Results 3,001-3,020 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Defence Forces Service with United Nations: Motion (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Deputies for their comments. Members of the select committee may be interested to know that next Monday I will travel to visit our troops in southern Lebanon. I will also be visiting some other countries in the region, including Jordan. At the moment, we anticipate going to Jordan to look at the impact of the refugee crisis as a result of the Syrian conflict. The EU Justice...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Defence Forces Service with United Nations: Motion (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Having been Minister for Justice and Equality for the past hour or so, I now take on the guise of Minister for Defence. I am pleased to report to members of the committee on the Irish Defence Forces' participation in United Nations missions in 2012. The report for 2012 was laid before Dáil Éireann on 16 October 2013. The following motion was placed on the Order Paper for...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I do not have a problem replying to the question. The expenditure incurred on the G8 was €3.8 million. We have an obligation to ensure proper security is provided. Some of the delegations to the G8 were staying on our side of the Border in the Republic. There was no question of us looking for a financial contribution from Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom Government or the PSNI...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The funding for the Garda Reserve related to the additional number that came into the force during the year. We continue to recruit the Garda Reserve and they receive what is really an honorarium. They get €1,200 per annum for participating in the Garda Reserve. There were a number of recruits during the course of the year. I attended two graduation ceremonies. I am aware you...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am sorry, Chairman. It is €1,000 per annum not €1,200 per annum that is received by members of the Garda Reserve. I gave the wrong figure.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The main function of the GoSafe vans is to encourage people to drive carefully and not to speed and to detect those who are speeding. Those who operate the vans are being successful in that regard. There has been an increase in the number of fatalities among cyclists and motorcyclists. This is a problem. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, and I met...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am very happy to stick with the Estimates. I will also stick to the factual information. Unfortunately, some Members of the House always want to dramatise and make alarmist comments that will unsettle the public, in the hope of getting a newspaper headline.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy is aware the statistics on the criminal figures are published by the Central Statistics Office, not by my Department. The statistics are based on the accurate work and information available to that office and I learn of them when other people do. The information contained in the last annualised figures published shows a reduction of 8% in crime across the board. I never...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I thank Deputy O'Brien for the various comments he has made and for raising issues. I am pleased to note that substantial moneys were saved on the security side during the Presidency. I pay tribute to the fantastic work done by the Garda in this regard. Ministers from 27 member states attended meetings, with more in the case of certain meetings where Ministers from other states had...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am going to respond in reverse order and deal with the legal aid question first. The Deputy is right that there are some individuals who repetitively apply for free criminal legal aid because they are repetitive offenders. The Deputy will be aware that there are decisions of our Supreme Court and of the European courts which delineate that an individual who is charged with a criminal...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Supplementary) (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I thank the committee for making time available today to consider my request for a Supplementary Estimate for the Garda Síochána and Justice and Equality Votes. There are five Votes within the justice group which, to ensure the effective management of resources for the entire justice sector, are treated as a single group. Therefore, while there is a requirement for additional...

Seanad: Civil Law (Missing Persons) Bill 2013: Second Stage (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Let me start by saying that I was very interested in Senator Ó Clochartaigh's story about his family member. One wonders what she thought the rest of her family was doing when she disappeared. This is one who disappeared to reappear 30 years later. It is an insight into the difficulties in this area. I congratulate Senator Colm Burke for taking the initiative to introduce legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts, the various Garda national units and of course Garda Headquarters. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Data (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 and 149 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the decision to close a number of Garda stations in 2013, including Stepaside Garda Station, was the result of a comprehensive operational assessment carried out by the Garda Commissioner, the objective of which was to ensure that Garda resources are used in the best and most efficient way possible. In...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Funding (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS) operates across my Department and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and is staffed by officials from both Departments. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has responsibility for the Children Detention Schools and the associated budget. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I have responsibility for the Community Programmes Unit of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Closed Circuit Television Systems (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that seven Garda stations currently have a fully commissioned and operational internal audiovisual CCTV system installed in public and custody areas. In addition, work in relation to the installation of CCTV is currently ongoing in a further 5 stations. It is proposed that further stations will be fitted out with CCTV cameras in the context of An Garda...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Equipment (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I have requested further information from the Garda authorities on this matter and I will contact the Deputy again as soon as this information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission Remit (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to provide independent oversight of complaints made against members of the Garda Síochána. The Garda Ombudsman Commission has a hugely important role in ensuring that public confidence in the Garda Síochána is safeguarded. The Garda Ombudsman has extensive...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: International Agreements (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: For obvious reasons, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on any family matter which may be the subject of legal proceedings now or in the future, but I can confirm that I have written to the family in question confirming as Egypt is not a contracting state to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, I have contacted my counterpart in Egypt...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Drugs Crime (20 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As outlined in the reply to the Parliamentary Question to which the Deputy refers, the Adult Cautioning Scheme was introduced in 2006 as a response to a recommendation in the 1999 Nally Report on the Public Prosecution System. The Report recommended that "as a measure to reduce the volume of cases prosecuted through the Courts" a system should be introduced whereby offenders would, in...