Results 4,441-4,460 of 9,160 for speaker:Thomas Pringle

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I will be as concise as I can. I have about five questions and would like to receive a response to each one rather than ask all of them together. I note what Mr. Harris has said about Border areas and how he is waiting to see what will happen with Brexit and such like before he rolls out the new model. That makes sense and is fair. I come from Killybegs in south-west Donegal. We will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: We will deal with some of them. Other matters will arise as the meeting progresses. I will not ask some of the questions I have submitted because other members have asked them. There is no point in going over the same ground. The purpose of the questions was to give a sense of what the meeting would involve. I refer to training for gardaí. I understand they have been trained in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: That has been going on for a number of years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Okay. I refer to the measures and new plans in respect of the consultation with joint police committees, JPCs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Have the committees been consulted?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Has the work of the committees fed into this process? Are they relevant?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: A report from the Policing Authority published earlier this month showed that the response time for the armed support unit in Donegal was up to three hours. Furthermore, the report revealed that gardaí in Donegal had to source backup from Claremorris in County Mayo, which is 1.5 hours away from Donegal. Is that adequate, in particular given that it is a Border region?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: On the question of the reporting of wrongdoing, there does not seem to be any mention of whistleblowers in the police plan. This would be a very important part of any attempt to change the culture of the organisation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Whistleblowers should be facilitated and encouraged, and Garda management should be proactive in encouraging people to come forward about problems.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Given the history of the past few years, it is very important. All members of the force should feel they can come forward.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: The presentation referred to the increase in Garda numbers, which is welcome. Since 2017, 2,090 gardaí have been recruited and there will be a further 1,500 up to 2021. How many of these are additional gardaí? Some will retire in that period. What is the figure for the increase in Garda numbers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Mr. Harris is saying that achieving 800 additional Garda members means taking on between 1,600 and 1,700 recruits.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: The Garda needs to replace 320 just to stand still.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (18 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: The figure for the real increase might be a more useful figure to show.

Beef Sector: Statements (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I am sharing time with Deputies Fitzmaurice and Nolan. Like the Deputy who has just left the Chamber, I am not a beef farmer. I am not a farmer at all and I do not come from a farming background so I am probably coming at this with a lack of knowledge. I have, however, been a member of the agriculture committee since 2011. I have heard farmers talk about their circumstances at meetings...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I thank the Taoiseach for his reply and for indicating that he will respond to me directly on the funding situation relating to these organisations. The current funding situation is as I outlined. That is the problem. There are no plans or support for these organisations. These organisations offer community-led responses to situations in respect of which the Government has not been...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Under Fine Gael’s tenure, more and more community-led projects in Donegal are under constant threat of closure due to inadequate funding from the Government. Despite many promises that funding would be provided in 2019 as part of the HSE capital plan, this funding has not materialised. Instead, parents and volunteers continue to provide funds and invest a huge amount of time and...

Offshore Islands: Motion [Private Members] (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: Vótáil.

Offshore Islands: Motion [Private Members] (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: I pay tribute to Deputy Connolly for putting forward this motion. It is very important that the islands are an integral part of rural life and of Irish life and they should be treated as such. All the Members who spoke on the motion outlined the work that is happening and the value of the islands with which they are familiar. That is important in the context of this discussion. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Arms Trade (17 Sep 2019)

Thomas Pringle: 91. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if Ireland will join the 29 countries calling for a prohibition on fully autonomous weapons, including the ban in participating, supporting the development of and-or manufacturing or trading such lethal autonomous weapons also known as LAWS before a robotic arms race ensues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36975/19]