Results 121-140 of 2,580 for speaker:Helen McEntee in 'Dáil debates'

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I fully agree with the Deputy that gardaí, and community gardaí in particular, are an integral part of the community, whether in a rural or urban setting. People feel safe and secure when they know they can pick up the telephone and contact a community garda. Engagement can take place at public meetings or by directly engaging with the garda on issues arising in the community. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: For the most part, for the community gardaí I have met in the various Dublin stations in recent weeks and months, much of their work was and still is going into schools and engaging with younger people where they can. They are getting back into that now after the Covid period, where it was not happening in the same way. That had a detrimental impact and will continue to have a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: From the outset, I assure the Deputy that the development of a substantial new Garda station and facilities on Dublin City Council lands at the corner of the R139 and the Malahide Road at Northern Cross is considered a strategic priority for An Garda Síochána and has the full support of Government. I believe the station would be a great addition, and that is the view of An Garda...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I am not aware that any final decision to that effect has been made. However, if it is a new divisional headquarters, which is a significant development in itself, there will have to be a review of the resources within the vicinity. That would include local Garda stations. The most important thing is to get this project moving as quickly as possible. As the Deputy said, this is an area of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I again reiterate my support for this project, and the full support of An Garda Síochána, the OPW and the wider community for this project. We are hopefully turning a corner in achieving progress and getting that across the line. I intend to have further meetings with An Garda Síochána more generally on capital projects in the new year. I hope we will have some progress...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: On the overall figures, I have a breakdown for community gardaí in the DMR region 2019 in comparison to 2023. This includes DMR east, DMR north, DMR central, DMR north central, DMR south, DMR south central and DMR west. The figures were 301 in 2019. They are 276 in 2023. While that is a decrease of 25, there has also been a decrease in our overall garda numbers since the pandemic due...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Paramilitary Groups (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I agree with the Deputy. This is an important recommendation which the Government and I will support. In my engagement with the British Government, it also supports it. It is about finding a mechanism by which everybody involved supports it fully. There are ongoing situations in Northern Ireland - there is no functioning Executive and there are a number of parties there. It is about...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Paramilitary Groups (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I agree. I have met the members of the Independent Reporting Commission several times. They have all been appointed for their own reasons and their experience. The way in which they have engaged with and in the community has been positive. They gained the trust of a lot of people, have been engaged and worked in a proactive and positive manner. Any of the recommendations, whether this or...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Work Permits (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: What we have seen in recent months and years is a significant increase in the number of people applying for work visas or for reunification, and in the number of people applying for international protection. The number of Ukrainian people who are seeking assistance here has also continued to grow over the past number of years. That obviously puts pressure on a system. We try to make sure...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Paramilitary Groups (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for this question. As he will be aware, as I am sure other colleagues are, the Independent Reporting Commission is the body established under the Fresh Start Agreement of 2015 to report on measures aimed at ending paramilitarism. The commission submitted its first report to the UK and Irish Governments back in 2018, and the sixth and most recent report on 5 December....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: More broadly, An Garda Síochána is moving to a digital structure, which did not exist previously. I acknowledge there has been a huge amount of change in a short time. The new computer-aided dispatch, CAD, system, GardaSAFE, is operational across all regions and is a new departure in the way gardaí respond to calls in which information has been taken and stored. This move is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: In relation to body-worn cameras, the legislation was signed by the President on 5 December and the Garda will be rolling out proof of concept in three areas of the country. That will be followed by a pilot later in the year where we will then have the tender process. Technology is important for gardaí to protect themselves, record scenes accurately and, when at the scene of a crime,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Work Permits (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy will be aware, when the Departments are issuing visas and residence permits, it is not just the responsibility of my Department but also of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Both Departments work closely together to ensure that labour market migration arrangements are fair, efficient and responsive to the needs of our society and, more generally, our economy....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: Over the last four budgets I have been focused on consistently ramping up and providing funding when it comes to equipment, uniform, vehicles and new types of technology for An Garda Síochána. I want to continue to ramp up that support so they can do even more. The budget for next year is €2.3 billion, an increase of 23% since 2020. This further allows for: the roll out of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: This is a challenge for new recruits when they come out. They only find out where they are going relatively close to when they finish. It is for that very reason the Commissioner needs to be agile and needs to be able to respond to issues in certain areas as they emerge. Where resources are required, that is where people are directed to. As I said, even the most recent class in Templemore...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: To assure the Deputy on the retention issue, exit interviews are being done. I will have a full report, as I said, in the new year. When it comes to the pay talks, I am obviously not around the table. I can certainly advocate to make sure the Garda representative organisations are around the table. That was done at the last round of talks, and again in this round, to make sure they are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social Media (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: As I said, this is an extremely difficult space to try to manage and monitor, particularly where there is a grey area as regards what is harmful and what is not or what is a criminal offence and what is not, although the latter should be much clearer. What is really important is that we do not just come at this from an enforcement point of view but that the social media companies take a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I understand that tables may be provided to the Deputy. What I have here is the breakdown across the Garda regions of the average number of gardaí who were absent because of ordinary illness and those who were absent because they were injured on duty. For quarter 3 of 2019, the figure for ordinary illness was 1,743 and while it has varied in subsequent years, the figure for quarter 3...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I do not have those exact details but I will certainly try to get them for the Deputy. I am very conscious of the distressing scenes that members have to deal with on a daily basis, from road traffic incidents to scenes of suicide, as well as dealing with situations such as those we saw two weeks ago. A number of different measures and supports have been put in place. In fact, from the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (12 Dec 2023)

Helen McEntee: I do not have an exact figure for what we will have by the end of the year because the acceptances are still coming in and the offers are still going out for the class that will start on 27 December. I know we will have between 700 and 800 but I do not have the finalised figure yet. We know that between 700 and 800 will have gone into the college this year. What we have always said is that...