Results 1,521-1,540 of 3,998 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 – Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 – Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: I hope not as that would mean more crime, in one sense.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 – Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 – Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: It is one of those oxymorons we have to deal with. I note the increase in funding for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. One of the biggest difficulties many people have with GSOC is that the inquiries it carries out often require that it second members of An Garda Síochána from other areas to do investigations. There is certainly an impression among people...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 – Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 – Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: The funding for the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland has been increased from €200,000 to €700,000, which is welcome. Gambling is one of the problem hidden addictions in this country, and I suppose that applies to most of the western world. In addition, much of it has now moved online. In regard to the ability to hold the big corporate companies, which run much of this...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 – Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 – Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: I echo some of what Deputy Costello and, indeed, the Chairman said in respect of this. It is an important area. Because we headquarter so many of the big corporate centres of data and have a lot of data storage in the country, it is obviously something we must take very seriously. Even in the engagements we had when we were preparing the report, we recognised there were issues that...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland (3 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: The issue here seems to be that Edwin Poots went completely outside his remit. He claims to have got independent legal advice outside of his Department, which is quite unusual for any Minister to be claiming as a basis for carrying out such a dastardly deed. I understand the British Government has the option to override a decision made by a Stormont Minister in the circumstances where it is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland (3 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: What Edwin Poots has done as Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in the North is absolutely scandalous and reckless. It flies in the face of international law and is in breach of an international agreement between the European Union and Britain and in breach of the protocol. It is very clear that the DUP, for some very narrow and nationalistic reason of its own, and the...

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Second Stage (3 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: This Bill is an emergency benefits scheme to give relief to families that have been victims of significant price increases across the board. Recently in my constituency, we held an online meeting of people who were concerned about the cost of living crisis they were facing. It could be broken down into a number of areas. Energy was one of the main ones - we are trying to do something...

Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (3 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Bill is welcome. It is a short Bill. We support it and we support what it sets out to do. However, there are other issues in this area that also need to be examined. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that many workers face redundancy and a very uncertain future. It is a difficulty that arose in this particular situation. Section 12A of the...

European Union Regulation: Motion (3 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: This is an important debate and we are glad to be engaged in it because the fund and the initiatives and policies for which it provides money are important and deserve debate. I wish to raise a number of matters. The first relates to EU migration policy as a whole. We face a migration crisis brought by war, climate change and systematic discrimination, especially in Africa and the Middle...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Job Losses (2 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: The truth is that the Sligo area and the whole north west has always been behind because we do not have the infrastructure or technological expertise needed to maintain jobs in the area. Many of us are sending our children to college to get degrees but there are no jobs for graduates in the north west. That is a problem that needs to be addressed. The only way to regrow and facilitate work...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Job Losses (2 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: These job losses will impact greatly on this small community. Eighty jobs is a large number to be taken out of it. This factory opened in 1984. At that time there was a larger facility, Gowna, which has closed in the town, having at one time employed up to 700 people. This factory has been there for a long time, it has sustained the community through very difficult times and it is very...

Legacy Issues in Northern Ireland and New Decade, New Approach: Statements (1 Feb 2022)

Martin Kenny: Reconciliation, peace-building and looking at the legacies of the past is a problem for everywhere in the world where there has been conflict, whether that be Ireland, South Africa or wherever else. There are always issues and difficulties. In 2014 that was recognised and the Stormont House Agreement was agreed by everyone, including both Governments and all the parties in the North as the...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister of State for his remarks in respect of this issue. Broadband is one of the key pieces of infrastructure, particularly for all of rural Ireland and indeed for a lot of urban Ireland as well. We always come across people who tell us this is not just a rural problem. There are many areas of the country, even in towns and larger towns, that have difficulties getting stable...

Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: As my colleagues said, we are supporting this legislation because we believe it is necessary. As was also alluded to, the CIF has for a long time had this voluntary code, where building contractors and workers have been registered. However, there are a number of reservations as to how much of an impact it has had. Everyone recognises this. That is why we feel it would be correct and...

Youth Mental Health: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: This is an issue we have all been dealing with for the last number of years and we are well aware of it. I spoke to the Minister of State previously of a situation in Sligo-Leitrim, in CHO 1, where there are 280 children on the waiting list for CAMHS. That is almost 10% of the national figure. In most cases there is meant to be a multidisciplinary team in place. I understand the...

Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022: First Stage (26 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: The Bill is designed, as my colleagues have said, to ensure unscrupulous drug dealers who often use children as couriers to move drugs around can be prosecuted for it. Very often with these children, and it has been an experience in many areas throughout the country, they get involved at a very young age in doing that and later become addicts themselves and get caught up in the whole system....

Violence against Women: Statements (Resumed) (25 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: I express my condolences to Ashling Murphy's family on what happened. In recent weeks all of us have received phone calls and emails in our offices from members of the public wanting to know where we stand on the issue of zero tolerance of domestic violence and gender-based violence and how we can do more to ensure we stamp it out forever. Many the issues we speak about particularly are...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: The programme for Government gives an overall commitment to transparency across all Departments and programmes. In fairness, much progress has been made in the Department of Justice on Garda reform and so forth. However, in the last number of weeks we have seen the documentary "Crimes and Confessions" running on RTÉ. The most recent episode on the Sallins train robbery was shocking...

Gender-based Violence: Motion [Private Members] (19 Jan 2022)

Martin Kenny: The murder of Ashling Murphy has traumatised people across the length and breadth of the country. Our hearts go out to her and her family, and all the other women who have died over the years at the hands of men. We have discussed this for the past week or so and it has come to us all that it is about behaviour and attitude. We cannot legislate for attitude but we can legislate for some...