Results 9,981-10,000 of 20,763 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I am entitled to my view as well.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: What is that smile about?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: The Chairman is putting it on the record and leaving it up to me then. I thank the acting Garda Commissioner. Has it just been announced now that six stations are to be reopened?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: Has it gone to Government?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I am not trying to catch anyone out. I just want to know this process. So it is not a decision for Government?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: It has not been noted by Government yet.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I read through the transcript of when we discussed this before. It makes very interesting reading. I actually read it twice since it is quite a story. Going back through the decision-making process on this, a decision was made by the Government to, on a temporary or ad hocbasis, look at opening six stations. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: Were the criteria used set up by the Department?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I am not asking that. Were they defined by the Department of Justice and Equality?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I will ask again if they were defined by the Department of Justice and Equality.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: What does "in the normal way" mean?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: So the criteria were defined internally in the Department of Justice and Equality.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: That is clear. It only took four gos. So the Department of Justice and Equality set up the criteria, not An Garda Síochána.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: The last time we were here, on numerous occasions, I read out the criteria that were used for the process by which stations were closed and was told that the same criteria were subsequently used for the reopening of stations.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: That is what is on the record. Is that correct, acting Commissioner? In fairness to him, he was not the acting Commissioner at the time of this process.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: It was this committee.

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: Deputy MacSharry, other Deputies and I asked if the criteria were the same on numerous occasions. Multiple witnesses said they were. To quote Deputy MacSharryThe same criteria were used to close Stepaside as to open Stepaside. We have established that Stepaside was the only one of a potential six stations to be reopened; that the criteria were the same; and the decision was based on the...

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: That changed with the establishment of the Policing Authority. If something of this nature was being done now, a different process would be used. Is that the case?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I understand that process. Let us move on. On what date was Assistant Commissioner O'Driscoll asked to carry out this report?

Public Accounts Committee: Reopening of Garda Stations: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Alan Kelly: I accept the assistant commissioner does not have all the details with him. I request that he write to the committee stating on what date he was asked to do the report and provide the correspondence that shows he was asked to do it. He might also provide the documentation to which he just referred. As part of the process, on numerous occasions witnesses described this as a bottom-up...