Results 4,941-4,960 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister said she could not conceive of a situation in which the Minister or Government would not give GSOC permission to investigate where it was perceived that the Garda Commissioner was behaving very poorly. Although she placed much emphasis on the fact that the Government rather than the Minister would have the power to make some of the decisions, there is little comfort in this,...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: Section 7 of the Bill as drafted inserts section 102B into the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This provision only allows GSOC to investigate the Garda Commissioner where the Minister consents to such an investigation and only if an offence or serious misconduct is suspected. These circumstances will rarely, if ever, arise. There is no strength or independence in this function and it is...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: I accept the point made by the Minister about the logistical nightmare of identifying PULSE in this instance. We address this issue in the amendment which seeks to insert a new section 103B in section 9. We propose that GSOC have access to any information it wants to have within a certain time period. This would cover the issue, rather than creating a logistical nightmare. On the...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: With regard to extending it to two years, this looks as if another layer of bureaucracy is being created but the number of people who would not put in their complaint within one year, and who would do so between one year and two years, would be small. Our experience in talking to people, and having people come to us, has been that while section 84(2) allows GSOC to look at complaints that go...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: I move amendment No. 6:In page 3, to delete lines 21 to 23 and substitute the following:"Amendment of section 84 of Principal Act 4. Section 84 of the Principal Act is amended by substituting the following for subsection (1):"(1) Subject to subsection (1A), a complaint must be made within the period of 1 year beginning on the date of the conduct giving rise to the complaint or within any...

Leaders' Questions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: The core of the problem is that we have a situation where a service to the public is delayed for four years because of a battle between private companies. The Tánaiste might clarify this for me as I do not know for certain, but it sounds to me like a version of a public private partnership, PPP. Sadly, we do too many things now through PPPs. When vital public health services are...

Leaders' Questions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: The money ends up costing somewhere in the region of 15%, not 1.7%. The EU rules are forcing states to make private investors fat. That is what is happening, and we are not challenging those rules.

Leaders' Questions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: Surely the Tánaiste must agree that it is a crazy situation. We cannot have a situation like that in Wexford, where people are being driven to hardship while the State is not dealing directly with the challenges that are offered because of EU rules. Can the Tánaiste please find out if this is a PPP arrangement or a version of one? I do not expect her to have that answer now. Can...

Leaders' Questions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Tánaiste will bring in the Greeks now.

Leaders' Questions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: We have been told that Wexford will have an operational satellite dialysis unit in July 2016. Four years of delays in implementing this have led to significant disappointment in Wexford. As the Tánaiste may know, the Health Service Executive, HSE, intended to have such a service operational in Wexford by 2012. However, we were told this was not achievable due to a legal challenge by...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Pension Provisions (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: 13. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the action she will take in relation to the situation for Tara Mines pensioners (details supplied); her views on amending section 50 of the Pensions Act 1990, as amended by section 35 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012, in order to offer more protection to employees against unfair reductions in their pension entitlements; and if she will...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Child Poverty (5 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: 22. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the measures her Department has taken since the start of 2015, and the measures envisaged in the short and long-term, to deal with rising child poverty here, in view of recent statistics from the Central Statistics Office. [4984/15]

European Debt: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: It is not all banking debt, but if someone running a business owes X amount because of the way the business has been run, and then all of a sudden he decides to borrow an extra €64 billion to give to useless failed banks, it has a massive impact on his business. It caused the Government to implement serious austerity measures which undercut public services. The Minister of State...

European Debt: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: It does not make any sense. Schools are being built on a PPP system now and we are not going to get away with less than 15% plus about another 5% on maintenance. We are working to a system whereby we are being driven into the hands of the private sector, which will fleece us because that is what happens. If we could borrow the money to invest in infrastructure and create indigenous jobs at...

European Debt: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: We have huge problems that Deputy Harris is ignoring. It is not just all about growth. The day is coming when we will challenge the philosophy of endless growth because it is unsustainable.

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: The area of national security is a complex one for us and it is complicated by how we do things. It is not the norm that the one authority looks after policing and State security, which we have here. It might be argued that given the size of the country it should be so. However, while it will not happen overnight, the idea of a separate authority looking after policing and State security...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: In the area of admissibility, the time factor, which will be the subject of subsequent amendments, is clearly a major issue. The slight change proposed in this area is not sufficient. In serious cases where criminal matters may be at stake, the period of admissibility should be extended to two years. Members of the public do not have sufficient confidence to confront the Garda...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: They should make him one.

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: I thank the Minister for her reply. I am keen to pick up on some of the points. The Minister stated that under section 74 the commission is allowed to bring in senior members of the Garda. Let us make a comparison. Let us suppose I was working for a large company, for example, Google, and I took the view that I was unfairly dismissed and sought an investigation. I would not like it if...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Mick Wallace: Given the number of complaints received over the past two years, and their nature, there is a serious level of dissatisfaction among the public with how GSOC deals with complaints. We were actually at pains to defend GSOC. On the occasions we met the commission, we found the three commissioners to be genuine and doing their best in very difficult circumstances. The idea that one third of...