Results 10,701-10,720 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Garda Operations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: The legislation facilitated the Garda in progressing its work. The legislation that was through this House by July last year resulted in the first application being made to the District Court on 6 September last year. It proved very effective in accessing information. I am advised the powers given by it enabled the Garda to secure co-operation from a number of individuals who at that point...

Garda Operations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: Nor am I as deluded as a certain Member, currently absent from the Chamber, who seems to think he is the reincarnation of Mahatma Ghandi or a Nelson Mandela-like figure. I do not suffer any of those particular illusions. While I cannot in any way engage with the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, because it is an independent office, I am absolutely sure the director appreciates the...

Emergency Aeromedical Service (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: A 12 month pilot EAS in support of the HSE national ambulance service commenced operations on 4 June 2012. The service is operated by the Air Corps out of Custume Barracks, Athlone. The purpose of the pilot is to determine the extent, if any, of the need for dedicated aeromedical support to emergency ambulances in the region in light of existing road networks and transit times. The service...

Garda Complaints Procedures (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: I assume the Deputy is referring to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission's annual report for 2011 which was published last week. Copies of the report have been laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and it is also available on the commission's website. It was presented by the new ombudsman commission which took office in December 2011. The office is anxious to build on the...

Garda Complaints Procedures (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: To return to the statistics, the ombudsman commission received 2,275 complaints from members of the public in 2011 and they contained a total of 6,230 allegations of misconduct. A total of 1,424 of these allegations were deemed to be inadmissible. The corresponding figures for 2010 were 2,258 complaints, containing 4931 allegations, of which 1087 were deemed to be inadmissible. The reasons...

Garda Complaints Procedures (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: I am not aware of a particular area giving cause for concern. The complaints are well spread around parts of the country. Obviously, this is an issue the new members of the ombudsman commission may consider, but there was certainly nothing in the report laid before the Houses that indicated there was a substantial problem in a particular identifiable part of the country that would give rise...

Garda Investigations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: As I am sure the Deputy will be aware I, as Minister, have no role in the conduct of criminal investigations or in decisions on prosecutions. These are matters for the Garda and the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, respectively, and it would be most inappropriate for me to attempt to become involved in assessing the content of any particular files. I can inform the Deputy that the Garda...

Garda Investigations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: This is merely the answer to Question No. 2. There are other questions of a similar nature. In fact, there is some additional information in my reply which, perhaps, I will have the opportunity to give to Deputy O'Brien in response to a supplementary.

Garda Investigations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: On the latter issue, I have no information. A substantial amount of the information was obtained as a consequence of the Criminal Justice Act being enacted in 2011 and a great deal of it would have no relevance to the section 29 issue that has given rise to difficulty. In the context of the investigation, I do not know whether that issue arose. If it did, I am sure it is an issue to which...

Garda Investigations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: As Deputies, probably to the point of boredom, have heard me say to the House, on the first day I was in the Department of Justice and Equality following my appointment, I raised queries with regard to the investigations being conducted and whether there were additional resources required for the Garda or the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. I arranged that staff of my...

Garda Operations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: While the latest recorded crime statistics show a decrease in most types of crime during 2011, as I have previously stated, I am concerned at the increase in certain categories of crime, notably burglaries and other property crimes. In particular, I share the widespread outrage at recent incidents of aggravated burglary, where elderly people were terrorised in their own homes and subjected...

Garda Operations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: I do not have definitive figures, but I can provide some information for the Deputy. Again, I must be careful not to say anything that could prejudice prosecutions. Operation Fiacla has been particularly successful. A number of individuals will find themselves before the courts in the not too distant future as a result of successful investigations. Some of those who have been engaged in...

Garda Operations (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: Heavy sentences can be passed in cases of aggravated burglary. In the context of the mandatory sentencing issue, clearly we have to wait for the final report. I understand the Law Reform Commission has published a consultative document, but it has not yet published its final report. If that is the case, we have to wait to see the contents of the final report.

Crime Prevention (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the drafting of a metal theft crime prevention and reduction plan is at an advanced stage and that this work is proceeding in consultation with the stakeholders represented on the metal theft forum. I understand the plan will be finalised shortly. I look forward to the outcome of this process and will study any Garda recommendation concerning...

Crime Prevention (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: It is very difficult in the context of the ramblings of the Deputy-----

Crime Prevention (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: -----to know what I should reply to.

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Senators who have expressed support for this important measure. I acknowledge what Senator Thomas Byrne said. It is appropriate and right that Members of both Houses have the most detailed information that can be furnished on the use of the provisions. The provisions, as we have correctly stated, relate to the fundamental security of the State, a matter of very substantial...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: It has reached the point where Sinn Féin-----

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: -----should stop engaging in ambivalent language-----

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (20 Jun 2012)

Alan Shatter: -----dancing on the head of a pin and talking about-----