which review is the Deputy speaking about? I just missed that.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Just to make the point, although I have already said this, there is a difference between MAT checkpoints and doing the breathalyser tests. The Garda authorities are satisfied that the figures in respect of the checkpoints are robust because, from a legal point of view, under legislation, they have to be authorised. They could only be wrong if somebody was taken off a checkpoint and the...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: It said there were concerns about a whole range of issues. There were many, many issues.

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am not sure that it mentioned figures but it probably said it was concerned about the accuracy. In respect of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, the letter from it to An Garda Síochána was provided to me by the Commissioner at our meeting on 27 March. The letter did not set out any figures, nor did it raise any concerns about statistics. However, it referred to the ordering...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: When the Commissioner wrote to me in respect of that original May 2014 issue, she outlined the range of actions that had been taken at that point. That issue was dealt with at that time. Subsequently, the medical bureau wrote the letter, as I have outlined. If one reads the letter, which I have, the bureau just refers to the ordering of testing equipment and notes that An Garda...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am being very clear that it is completely unacceptable that this situation arose. That is the first point I would make. We absolutely have to find out the answers to the very question the Deputy is asking. I am disappointed they are not in the public arena already and that I have not got a full report on how it happened from An Garda Síochána but I have not. I do not have the...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Deputy. I also want to respond to another point on whether we can believe any of the statistics being published. I want to make the point that I initiated action and met the Central Statistics Office to ensure the current crime statistics were more robust than they had been and the CSO has confirmed that they are. That work is ongoing but I want to make the point that the work...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have had detailed discussions with the Commissioner about this whole issue. A key question has been the information flow to the Department regarding the scale of the matter. As I have explained, the audit was under way and the Garda was responding to the letter it had received from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. The issue had emerged and concerns were raised also by individuals. The...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I repeat again that the audit was done internally. The facts were put into the public arena by An Garda Síochána, which is important. The system we have put in place for the implementation of reforms includes independent supervision of those reforms by the Policing Authority. This needs to be developed and enhanced. We need to support the Policing Authority to ensure that we get...

An Garda Síochána: Statements (28 Mar 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: With regard to the first question, this has come up a number of times following on from the Commissioner's remarks that other issues may emerge. I asked the Commissioner whether she was referring to specific issues. She said no, it was just a point she was making about examining past procedures and being intent on reform and that issues would now come into the public arena that had not come...