Results 4,001-4,020 of 8,976 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Order of Business (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As well as spinning it and leaking it to journalists.

Order of Business (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That approach is working.

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 6:In page 7, line 16, to delete “the Minister” and substitute “a member of the judiciary”.

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I move amendment No. 4:In page 7, line 15, to delete “the Minister” and substitute “a member of the judiciary, as delegated by the Chief Justice”.

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am.

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: An Garda Síochána is perhaps unique. I am not sure if it is the only one, but it is one of the few police services in the world that retains security and policing responsibilities. To compare it with the North is not to make an exact comparison. There are a number of intelligence agencies, including MI5 and MI6, that operate internally and externally from Whitehall and on the...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As the Minister of State will recall, we had an extensive debate on this matter on Committee Stage. I am very alarmed. When the Minister was in attendance at an event organised by the Law Society and the IHREC, Mr. Conor Brady, a former member of GSOC, made the sensible proposal that wherever something was deemed to be a matter of State security by the Garda when the police authority or...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: For the record of the Dáil, there were two sittings at which this Bill was considered on Committee Stage. The Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, presided over the first sitting. The Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, presided over the second sitting which was unfortunately and disappointingly scheduled at a time and date when it could not be attended by any of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Garda Commissioner (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I welcome the Commissioner. Her opening presentation was very reassuring, particularly the new TRUST approach. My first question is on the closure of Garda stations. The Garda Representative Association continually asserts that this has impacted negatively on the ability of front-line gardaí to deal with criminality. What is the Commissioner's response to its assertion?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Garda Commissioner (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly commissioner carried out an extensive examination of cross-Border crime over the course of a year. The commissioner met senior police officers in An Garda Síochána and the PSNI, the various local authorities and a range of agencies across the Border. It was an excellent report. One of its 16 key recommendations was the establishment of a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Garda Commissioner (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Garda Inspectorate has produced two reports in recent years. The first was on the issue of fixed penalty points. The second was on the findings of a three-year investigation into crime. It is welcome that the Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality have fully endorsed both reports. I understand that working groups are in place to implement the recommendations. Can the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Garda Commissioner (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We are almost two hours into this meeting and people are coming late to put questions, which is fair enough. There has been much misrepresentation of a letter sent by the Commissioner to me. In fairness to her, at no stage did she state that the IRA does not exist, either in that letter or at any stage orally or in written form, and it is important to put this on the record. I disagree...

Travellers' Rights: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I also listened to Deputy Barry's speech and his appeal that we respect free speech. I point out to him that hundreds of Irish citizens felt it was acceptable to log on to thejournal.iewebsite and give a thumbs-down to expressions of sympathy, including a simple "rest in peace" and "my heart goes out to the families" from decent Irish citizens about the fact that ten human beings - ten Irish...

Travellers' Rights: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That was a shocking speech.

Travellers' Rights: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Deputy is in a bubble.

Travellers' Rights: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Has the Deputy anything good to say about Travellers at all?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The joint committee has received a total of 152 petitions to date since the launch of the petitions system. The secretariat has been examining them to establish their admissibility and decide how best to make progress with a petition for consideration by the joint sub-committee. Some 133 of the 152 petitions received have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion. Of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Decisions on Public Petitions Received (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Is that agreed? Agreed. We will move on to petition No. P00015/15 which relates to cearta vótála - voting rights - and is in the name of Mr. Norman Wilson. The petitioner who is an Irish citizen residing in Australia is requesting that citizens of Ireland who live abroad have voting rights in Oireachtas and European Parliament elections. In its fifth report which was published...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Community Alert Programme: Muintir na Tíre (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am a great admirer of Muintir na Tíre and I thank the organisation for its help in establishing the community alert and text alert programmes in my county of Donegal. I attended a number of meetings at which Muintir na Tíre representatives spoke about their experience in other areas. It is a tremendous organisation. Its recommendations and the issues that arise at community...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Community Alert Programme: Muintir na Tíre (4 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The issue of Garda station closures in rural areas has received much prominence. What Mr. Cronin has asked for, rather than focusing on Garda station closures, is more resources for community alert and text alert programmes. I am a big supporter of these programmes, having seen waves of crime and criminal gangs so many times in Donegal. The only way to truly defeat them is with the...