Results 321-340 of 951 for speaker:Garret Ahearn
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: And she is hardly suggesting that employees in the sector should not get a wage increase, especially when they are working in very difficult circumstances. What Ms Buckley is talking about is a wage increase and sick pay. Ireland is one of only two countries that does not have sick pay. I recognise entirely the cost involved, but I am just saying that I am not sure that this is the day to...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Albeit that they are challenging, you would support those measures that were brought in to support employees wages and sick pay. These were all done in consultation with these groups. I recognise that it is challenging but I do not think, when we talk about how we will fix the problem of costs and what shoplifting is costing shops every year, that we should say that how we should reduce...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: The point I am making is that shoplifting and crime places a serious cost on businesses. The solution to that is not lowering the wages of employees.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: I would not have said anything had it not been raised.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: I probably will not need it. I will pick up on what Mr. Dunne said about seeing a difference in the past number of weeks in that shoplifting crimes have reduced. Has that been seen across the sector?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Yes. In Dublin, in particular.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Is that agreed by everyone?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Does everyone see that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Is it too early to have any data on that yet in terms of-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: What Mr. Dunne is essentially saying is a couple of weeks is not long enough to see if this is working.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: What we need is three to six months-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: -----of boots on the ground. If we are seeing a change in the space of two weeks, why not do this for a little longer, and continue to pay overtime for people to come into Dublin on their days off to protect the city as best as possible?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Is the reduction in shoplifting anything to do with the reduction in numbers coming into the city since what happened three or four weeks ago?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: That is my next question. Irish people are amazing. They support communities, shops and companies when they go through very difficult times. Deputy Stanton would know this well from Midleton. I was down there last week. I spoke to a friend. People have been adamant in their support for Midleton since it was flooded. They want to support their local community and their shops. Is that...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: In Tipperary, the concern would be that we might be moving gardaí from Tipperary to Dublin to cover the latter. At the moment, it is only overtime so we are not being affected. However, we need to see the crime figures to make sure they do not just move from one place to another.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: We all agree that gardaí are doing the best they can. Many of them are very deflated. I know gardaí who come to small stores, take someone to the courts and the judge asks if there is a space in a jail for them before they go into court. It is almost as if it is a garda's job to find something before the judge decides whether a person are prosecuted or not. Many gardaí are...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: The person gets off free, comes back to a store and robs it again.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Those six gardaí are not able to be on the street protecting people.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: We have seen an increase in this over the years and all this morning's contributions have referred to the extraordinary levels of crime. Almost all shops have installed security systems at their own expense. Do people feel it has been a waste of money putting in security systems or would things be even worse if these things were not in place?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Shoplifting: Discussion (13 Dec 2023)
Garret Ahearn: Does that happen frequently?