Results 6,221-6,240 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: It did not suggest any cuts in Garda numbers or prison numbers. I thought it was a great report.

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I already have.

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: What about me?

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I thank all the speakers for their good wishes for the Bill. Courts infrastructure has come a long way in recent years. When I qualified in 1976, I naïvely took the position of secretary to the County Louth Bar Association. One of the first tasks I was given was to lobby the local authority to improve the Dickensian facilities of Dundalk District Court. One of the first proposals was...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I thank the Deputy. It is amazing how far we have come, as a nation. I thank Deputy Rabbitte for the compliments he paid. At least, we did something right. In the new year, constituents from my home town who have business to transact in the Criminal Courts of Justice complex can travel by train or on what I call the "we squandered the boom" motorway from Dundalk to Dublin. They can enter...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: -----thanks to Fianna Fáil-led Governments.

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Equally so, there are many family support centres.

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: We receive significant lobbying and pressure from groups as diverse as the rural transport schemes to the Law Reform Commission. While they accept-----

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: -----that we are in a crisis and must cut our cloth to meet our measure, they do not want to be touched. The LRC does excellent work and, as stated, uses practitioners' expertise that is not necessarily within my Department or available to us elsewhere. I compliment the LRC on its work over the years and I look forward to it continuing to do so. Regarding Garda stations, the McCarthy...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: A new Bill will be tabled in respect of legal aid. It is with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting. While there is some logic in dovetailing civil and criminal legal aid, it must be borne in mind that the latter is a constitutional requirement whereas the former is only statutory. Despite comments to the effect that some defendants should not get free legal criminal aid,...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Yes, for the Garda. There would not be an extra financial burden on the IPS. We want to use our people as efficiently and effectively as possible. It does not make sense for gardaí to trip over prison officers in the same courts complex, particularly when the complex is so streamlined and, I hope, efficiently run. Its structure will obviate the need for more personnel. Deputy Rabbitte...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: No, it is consistent with the successful prosecutions by the Garda and the courts. This must be appreciated in light of the difficulties we acknowledge arise in prisons. That is why I suggest our plans deserve more support from the Opposition. One must accept there has been a dramatic investment. Those who suggest we squandered the boom in respect of prisons should note there are 1,400...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Second Stage (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: It was a very eminent suggestion and, in fairness, the Deputy would have to accept it also. It involves the saving of €1 million so, as they say in court, I rest my case. With regard to the designation of the locations and the rationalisation of courts around the country, we gave powers to the Courts Service, under the 1998 Act. While I have been lobbied by Deputies on all sides of the...

Courts and Court Officers Bill 2009: Referral to Select Committee (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, in accordance with Standing Order 122(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that committee.

Written Answers — Drug Seizures: Drug Seizures (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I have been informed by the Garda authorities that to search each individual case for seizure date, location and quantity is not possible without a disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources. Therefore the following table reflects drugs cases received at the Forensic Science Laboratory from Coolock Garda Station between January 1 and September 20 2009. I am advised that the...

Written Answers — Road Traffic Offences: Road Traffic Offences (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that driving while disqualified from doing so is deemed to be the same as driving without a licence, and consequently both are an offence under section 38 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 as amended by section 12 of the Road Traffic Act, 2006. I am further informed that it is not possible to provide the information requested by the Deputy, without a...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: Officials in the Citizenship Division of my Department inform me that there is no record of an application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to in the Deputy's Question. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, as amended, provides that the Minister may, in his absolute discretion, grant an application for a certificate of naturalisation provided certain...

Written Answers — Crime Prevention: Crime Prevention (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the area referred to is in the Raheny Garda Sub-District. Local Garda management has no record of any complaints received in respect of specific incidents at the location referred to by the Deputy. However, any such complaints received will be investigated and acted upon. Current policing policy in the area is predicated on the prevention of...

Written Answers — Garda Strength: Garda Strength (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that, as of 31 August 2009, the personnel strength of each Garda Division was as listed in the following table. The population of each County as per the 2006 Census drawn from the website of the Central Statistics Office (www.cso.ie) is also shown in a separate table. The Commissioner is in the process of re-aligning Garda Divisional boundaries to make...

Written Answers — Asylum Applications: Asylum Applications (24 Sep 2009)

Dermot Ahern: The person concerned arrived in the State in September 2008 and applied for asylum. In accordance with Section 9 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended), the person concerned was entitled to remain in the State until his application for asylum was decided. His asylum application was refused following consideration of his case by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner. The person...