Results 4,301-4,320 of 6,137 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Post-European Council Meetings: Statements (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar an ábhar tabhachtach seo um thráthnóna. Last December we were told that the so-called backstop arrangement was a guarantee or insurance policy that there would be no hard border on the island of Ireland and that the interests of citizens in the North, the majority of whom voted against Brexit, would be protected. We were told at...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Last week, the British Prime Minister turned down a request for a meeting with the four main parties that represent the pro-remain majority in the North - the SDLP, Alliance Party, Green Party and Sinn Féin. The four parties are due to meet Taoiseach in the coming weeks and have met Mr. Michel Barnier together, yet Theresa May has refused a request for a joint meeting. This is another...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Yesterday, the EPA produced its urban wastewater treatment report for 2017. The report found that wastewater treatment is completely insufficient in many areas and highlighted the fact that despite some improvements, 38 towns and villages across the State still discharge raw sewage into the environment. The report also stated that wastewater treatment in 28 of the State's 179 large towns...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): EU Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: On Monday, the British Secretary of State, Karen Bradley, made what can only be described as a bizarre statement to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in London. In defending the British Government's stance in the Brexit negotiations she stated that, supposedly, 60% of unionists in the North had voted to leave the European Union. She went on to state that what the EU has put forward...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank Commissioner Harris and his colleagues for coming before us. I congratulate him and wish him the best of luck in his position. He is taking the position at a time of great change following on from several controversies, which unfortunately somewhat undermined public confidence in the institution as a whole. Notwithstanding that, I believe that in the vast majority of cases the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I take that on board but I emphasise that, with respect to knowledge of the community, there is a role for specific and dedicated community gardaí at district level in particular. In the past three or four years, of particular concern to the public has been the matter of serious and organised crime. We can give significant credit to the Garda because considerable headway has been made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Nonetheless, it is an area that contains very significant challenges, particularly with the number of communities that it is fair to say have been tormented by this scourge. There is also an international element, so it is a big challenge for the Garda. How will the Garda Commissioner address these matters, what initiatives will he take and how will it be prioritised?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Before and upon the appointment of the Garda Commissioner, several victim groups expressed significant reservations. In particular, some of those groups expressed some anger as they viewed Mr. Harris as somebody who would block their access to truth and justice, as he would have been the key person within the PSNI responsible for legacy matters. To a large extent this relates to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I am pleased to hear that. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report has been discussed already, to an extent. I have some issues with some of the specific recommendations, especially those relating to the Policing Authority, but I wish to speak to the ability to deliver reform. The Policing Authority has expressed serious concerns that the Garda renewal and modernisation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: In addition to some of the concerns raised by victims, concerns were raised by a variety of people about issues of national security, in particular given the Commissioner's overall responsibility for intelligence within the PSNI, his status as its liaison officer with MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence agency, and his current responsibility for significant areas of State security. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Very well. I will ask two supplementaries if I can, but there was a third element to my questioning. Leaving aside what is recommended in the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report, what is the Commissioner's understanding of his current responsibilities in intelligence terms? I accept absolutely that the Commissioner has undertaken his obligations and oath in the fullest...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I do not know if the Commissioner has answered the final question. As such, I might ask it in a different way if that is possible. I do not necessarily say there needs to be a problem, but it is important we are clear about procedure and due diligence and so on. To ask the question another way, what is the division of labour between the intelligence responsibilities of An Garda...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I have two final questions, with the indulgence of the Chairman. The Commissioner has responded to the publication of the disclosures tribunal report, which, it is fair to say, contains some extraordinary conclusions. To enumerate them briefly, the tribunal was convinced that there was a campaign of calumny by former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, against Maurice McCabe, in which he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will just emphasise, before I ask my final question, that the Commissioner has made a vitally important point. People were really shocked at the strength of the finding against the former Garda Commissioner, Mr. Martin Callinan, and the fact that someone in his position could be responsible for a campaign of that nature. It is vitally important that such behaviour is never repeated and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Future Direction of An Garda Síochána: Garda Commissioner (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Garda Commissioner for his responses. I appreciate him appearing before the committee. It is our responsibility to hold him to account but also to work with him and support him in his work, which I look forward to doing.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Reviews (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 194. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he will review the legislation related to citizenship to include those persons that have been married for a defined length of time to an Irish citizen living overseas in recognition of their close familial ties to Ireland. [44052/18]

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (23 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The programme for Government speaks on the aim of modernising Ireland's visa and residency system. The Minister for Justice and Equality has said he will not comment on individual applications. That is very well but I want to raise with him a report from two days ago on a statement that the Chinese mother of a nine year old boy obtained an Irish passport for him under false pretences. How...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Drug and Alcohol Testing (23 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 309. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drivers that tested positive for drug driving at new mandatory checkpoints in 2018, by month in tabular form. [43260/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Equipment (23 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 310. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí that have been trained to use devices (details supplied) to date; and the number of device mouthpieces that have been used by gardaí in 2018. [43261/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (23 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 312. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the spend on the asylum migration and integration fund for each year since its inception by project and location. [43295/18]