Results 2,421-2,440 of 4,093 for speaker:Cormac Devlin

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Will Mr. Justice Mahon give a note to the committee containing a breakdown of those complaints by gender and the numbers of complainants who are retired and the numbers who are still serving? I heard what he said about the lacuna between the time a member is serving and when they transition into retirement. However, it might be of interest to the committee, particularly in the context of...

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Mr. Justice Mahon answered a question from one of my colleagues a little while ago relating to the "Women of Honour" programme, which brought to light a worrying trend or culture that may have existed within the Defence Forces. I heard what Mr. Justice Mahon said about the 2004 Act, which gives him the powers to carry out his role. The customer charter quotes section 4(2)(b)(vi) of the Act,...

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Is there a fear factor? I am wondering if we are seeing the true volume.

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: It does, and Mr. Justice Mahon is right about the internal process. If people have already taken that step, it would be no harm for them to go on to the ombudsman if they are not satisfied with the internal resolution of the case. That is fine. Does Mr. Justice Mahon also look at complaints from those in the Reserve Defence Force?

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: If Mr. Justice Mahon is going to send a note containing figures to the committee after the meeting, I would ask him to include the figures for the Reserve Defence Force. That would be of interest to me. It is an important figure.

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Would a rough estimate, to which I will not hold Mr. Justice Mahon, be that 80% of the complaints come from serving members, 10% from the Reserve Defence Force and 10% from retired members? Would retired members comprise even 10% of complaints?

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: That is all right. We are not going to hold Mr. Justice Mahon to his figures.

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Mr. Justice Mahon spoke of his recommendations a short while ago, and that the Defence Forces have taken those on board, which is good news. Is there a follow-up on the recommendations Mr. Justice Mahon makes? Are there checks and balances from his own office? Does he have the resources to do that?

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Of course it can, yes. In his opening statement, Mr. Justice Mahon mentioned the fact that in excess of 95% of new referrals are fully investigated and reported on within four weeks. When he said "reported on", did that mean those cases are investigated and a response has issued to the complainant or did it mean an internal report has been compiled?

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: I think it is a remarkable timeframe. For 95% of the cases to be dealt with in that timeframe is very impressive, I must say. It is probably appreciated by those who are making the complaints, because they know where they stand after that investigation. Finally, I wish to turn to the issue of Women of Honour. In Mr. Justice Mahon's opening statement, he mentioned other jurisdictions,...

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: That is something we might consider in terms of our own recommendations as a committee, subsequently. I thank Mr. Justice Mahon and Mr. O'Neill for their attendance and for their answers to the questions of the committee members.

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: The ombudsman referenced the special reports that may be done by his office and they perhaps come from the route from the Minister's office. How many special reports has the ombudsman's office completed since its foundation in 2005? Does Mr. Justice Mahon know how many special reports have been completed or have there been any?

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: If the office has any information on that, it would of interest to me. I say that because if we are looking at legislation and the power that gives the office that right, we need to be sure about this issue. I would not like to think there are cases from before 2005 that have been declined on the basis of the date of the complaint. I note the ombudsman said he is excluded from...

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: That is fine. I thank Mr. Justice Mahon and look forward to his note.

Committee on Public Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Agreed.

Committee on Public Petitions: Annual Reports from 2017 to 2020 and Related Matters: Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (20 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: Mr. Justice Mahon might send a note on that, please, if he would not mind. Sticking with the December 2005 date from when cases could be taken, were there any cases that pre-dated 2005? I accept this pre-dates Mr. Justice Mahon's time. If there were such cases and assuming they would have fallen into the scope of the work of the ombudsman had they been post December 2005, what happened to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: I thank the witnesses for their engagement thus far. My questions would come under some main headings relating to the witnesses' contributions, namely: Mr. Ó Raghallaigh's consideration of the resources to deliver, which I will touch upon shortly; Mr. Mahon's contribution on the local authority's role in all of that; and Mr. Carroll's points about retrofitting. My first question is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: In a nutshell, are we talking about additional staff or redeploying staff to the climate action units?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: I thank Mr. Mahon. Perhaps he will send us a note on the public lighting. It would be nice for the committee to have a baseline of how many lights are converted and how many are to be.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Carbon Budgets: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jan 2022)

Cormac Devlin: I thank Mr. Lemass for that. If I can, Chair, very briefly address a point to Mr. Carroll about the private stock, there is a huge demand for that, particularly under the better energy warmer homes scheme. We all need to do our best to achieve the target. There is a willingness from the public. We just need to ensure the resources are in place.