Results 321-340 of 4,842 for garda speaker:Michael McDowell

Garda Deployment. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I remind the Deputy that, when his party was in office with the Labour Party, the number of gardaí was allowed to decline at a time when the population was rising.

Garda Deployment. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I will put this discussion in context. We discussed the Criminal Assets Bureau earlier and the strength of the Garda Síochána in terms of numbers involved in the battle against drugs has grown substantially over recent years but they are located across the country.

Garda Deployment. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...carrying out surveillance and other operations and the armed detective units who participated in Operation Anvil and Operation Oak work shoulder to shoulder with the drug detectives so the 331 gardaí and 48 members of the national drugs unit do not represent the total complement dealing with gangland activity. I also agree with the Deputy that cocaine specifically is a very serious...

Garda Deployment. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Competitive interviews were carried out recently so appointments will follow very rapidly. I cannot give a date as I do not micromanage the Garda Síochána.

Anti-Social Behaviour. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...ASBOs. I directed the commencement of Part 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, which provides for civil proceedings for anti-social behaviour by adults, on 1 January 2007. The application by the Garda Síochána to the courts for a civil order comes at the end of a process. The first step in the procedure is that a member of the Garda Síochána issues a behaviour warning to a person...

Anti-Social Behaviour. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: .... If I were asked in December how many orders would be issued by the start of April, I could not have predicted whether it would have been 21 or 221. I was not in a position to say that. Local Garda superintendents take a very shrewd and experienced view on what they want to do with their resources. They need to make decisions on community policing and other issues, including whether...

Anti-Social Behaviour. (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...to make them effective. The answer is that it was not. We do not live in a command economy where somebody can sit in a room and predict on the basis of 1,000 ASBOs by December so many additional Garda resources would be necessary. The real world does not work that way.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...to the census, raised by Deputy Kenny. There is no question of invalidity in holding an election in those circumstances. If Deputy Kenny had raised the matter relating to the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors with me during Question Time today I would have given him a very long and detailed answer, to prove that there was no substance in those remarks.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: There is very close co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda Síochána regarding dangers to children from sexual offenders.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...the solicitor that his client is being convicted, to ask if he is employed, whether he has a family and whether he has any previous convictions. He accepts the solicitor's word on this and the Garda is there to contradict the solicitor if he is not correct on these issues. That is better than asking the solicitor to bring his client forward so that his marital status can be investigated,...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Like the Deputy, I read the Sunday Tribune story's suggestion that serving and former members of the Garda Síochána had abused their positions to favour one insurance company by giving it access to information held within the force's official records. When I read that story I was gravely concerned and in a moment I will tell the House the actions I took on foot of it. First, however, I...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...is a forgery, then that is another matter of the utmost gravity, but different inquiries will follow on foot of it. I share the Deputy's view that it would be entirely wrong for any member of the Garda Síochána to make any private company engaged in the insurance sector a party to information held by the Garda Síochána, other than through officially sanctioned and conventional...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...of an insurance company, not a person implying or insinuating that he or she is a person in authority dealing with the same issue. There is nothing wrong, in principle, with retired members of the Garda Síochána acting as claims investigators. However, there should be clear distinctions, protections and ethical guidelines to ensure that nobody pretends to be a person in authority and...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 201 together. Under the Garda Síochána Pensions Orders, a widow's pension is payable on the death of a member or of a retired member of An Garda Síochána. While the person in question had been married to a member of An Garda Síochána, that marriage had been dissolved by decree of divorce. The member subsequently remarried. Since his death, a...

Written Answers — Airport Immigration Controls: Airport Immigration Controls (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Senior Garda management at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) meet regularly with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and the airline operators utilising facilities at Dublin Airport to discuss issues relating to the implementation of immigration controls, air routes and flight schedules and other related matters arising at Dublin Airport. An Garda Síochána are engaged in...

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that crime incidents are recorded on the PULSE crime recording system in accordance with the Garda crime counting rules, which are published in the Annual Reports of An Garda Síochána. The Garda Assistant Commissioner, Crime and Security has responsibility for ensuring that all crime reported is recorded in accordance with these rules. Since autumn...

Written Answers — Road Traffic Offences: Road Traffic Offences (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Section 12 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994 (substituted by section 2 of the Road Traffic Act, 2003) provides that a member of An Garda Síochána may request the provision of a preliminary breath specimen or the provision of a blood or urine specimen from a person who the member is of the opinion has been involved in a collision. Section 15 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994 provides a power to...

Written Answers — Closed Circuit Television Systems: Closed Circuit Television Systems (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: There are two CCTV programmes in operation at present, the Garda CCTV programme and the Community-based CCTV scheme which I launched in June 2005. In addition to the Garda CCTV systems already in operation, contracts for systems in Ballyfermot, Clondalkin and Tullamore have been placed and implementation will be completed in a number of weeks. Tenders have issued for another nine locations...

Written Answers — Garda Recruitment: Garda Recruitment (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the cost of recruiting and training 2,000 gardaí is estimated to be in the region of €193 million.

Written Answers — Garda Remuneration: Garda Remuneration (3 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: The estimated annual salary costs including pay, allowances and employer's PRSI for 2,000 gardaí in their first year following qualification from the Garda College is €85.3 million.