Results 7,241-7,260 of 8,276 for speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Yes. How does Mr. Herrick see Ireland's judicial independence when set against other common law countries? Does he think there are other analyses and tests of judicial independence? I am really concerned that the narrative will become one of Ireland's Judiciary being somehow compromised because of its selection system.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I apologise to the Chair. My questions are as follows, if that is helpful. Leaving the issue of standards aside, there is a question of independence regarding how interviews and promotions are conducted. There is a question about the balance of the independence of the legal profession as well. For example, and this is something that can be worked out in the eventual Bill, who is it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: May I come in again?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Yes. My point is that there may be three or five candidates and they can be completely different and possess different skill sets. A court needs lots of different types of things at any given time and there are gaps in experience at different times. If these are being ranked and putting an onus on the Government to be accountable publicly in some way, and we get to how that discretion can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I have just one further question. I can give a practical example of the interview point. There may be a very conservative Judiciary and a particularly difficult President of the High Court, for example. Mr. Herrick may have been briefing counsel to try to advance civil liberties and the elements are constantly bashing up against each other. The best senior counsels may be trying to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank our guests.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: If I may clarify a point made by Mr. Herrick, it was a judicially dominated body that changed the practice to making that list very long but, fortunately, that was changed back in 2014. I have been criticising the judicial appointments selection process for nearly 20 years and have argued for a range of different reforms, but I have never criticised the independence of the Judiciary. I have...

Traveller Accommodation: Statements (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute a statement on this topic. I acknowledge the Minister of State's speech, his work in this area and the considerable progress he has made since coming into office. I thank Pavee Point nationally and, more locally in my own area, Southside Travellers Action Group, for their engagement with me over the past year in my role as...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I acknowledge the additional supports provided this week to the 225,000 businesses that are the backbone of our economy. They generate employment and tax revenue, on which the provision of State services is based. In particular, I thank the Tánaiste for the business resumption support scheme, BRSS, which I hope will capture the small number of businesses that have been left out of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: As the Minister of State will know, Fine Gael is placing a very strong emphasis on what we can do to support better integration and intercultural understanding. Fine Gael has within its membership an intercultural integration group and we are trying to listen and ensure it is led by people who are impacted by barriers. I urge that with the conversation on An Garda Síochána, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I welcome the Minister's reply to Question No. 132. This question is somewhat linked in that it concerns the commitment in the programme for Government to increase diversity in An Garda Síochána by recruiting and retaining members who represent more diverse and minority backgrounds.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response. I am conscious that she and I are speaking as members of a minority in this Parliament but very much as privileged people in terms of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity and expression. It is great that we are having a conversation about this important issue. It is not in any sense a side issue but, rather, an issue of core...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: I am asking questions on behalf of Deputies Creed and Griffin. I believe they communicated this at an earlier stage. I can do so after Deputy Conway-Walsh.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: My apologies.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: That would be welcome because people are worried about, for example, sending in their passport, particularly when the quality of communication, not from the Minister of State but from the Department, is sometimes opaque about what is being sought. I have complaints from people who say there is nobody to talk to, there is only a generic email address and they do not necessarily get a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Deputy Richmond raises the question of fast-track citizenship for those working on the front line. I understand the difficulty in prioritising one employment group over another within that process. There is another way of looking at it, as set out in a letter sent to the Government and to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, by 50 consultants from Beaumont Hospital on how...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: 121. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of citizenship applications currently being reviewed; the number of persons that have been granted citizenship to date in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27632/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: 123. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of adults and children, respectively, waiting to receive a certificate of citizenship; when the next citizenship ceremony, virtual or otherwise, is planned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27633/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Citizenship Applications (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: The issue of citizenship is very important to people, particularly post Brexit. I am aware that the Department of Justice has made very good progress this year with applications but that is set against a very considerable backlog. Substantial work remains to be done and I ask the Minister to outline the situation in the Department, including what is being done to address some of the...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (resumed) (3 Jun 2021)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: Can Mr. Kelly give me an approximate figure for new applications or the change from what was there previously?