Results 8,721-8,740 of 10,245 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Irish Prison Service (23 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 286. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times prisoners on remand were transferred to court for the purpose of attending for mention dates in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3288/18]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Irish Prison Service (23 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: 287. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of times the video link facility was used for remand hearings in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3289/18]

Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (Resumed) (18 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the report of the committee and thank its members for their work on this matter. It was a difficult task, to which they devoted a great deal of time. Having heard from delegates, they produced a report with very decisive recommendations. All of the individuals on the committee deserve to be commended for the time they gave and effort they put into to it. I speak as a Fianna...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Amendment No. 8 is linked with a number of others, which I have just looked at. A lot of them are in my name and some are in the name of Deputy Wallace. The purpose of amendment No. 8 and many of the others in the grouping is to simplify the process set out by the Minister in the Bill. From the last occasion, it may be recalled that one of the arguments I made was that a very complicated...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I will be very brief. I state formally that I support Deputy Wallace's amendments Nos. 84 and 85. I will not get an opportunity to speak on them again but I think I spoke on them before. I will be supporting them. There are many amendments on the procedures committee, but it all comes down to one issue, which is whether we need one. I do not know if members have the Bill before them, but...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 9:In page 8, to delete line 32. The Chairman referred to this as an extraordinary grouping. An extraordinary grouping requires an extraordinary response. I do not propose to go through each one of these amendments by way of an individual debate because they are all in my name and that of Deputy Chambers and they all concern the same net issue. Rather than saying...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I do not think there is a huge amount of disagreement here. The Minister recognises that the presidents of the District Court and the Circuit Court should be involved. I think everyone agrees with that. Deputy Chambers and I believe that the committee structure is too complicated for the level of work that the Commission will have to do. If I was going to have any judge on this...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Obviously, the legislation will not be cast in stone after this meeting of the committee. All we can do is table the amendments which the committee thinks are suitable, have a vote on them and see how they are. Everyone recognises further thought will have to be put into the legislation after Committee Stage concludes. No matter what happens, the Minister recognises this. In terms of the...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I think a related amendment was defeated in the previous vote, so it is not being pressed. Am I right that, in the previous grouping, it was discussed with amendments Nos. 1 and 7?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: They were defeated. Therefore, on the basis that this would also be defeated, I am not moving it.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: The same point applies.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 12:In page 9, to delete lines 13 to 17.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I support that as it is such a transformative piece of legislation. It is important that we have a review sooner rather than later to see that it is working effectively.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I am supportive of putting expressly into the legislation a requirement that any recommendation should be based on merit. That is extremely important. The objective of every person in this room is to ensure that those appointed to the Bench get there because of their ability and the type of judge that they will be rather than any political affiliation, friendship or other connection that...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I wish to refer to two amendments about which I have not spoken previously. The first is amendment No. 21 in the name of Deputy Clare Daly on which the Minister has just spoken. This proposes including an express reference to the fact that a person's political affiliation should not be considered when the recommending body is considering their application. The purpose behind the...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: No, it is not. In other countries, many people who made excellent judges previously had political affiliations. The same is true in this country, but we will not go into that. I have not yet referred to my amendment No. 124 which is in this grouping. I know the Minister did not have an opportunity to discuss it. In amendment No. 124, Deputy Jack Chambers and I seek to set out the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Directives: Minister for Justice and Equality (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: I welcome the Minister. I welcome the decision to opt in. I think it is the right thing to do. When is the legislation seeking to transpose the directive to be brought before the Dáil?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: EU Directives: Minister for Justice and Equality (17 Jan 2018)

Jim O'Callaghan: Obviously the decision of the Supreme Court was taken on 30 May 2017. The court made its declaration then and gave the State six months to get its act together. The response came on 30 November. From what the Minister has said in his speech, it appears that the court was not receptive to the idea of waiting until the legislation was in place, and ruled that on 9 February 2018 the law will...