Results 7,861-7,880 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: I will attempt to provide some clarity. While I cannot guarantee I will, I will do my best. Effectively, when the Bill comes into force, anyone who already is a party to an employment contract, permission or placement can continue in the position he or she is in. The club or organisation or whatever that employed him or her is not committing an illegality under the legislation by retaining...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The answer to that is one could not, because the organisation will be under an obligation to have an individual vetted. However, section 21(4) may shed a little light on this matter. It states "This Part (other than section 12) shall, with any necessary modifications, apply to an application for retrospective vetting disclosure as it applies to an application for vetting disclosure under...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: I do not think the delay is five to six months. On the basis of additional staff being deployed to the vetting office, a point was reached where vetting applications in the normal course, except in cases in which there was something unexpected or an exceptional difficulty, were being determined within two to three weeks.

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The Department got down to two to three weeks. Recently, because of the huge additional amount of work that office apparently is getting, even without this Bill being enacted, the time for vetting decisions to be made has moved out to six to eight weeks. New staff have been recruited to the vetting office, whose training probably is just about being completed around now, who have been...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: I am afraid that I am unable to accept the amendment. This is because, as I explained on Second Stage, the spent convictions Bill provides that where a people are applying for positions which give them access to children or vulnerable persons, they must disclose all convictions, including any convictions that could otherwise be deemed spent under the Bill. That policy is supported by the...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: Yes. This is a difficult area and there is no monopoly of wisdom. My concern is exactly as articulated by Senators Ó Clochartaigh and van Turnhout, which is where individuals have got on with their lives and put their past behind them, it seems extremely unfair that some 20 years later the past might catch up with them. Of course that is a concern. On the other hand, however, we are...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: If home help is provided through an agency or the HSE and the person is working with a vulnerable adult or in contact with children there will be vetting. If I decided to recruit a home help on a private basis to cook my meals every evening, on the assumption I am neither a child nor a vulnerable adult vetting would have no particular role. It would be a private arrangement and not done...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: Unfortunately I am unable to accept amendment No. 3 for a number of reasons. It should be borne in mind that section 15 also provides that any specified information can only be disclosed where it is relevant and proportionate and where the rights of the person have been taken into account in a manner consistent with fairness and natural justice. The amendment would require unnecessary...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: A data protection code of practice for An Garda Síochána is already in place and will be applicable in these circumstances. I am conscious of the time available to us. The code of practice runs to in the region of 20 pages and I would be happy to read it into the record of the House but it would probably get us to the end of the allocated time for the debate. The Data Protection...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The answer is it does not. If one looks at the classic situations in which carer's allowance is paid, it is often paid, for example, to a mother or father who is caring for a child who has a serious disability. It could be paid to an individual who is caring for another individual, who may be elderly and unwell, and may be suffering from dementia. The person may be caring for an individual...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The relevant organisations are referenced in section 2, I believe. I do not want to delay the House by reading through them. Schedule 1 also details a range of things. Legislation in this area has been promised for years - I do not say this to score a political point. Legislation in this area is complex and has been promised since 2003. When I was a member of the Oireachtas Joint...

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: While I understand the intent behind the amendments I am unable to accept them. If accepted, these amendments would contravene the provisions in the Bill that exempt private arrangements from vetting. Furthermore, the amendments would require vetting of persons who provide any level of childminding for any period of time. This is simply not practical. The Child Care (Pre-School Services)...

Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: How many Bills did Deputy Martin guillotine in his time?

Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: How can he keep a straight face when saying that?

Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: That is pathetic.

Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: Fianna Fáil destroyed the economy.

Seanad: National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: While I understand the intent behind the amendments I am unable to accept them. If accepted, these amendments would contravene the provisions in the Bill that exempt private arrangements from vetting. Furthermore, the amendments would require vetting of persons who provide any level of childminding for any period of time. This is simply not practical. The Child Care (Pre-School Services)...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Operations (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The roles of the Defence Forces as assigned by Government are set out in the White Paper on Defence which was published in February 2000. Among the assigned roles is Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) meaning in practice to assist, when requested, An Garda Siochána who have primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State. e Defence...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Expenditure (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: The gravity of the current economic difficulties means that all areas of the public sector must deliver greater efficiencies and operate within a reduced resource envelope. In that regard, all elements of the Defence organisation’s expenditure have been critically reviewed in order to reflect the current financial climate. Arising from the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure in 2011,...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Remuneration (12 Dec 2012)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14, 22 and 167 together. Rates of remuneration and conditions of employment in the Irish public sector have traditionally been set by reference to relative levels of pay across the various sectors of the Irish public sector. In this regard, the level of remuneration in the Defence sector has maintained relativity with the levels available in other related...