Results 5,341-5,360 of 15,389 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: My first engagement was, obviously, with An Garda Síochána, working with it to make sure that it had what it needed to respond not only that Thursday but also over the weekend and into the following week. The school that was affected by this awful tragedy immediately received a response from the Department of Education, which is experienced in dealing with these types of scenarios,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Sorry. I will meet with them soon but I have not met with them yet. I have been engaged with the Commissioner.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: On that specific question, I have not been asked to make any changes. I regularly engage with the Commissioner to ensure he has the relevant powers he needs for his members who are engaged in any type of investigation dealing with a particular crime. Whether it is protests outside the Dáil, violent behaviour or rioting, I will always ask the Commissioner whether there is anything more...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: It is very difficult for me to give direction to the Commissioner if he feels the powers he has are sufficient for any particular case. I cannot get into what cases may or may not be-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Absolutely. I engage with the Commissioner on my own priorities and those of the Government and the Department. It is important that I do not force something on the Commissioner that An Garda Síochána does not need. There is a two-way flow here and that is an important way in which we work with each other. An Garda works with Government to make sure it has what it needs and that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: On the overall Garda numbers, the college was closed to new recruits. The doors might have been open but the college was closed to new recruits not just once, but twice in the last ten years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: There were no new recruits, however.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Yes but it was closed to new recruits. If you have no new recruits coming out, you cannot increase Garda numbers. That is a simple fact.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: It was closed to new recruits. If there are no new recruits coming out, there are no new recruits coming out, whether the doors are open and the lights on or not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: What I have always said is that the college was closed to new recruits. I can clarify that but there were no new recruits coming out for almost four years out of the last ten. The first time was a result of the bailout and a number of measures having to be taken. The second time the Garda College was for reasons relating to Covid, to keep people safe. In the first instance, we manage to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: What happened on the evening has been outlined very clearly to me. We had the largest ever mobilisation of the public order unit. We do not usually have 200 or 250 people standing around Grafton Street, O'Connell Street, Parnell Street or Santry waiting to respond. I have heard people got WhatsApps and that is how it was done. This came directly from the top, from the assistant...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: They did have equipment. We can always improve equipment and we are always doing so. I spoke to gardaí last Saturday as to how we can further improve the equipment, so when the Deputy talks about the fact the devices-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Recruitment for the Garda Reserve will start in the new year and not at Easter, so I have moved as quickly as I can. The last stage has been engaging with the various associations and the gardaí and senior management. The intention is that the new campaign will start in the new year, along with the overall Garda recruitment campaign.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: While I do not have the detailed timelines in front of me, I think the Commissioner would have responded to this. It is not the case that there was no response until 7 p.m. A public order unit was on-site pretty much immediately after the assault happened that Thursday. Very soon after that another unit was brought in. Then there were many more requests, not just within the Dublin region...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: No, I do not agree that it failed that Thursday. On the response we saw from the Garda Síochána, in other jurisdictions we have see incidents like this go on for days. This was brought to a conclusion by midnight, notwithstanding the horrific scenes that nobody wanted to see.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: It was a very volatile situation. Nobody could have predicted that schoolchildren would have been stabbed on our streets. I am sorry, but nobody would have woken up that Thursday and said that was going to happen. That was an awful tragedy. I spoke to the Garda Commissioner throughout the day. They were concerned about the potential for trouble. There is a large number of direct...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Regarding Twitter, what I said earlier is that following on from the riots, I met with members of An Garda Síochána who responded on that day. They said very clearly to me and the Taoiseach that there were certain platforms that engaged better than others. They highlighted Twitter as having not responded and not engaged in taking down certain material.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: No, I am not saying that at all. I was given information by gardaí who said very clearly what happened on the day. I will be getting a larger report. The initial report I have from the Garda just outlines the steps and mobilisation of gardaí. A wider report will detail more of what was going on that day and it will include that. It was said very clearly to me by gardaí...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: What we see from many people who would claim to be far right – it is not a crime for somebody to have a particular ideology - is they act on certain matters. We have seen people to be anti-Government, anti-State, anti-immigration and anti-women’s rights, among other things. That is my view of those who claim to be far right. Regarding attestations and overall numbers, it is...