Results 14,701-14,720 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: As I understand the Deputy is specifically referring to translation costs for the year 2010 incurred by my Department and the agencies under its aegis, I can confirm that the total amount spent was €45,916.11.

Written Answers — Irish Red Cross: Irish Red Cross (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 424 and 427 together. On 16 May 2011 I wrote to the Chairman of the Irish Red Cross Society regarding corporate governance, with particular reference to turnover and rotation at leadership levels in the Society. I did so as I am of the opinion that it is not conducive to good corporate governance that any individual should serve indefinitely on the Central...

Written Answers — Irish Red Cross: Irish Red Cross (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 425 and 426 together. On 16 May 2011 I wrote to the Chairman of the Irish Red Cross Society regarding corporate governance, emphasising my views on turnover and rotation at leadership levels in the Society. The Chairman, in his response, advised me that the issue of turnover and rotation at leadership levels was raised by him at a subsequent Central Council...

Written Answers — Irish Red Cross: Irish Red Cross (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: It is my intention to fill this vacancy before the next Central Council meeting which I understand is scheduled to take place in November.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: The bodies under the aegis of my Department are the Civil Defence Board, the Army Pensions Board and the Board of Coiste an Asgard. The Civil Defence Board was established in 2003 under the Civil Defence Act 2002. The Act provides that the Board shall consist of at least eight but not more than fourteen members who shall be appointed by the Minister for Defence. The current Board was...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: The costs of translating reports into Irish for the year 2010, in order to implement the provisions of the Official Languages Act, 2003, were as follows: Report Cost (incl VAT) Department of Defence and Defence Forces Annual Report 2009 €1,510.53 Coiste an Asgard Directors Report and Accounts 2009 €302.00 Ombudsman for the Defence Forces Annual Report 2009 €2,607.00

Garda Operations (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: Since my appointment as Minister for Justice and Equality no one has drawn my attention to there being major difficulties with regard to call-out times in Cork. In circumstances in which a manual system is still operating, there is a difficulty in accessing the information the Deputy is seeking. If such information were electronically maintained, it would and should be readily available....

Garda Operations (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I generally support the idea of civilianising basic administrative functions, some of which are currently undertaken by members of An Garda Síochána, and the issue forms part of the review. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I have an obligation to reduce expenditure. We must be careful that as garda numbers decrease in line with our EU-IMF commitment, we do not spend almost as much...

Garda Vetting Service (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: The Garda central vetting unit, GCVU, provides employment vetting for a large number of organisations that employ or engage in a voluntary capacity persons to work with children or vulnerable adults. There are more than 18,000 organisations registered with the GCVU. In the period 2007 to 2010 the number of vetting applications increased from 187,864 to 291,938. That is, by any standards, a...

Garda Vetting Service (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I hope it will be possible to provide, under the new internship scheme, some internship experience for persons currently unemployed. I had a conversation with the Garda Commissioner when the new JobBridge scheme was announced and it is my understanding the Garda has taken the initial steps necessary to recruit interns to the vetting unit. Working at the unit will give them important job...

Garda Vetting Service (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I raised with the Garda Commissioner the need for what I described as a fast-track system for special circumstances in which job offers were available for only a short period of time and vetting had to be undertaken with some speed. The difficulty, of course, is that if everyone sought to use this system, it would undermine its effectiveness. It has not yet proved possible, because of the...

Garda Deployment (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: The levels of service to be provided by the Garda Síochána are set out each year in the annual policing plan which is laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The annual plan sets out the policing priorities for that year, the key actions to be taken in respect of each priority and the performance indicators by which the outcomes can be measured. The allocation of Garda personnel is...

Garda Deployment (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I reiterate that these are operational decisions made by the Garda Commissioner. In that context it is worth bringing to the Deputy's attention that the detailed allocation of Garda resources, including equipment, and the allocation of personnel to various units are a matter for the Garda Commissioner to decide upon on the basis of his identified operational requirements. These vary from...

Garda Deployment (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: The review taking place throughout the Garda Síochána, and the feedback sought by the Garda Commissioner from his senior officers last June to a document produced to them, give senior officers in every area an opportunity to feed into the process. In so far as any senior officer is of the belief that his or her station and the needs of the community he or she serves are not being...

Leaders' Questions (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: Tell us what happened on your watch.

Leaders' Questions (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: How many banks were robbed on your watch?

Garda Strength (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 54 together. The latest available figures show that Garda strength stands at just over 14,100, with approximately 2,000 civilian support staff. There are also 819 members of the Garda Reserve. As of Friday, 16 September 2011, some 380 members of An Garda Síochána had left or declared their intention to leave the force in 2011. As members intending...

Garda Strength (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: It is extraordinarily difficult to take the Deputy's questions seriously as he was in this House supporting a Government which signed an agreement to reduce the then Garda numbers of 14,500 to 13,500.

Garda Strength (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: It was also the Deputy's party which, in dealing with the Estimates and the finances for 2011, provided funding to the Department to pay the salaries of 13,500 gardaí as opposed to the 14,500 that were in place. It was the Deputy's party which entered into an agreement with the IMF and the EU to reduce dramatically by 1,000 the numbers of gardaí this year in circumstances in which they had...

Garda Strength (20 Sep 2011)

Alan Shatter: -----from a party which was financially incapable of ordering its affairs in a manner which would have guaranteed even the moneys available this year to pay the membership of the Garda force the salaries to which they were entitled and which does not deserve credibility of any description.