Results 4,341-4,360 of 6,188 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I take on board the point that was made about the definition. The value of this process is that it allows for discussion and for the teasing out of those issues. The committee will get a draft, and I repeat to any of the organisations that are here or that are listening in that it would be valuable to hear their views on what the definition should be or any ideas they have about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank the Chairman and congratulate the Minister. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to present this Bill this afternoon. It has been discussed in previous meetings of the committee and I commend the Chairman and am encouraged by the sentiments expressed by the committee on the need for a digital safety commissioner at this time. There is no doubt that online safety has become one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: There were a few points. First, merely to clarify, what I outlined is a general basis for a definition of harmful communication. The behaviours I enumerated were general behaviours rather than specific offences. They are not necessarily all criminal offences. Some of them are proposed criminal offences from the Law Reform Commission paper. That is for the purpose of drafting this. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Minister might be able to answer that better. We are doing this pre-legislative scrutiny and we need to consider the details that arise. We should have Committee Stage of the Bill in the spring and then progress beyond that. While we have to take stock of the issues raised in these hearings, I do not see any reason not to proceed with the legislation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: This has been a good discussion in which a fair few issues have been outlined. I am looking forward to the next session because it will be very interesting. To boil down the point made by the Minister, he seems to be arguing that self-regulation is no regulation, which is fair enough, but also that the regulator should not be involved in the advisory or policy side of things. That does not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Digital Safety Commissioner Bill 2017: Discussion (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Execution is not necessarily envisaged for the regulator. It is for those who have the powers of statute. The co-ordination and development of policy is something else. These matters can be considered further. The people who want to see changes are engaging with the social media platforms. None of that is to say that Government agencies and Departments would have no responsibility. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Comptroller and Auditor General report states that there are 140 high-wealth individuals, millionaires 50 times over, who had a taxable income of less than €125,000. Some 83 of these people have taxable income of less than the average worker. Clearly, there are those in society who are not paying their fair share. Will the Minister commit to bringing in the necessary changes to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Tax Avoidance (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: We all appreciate the work of the Revenue Commissioners, and in fairness, on some issues where my colleague Deputy Doherty and others have identified unintended or unjustifiable tax breaks, the Department, the Minister and the Revenue Commissioners have acted. There are concrete steps that could be taken here that have been ruled out. For example in Britain all taxpayers with income over...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 164. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the contracts between direct provision providers and RIA include requirements for the provision of menstrual hygiene products; and if not, the reason therefor. [44326/18]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Swimming Pool Programme Data (25 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 321. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of public swimming pools, including swimming pools which are in contract with local authorities' PPP or similar arrangements, in each local authority; and the percentage this represents in terms of swimming pools per head of population by local authority. [44294/18]

Sale of Illicit Goods Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 Oct 2018)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I will begin by welcoming the Bill and thanking Deputies Breathnach, Lahart and Troy for bringing it before the House. We will not oppose the passage of the Bill to Committee Stage. There are flaws in it, which the Minister of State has identified. We hope to work constructively to improve it on Committee Stage. We will support it because in principle we believe that where somebody is...

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...