Results 7,461-7,480 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

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...

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

Helen McEntee: Yes, sorry, in January. They are being attested next Friday. To the Senator’s last point, we do not want gardaí coming from all over the country and stationed in Dublin on a permanent basis. We need to make sure we have a strong response and presence in our city centre, particularly given what happened. We want people to be confident coming into the Christmas period that they...

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

Helen McEntee: I have been very clear that the Commissioner engaged-----

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

Helen McEntee: That is not a matter for me.

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

Helen McEntee: That is not a matter for me but I have been very clear that the Commissioner engaged with me.

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

Helen McEntee: I have already answered that. The Commissioner engaged and I very much supported it. He made that decision and I am very clear on that.

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

Helen McEntee: No. I am saying there is no excuse or personal situation that forces a person to put something that is on fire into a Garda car. There is no personal situation that would ever force somebody to do that.

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

Helen McEntee: It is not a-----

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

Helen McEntee: You are not forced to go out onto the streets and loot, riot and burn.

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

Helen McEntee: I think the Senator knows me in that I absolutely believe that people can change. When I was in Cork recently, I met a group of wonderful men in a project who had spent years involved in crime, had addiction problems and other issues. I absolutely believe that people should be able to turn their lives around. Where they have inflicted pain on other people is not to say they cannot change....

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

Helen McEntee: I know the Senator is not excusing it.

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

Helen McEntee: I appreciate that but no matter what happens to someone, those individuals were not forced. We do not know what could have happened. Nobody forced those individuals to attack gardaí.