Results 4,721-4,740 of 6,389 for speaker:James Lawless

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: That concludes Vote 20. We will move to Vote 21. We will do a round robin and members can come in. We will take questions under Vote 21. We will start with Deputy Kenny as he had his hand up first. If there are supplementary questions we will try to do it in the same manner.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: Before the Minister responds, I remind members that under Standing Orders we are considering the Estimates. A general policy discussion is probably a little outside the scope of that, but perhaps the Minister wishes to make an observation as it pertains to the Estimates.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: Thank you, Deputy.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I am conscious there is a potential money saving there but it is probably a very specific issue, in one sense. Before we leave that heading, Deputy Daly referred to the electronic connection of courthouses. It is worth noting the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, passed by the Houses in July, which enables a lot of that electronic interaction between courthouses,...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: In the context of additional money being provided to the Courts Service to hire additional venues and larger venues, the feedback is that it has been progressing quite successfully in certain venues in Dublin. I am not quite sure where that is.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I am happy to discuss that with the Minister afterwards. There have been public pronouncements on it even in the past couple of days so I could pass on those details if that is of assistance.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: Regarding A3, I am not sure if it may be in the briefing material but could the breakdown of the capital works programme for courthouses be circulated to the committee? Perhaps it already has been circulated but, if not, could it be done so we could see where it is being spent and the different projects? I am sure the committee will have submissions for the programme next year.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I know it is of interest to the Deputy and it is a subject the committee can return to in due course. It would be useful to get detail on the A3 line item, which would allow us to see the stages of progression of courthouses around the country. I will be making a submission on Naas courthouse. I will not delay the committee with it now. It is one of the largest districts in the country,...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: As I said at the outset, we are confining our matters to the business we need to do in this committee. I hope we will have many sessions of the commission ahead of us over the next few years. We will have an opportunity to delve into all sorts of matters, but for the business before us today-----

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: The Minister may make a brief statement.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Further Revised) (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I thank the Minister. I am reluctant to set a precedent because we have much work to do in the coming years and I want to stick to our agenda where we can. I appreciate that the Deputy asked a question and got an answer. We will bank that. Are there any other questions on Vote 22? As there are no questions, I will move on to the consideration of Vote 24, which largely relate to the...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Message to Dáil (17 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: In accordance with Standing Order 101, the following message will be sent to the Dáil: The Select Committee on Justice has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimates for public services for the year ending 31 December 2020: Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána, Vote 21 - Prisons and Vote 22 - Courts Service. The Select Committee on Justice has completed its...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: 32. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status and position regarding the Sallins bypass; the reason for non-Covid-19 delays during 2020; the status of the cycle and jogging path alongside the bypass; his views on the integration of the bypass with the Grand Canal Greenway; the projected completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35777/20]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Cycling Facilities (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: 35. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the roll-out of the greater Dublin area, GDA, cycle network in County Kildare. [35778/20]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Personal Public Service Numbers (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: 281. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the reason for the delay in the provision of PPS numbers to applicants; the average timeframe for the application to be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36084/20]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Minister for Foreign Affairs (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I thank the Minister for the update. I will focus on two issues he touched on in both his update and in the briefing material provided from the EU Foreign Affairs Council meetings. There was a significant discussion in the Council on Russian activities and influence. In the main, it seemed to be around the geographical sphere of influence on the borders in eastern Europe and into Ukraine,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Minister for Foreign Affairs (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I asked about our level of preparedness and defence and the fact that those transatlantic cables emanate from our western shores across to the US. An extremely significant volume of data would transfer from Ireland to the US which contains a good deal of EU data also. There is 40% or more of the EU's data within Irish data centres so there are very significant volumes of data here, which is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Shared Island Unit: Department of the Taoiseach (12 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: My thanks to our guests from the shared island unit. I wish them every success in their project. It is a great opportunity for this committee to work with them and it is an exciting time to be a part of the new initiative. I had a quick review of the Taoiseach's speech. I was logged in to the Dublin Castle event some weeks ago. The discussion that followed with the stakeholders was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (10 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I thank the Minister and for his engagement on the previous day also. He is very on the ball on this issue and his geography is spot-on today so there are no issues in that regard. Rather than repeat what was said in the debate last week I will focus on a different aspect today. The national broadband plan is under way, which is great, and we want it to happen as quickly and effectively as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (10 Nov 2020)

James Lawless: I welcome the Minister's interest in considering other possible options. A parallel path could be mapped out. The NBP is providing broadband to as much of the country as it can, particularly in those rural areas, but there is nothing stopping us from facilitating others in that regard. I welcome the Minister's commitment to accommodate competition in that space because I believe that...