Results 10,301-10,320 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: The number of convictions for these offences was six in 2006 and 15 in 2007.
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I asked the Garda Commissioner about this. Ultimately it is a matter for him to decide and he is adamant that he has a proper management set-up in Limerick. The Deputy asked me about a branch of the CAB for Limerick. Already there are a number of CAB profilers in Limerickââ
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: Representatives of the CAB are always in Limerick, I can assure the Deputy.
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: They are concentrating on Limerick. When we were discussing the annual report of the CAB in the Seanad, I gave some figures in that respect. It is intended as soon as possible to roll out the successful system for blocking mobile phones. It has only been a success in the last while. It will now be rolled out in other prisons, particularly in certain areas of those prisons.
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I cannot answer that question offhand. I agree wholeheartedly with the remarks of Deputy McGrath. In fairness to this House, it did bring in extremely tough legislation, particularly in 2007, and there were objections to some of the issues to which we have referred. We brought in tighter bail requirements relating to the opinion of the Chief Superintendent to refuse bail. We brought in new...
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I am answering questions in a couple of minutes.
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: We brought in new mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders and we restated the rules on the right to silence which, as was mentioned earlier on the other side of the House, was upheld in court just the other day. We introduced post-release monitoring orders and protection of persons orders to allow the Garda to supervise convicted persons and protect witnesses. We brought in laws to allow...
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I assure Deputy Neville of that. In the past number of years, Limerick has been blanketed with gardaÃ. As I said earlier, there are more gardaà in Limerick per head of population than anywhere else in the country, except, perhaps, Dublin. The legislation on covert surveillance will be brought in as soon as possible, but it is very complex and that is probably why it has not been brought...
- Brutal Killing in Limerick: Statements. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: It is extremely complex legislation and we want to get it right.
- Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I know the Deputy appreciates that the courts are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and the sentencing of offenders is clearly a matter for the presiding judge. The Deputy refers to one of the few exceptional situations where the legislature has intervened by statute to create mandatory sentences for certain crimes. Section...
- Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I have met the Chief Justice and many members of the Judiciary, particularly since I became Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. However it is not my job, nor am I entitled or allowed under the Constitution, to interfere in their judicial discretion on their decisions.
- Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: Section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 amended the 1977 Act to put in an interpretation clause. The clause emphasised that the decision to depart from the presumptive minimum sentence of ten years must be based on the presence of exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence or the offender which would make it unjust in all the circumstances to impose a sentence of not...
- Sentencing Policy. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: A new IT project is being trialled, led by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham on the implementation of the Irish sentencing information system, ISIS, to allow judges to have consistency of sentencing. They will be able to access a database to see the norm for offences they might be trying. The database is fairly well complete, has been trialled in one area and is being trialled in a second area. It...
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together. The context in which financial provision has been made by the Government for the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority for 2009 was outlined in the Budget Statement of 14 October last. While I accept the reduced budgets will cause difficulties in both cases, sufficient funding has been provided to the bodies to enable them...
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: The Equality Authority was established in 1997 with an annual budget of â¬378,000. It now has an annual budget of â¬5.9 million, although it has been reduced this year. Over its 11 years of existence, the authority has received funding of â¬47 million. I will comment on the proposed cut. I can give some suggestions. I am not in any way trying to kill off the Equality Authority, which...
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: When I examined the annual accounts of the Equality Authority last week, I was astounded to see that it is paying an annual rent of â¬402,000 for its premises on Harcourt Street. If I remember correctly, it spends a further â¬30,000 or â¬40,000 on parking. A premises has been rented in Roscrea for â¬102,000. Twenty staff are already in place at that location, in line with the...
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: The campaign cost â¬230,000. I have made it clear to the Equality Authority and all other bodies under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform that I do not want them to produce any more glossy brochures or reports. Such documents should be made available on a disk. I do not want any more of the fanfare we have seen when reports are launched.
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: I have said what the saving will be.
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: There is no embarrassment. We introduced the legislation that set up the authority.
- State Agencies. (13 Nov 2008)
Dermot Ahern: There is no embarrassment. We are not endeavouring to gut any organisation, not least the Equality Authority. I have justified my decision to do what I have to do. I accept that significant cuts will be imposed on these bodies. I abolished a number of bodies. I decided to focus on some of the more soft issues in the Department to achieve a significant reduction. I repeat that Deputy...