Results 7,981-8,000 of 17,498 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Peace Commissioners (25 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Peace Commissioners are appointed by the Minister for Justice under Section 88 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924. The appointment of a Peace Commissioner is entirely at the discretion of the Minister for Justice and the fact that an applicant or nominee may be suitable for appointment does not, in itself, provide any entitlement to appointment as a Peace Commissioner because other...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Visa Applications (25 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: In order to work in Ireland, a non-EEA national, unless they are exempted, must hold a valid employment permit, which is administered by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). It is open to the person referred to to apply to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an Employment Permit. More information is available from the Department of Enterprise, Trade...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Functions (25 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves sits with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. My Department has no direct role in the setting of environmental standards or protection of...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Status (25 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The person referred to by the Deputy was issued a letter refusing permission to remain in the state on 2 August 2022. In response to a notification pursuant to the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), written representations have been submitted on behalf of the persons concerned. These representations, together with all other information and documentation on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Protected Disclosures (25 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to comment on nor confirm the existence of any specific protected disclosure. Nor would it be appropriate for me to comment on individual cases involving staff of my Department or the agencies under its remit. However, as the Deputy is aware, the Protected Disclosures Act was enacted in 2014 to allow workers...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: What Senators Ruane and Flynn are proposing is to prohibit the use of devices that are capable of processing using FRT. Under the Data Protection Act 2018, specific primary legislation would be necessary for the use of FRT. This Bill would retain the status quo. We have obviously introduced plans to bring forward a separate Bill looking at facial recognition technology. Separate...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendment No. 3 is a technical amendment to update the expenses provision of the Bill to reflect the change in the name of the Department. As Senators are aware, the Government formally agreed to change the name of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with effect from 1 February. Amendment No....

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: We are discussing amendments Nos. 5, 6 and 8 to 12, inclusive. The proposal is to make clear that Garda personnel would be required to turn on their cameras when asked to do so. This would ultimately be a matter for the code of practice, which is dealt with in section 43. This will outline clearly the circumstances in which Garda personnel have to turn on their cameras, including how they...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: They would have to be set out but they have not been decided on yet. That can only be done when a decision has been taken. I know this is referred to in a later amendment but there will be a pilot and the intention is that it will be up and running in the middle of next year. It will allow us to tease through any issues that may arise and that would necessitate any changes.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: On the last point, as I outlined, gardaí absolutely will notify people but there may be circumstances where they cannot do so. If they are in a crowded area, for example, where a protest develops into a riot and one garda shouts to tell everybody about the camera, not everyone will hear that. It is just not possible to require that absolutely everybody be informed in that scenario. In...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: On the latter question, many of the new cars that have been purchased have that inbuilt technology, whereas the older cars do not.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: It will allow for this to be part of the overall system. My understanding is that, at the moment, if gardaí are asking for dashcam footage from a separate car, such footage would have to be specific to a case for which they are seeking information or data in the same way as applies with CCTV, automatic number plate recognition, ANPR, or anything else. The new Garda cars have this...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: My understanding is that it is for the court to decide whether such footage is admissible. It certainly can be used in the development of a case or as part of gathering information. I can clarify that for the Senator. My understanding is that the decision on whether anything is admissible will still very much be a matter for the courts even if this legislation is enacted.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: This is very much in line with the discussion we have just had regarding when and where a member of An Garda Síochána can turn on or off the devices. This will be clearly set out in the code of practice. Obviously, if members veer off the code of practice and turn a camera off when they should not or do not turn it on when they clearly should, they are open to disciplinary...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I wish to apologise regarding the previous amendments. I thought we were going through them separately. On the question of the sharing of images, that falls under other legislation, including the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, known as Coco's law. Under that legislation, it is a crime to share information that gardaí may have. I offer my apologies to the...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendments to sections 17 and 18 deal with focused monitoring and have been grouped together. These are designed to replace the requirement for an authorisation from a garda ranked not below superintendent with an authorisation instead being required from a District Court judge. The proposed changes make it inoperable, essentially, as the provisions will cease to make sense. For example,...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: We are talking about applying this to any type of investigation relating to an arrestable offence or matters relating to security of the State. The three-month cut-off where one would have to go to a judge afterwards is a maximum. The intention is that there would be less than three months applied where one is specifically focused on targeting a particular individual relating to a...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: Amendments Nos. 36 and 37 seek to include the impact of such focused monitoring on the privacy and fundamental rights of the individual or individuals concerned. The Senator is essentially asking that a garda of any grade make such an evaluation on privacy and fundamental rights when obviously that is taken into account. Gardaí are also trained to make decisions based on necessity and...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: I was not fully sure as to the reason behind this amendment. There is probably a view that certain people would not want to speak to someone directly and that they would prefer to leave a voicemail. The provisions in this section allow the Garda Commissioner to designate telephone lines or numbers that are to be recorded, for example, 999 lines or fixed penalty notice lines. There could...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Helen McEntee: The intention behind this particular part of the Bill is to rectify issues that have arisen whereby communities have not been able to roll out CCTV in recent years because of GDPR concerns that were raised by the Data Protection Commissioner a number of years ago now. This clarifies how they can be rolled out and used, and where they can be used. It is very much about the local authority...