Results 3,401-3,420 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: Why is the fellow at No. 14 on the promotion list? Let the Minister tell me. Another guy was reported by the whistleblower down there and he got promotion. However, the people who stood by that man in that station did not get promotion. The Commissioner said in a statement yesterday that she wishes to reiterate that "any employees in An Garda Síochána who bring forward any...

Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. To answer Deputy McDonald's question, these are the four letters-----

Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: Sorry?

Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: Nicky Keogh wrote to the Minister four times and she replied once. When he told the Minister about the harassment and that he could not have been suffering without the Commissioner's knowledge, the Minister wrote back to him to say she was looking for an urgent report from the Garda Commissioner. That was May this year. The Minister says she follows things up quickly. May was a long time...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015: Second Stage (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: I will be opposing this Bill. I disagree very strongly with criminalising the purchase of consensual sex. If this Bill is successful, I believe it will signify the reinvolvement of the State in the private sexual lives of adult citizens for the first time since homosexuality was decriminalised over 20 years ago. It seems that the Turn Off the Red Light campaign has turned many heads. Many...

Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: I would like to look at a couple of sections of the Bill. Section 8 refers to payments made under schemes for individuals disabled following the thalidomide tragedy that took place in the 1960s. The Health Products Regulatory Authority has a role in this context. Thalidomide was marketed as a sleeping pill and morning sickness cure in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It led to the deaths...

Mental Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: This is a short time in which to cover such a large subject. In the past year, there has been a different level of awareness among Members of this Chamber than was the case previously. People are waking up to how there are some huge challenges in Ireland in the context of mental health. I was made deeply aware of this during the election campaign. Given that County Wexford has the highest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Minister for Justice and Equality (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: The Minister is talking about a number of areas here where things can be done better, better organisation, etc. I was surprised the Minister did not address the issue that the CSO statistics showed there has been a serious massaging of crime figures. That was highlighted by it. It reminds me that I gave the Minister evidence of the massaging of crime figures in the Athlone area almost a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Minister for Justice and Equality (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: The Minister might have forgotten my question about the evidence I gave her about the massaging of figures in Athlone about a year ago. Whatever happened to that?

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation Provision (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: 49. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the situation regarding emergency accommodation in County Wexford which at present is full to capacity with the result that persons in dire need of accommodation are being turned away from its doors and left to fend for themselves; if he is taking specific action to address this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Policy (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: 57. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce a refurbishment grant scheme for properties that require refurbishment in order to make them habitable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28639/16]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (5 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: 69. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department has carried out, or plans to carry out, a cost benefit analysis of the promised rapid build housing units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28640/16]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Education Review (4 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: 37. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to carry out a specific assessment of the educational outcomes of children with special educational needs, as recommended by the Children's Rights Alliance, to complement the promised assessment of special needs assistants as outlined in the recently published Action Plan for Education; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Oct 2016)

Mick Wallace: 61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for an assessment of the effectiveness of current laws, policies and spending on special needs and disability supports in the education system, with a view to publishing a roadmap to meet the rights of children with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28374/16]

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: Last April, both Deputy Clare Daly and I raised the issue of unaccompanied minors in Calais. We pleaded with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to send officials to Calais and Dunkirk to process some of the people there and to see if it was possible to take some in. This would not have cost the State a penny given Irish families were prepared to take them in. I promised to take one...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: The chairperson did not paint the same rosy picture that the Minister has painted. Sadly, by way of a couple of examples, GSOC has waited two years on documents from the whistleblowers, Nicky Kehoe and Keith Harrison, after asking for them. The documents in respect of one of them have eventually arrived. The chairperson says in public that she supports whistleblowers. I ask the Minister...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: Judge Mary Ellen Ring also made the point that the protected disclosures system is not working as well as she would like it to work. The Minister should take a look at what she said. I am not making it up. She talked about GSOC not having the teeth to do what it would like to do. We said the same about the Policing Authority. Today Josephine Feehily was before the justice committee....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: 14. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps she proposes to take in view of the call from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, for urgent legislative change to enable it to carry out functions appropriately; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27626/16]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: Last week at the justice committee, Judge Mary Ellen Ring expressed her frustration at GSOC's lack of power to hold An Garda Síochána to account. We warned the Minister about that when we debated the legislation. The minimal changes introduced ensured that GSOC as a body was designed to fail, which is the current situation. Gardaí are not co-operating. They are withholding...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Irish Sign Language: Irish Deaf Society (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: I will not ask any questions. I thank the witnesses for the powerful presentations. From the start, I have felt sorry for Mr. Byrne, the interpreter. I find the pace that they go at incredible. I found the comment of Dr. Conama about the power of visual language very interesting. It is something I had not really thought about but it reminded me of something. I remember being in Italy...