Results 1,681-1,700 of 3,998 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Health (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2021: Second Stage (14 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: We all want to see hospitality reopen safely and sustainably, but the Government is making a proposal that will allow some people in and keep others out. I have a daughter who works in a café. She tells me that people are asking now why they cannot sit down inside instead of going out in the rain. There is already that hassle with people, so a system that allows half of the family to...

Proceeds of Crime (Investment in Disadvantaged Communities) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I commend my colleagues, Deputies Ward and Ó Murchú, on bringing forward the Bill and thank the Minister of State and Government for not opposing it. It is important that all work together in the House to try to relieve the communities that are under severe strain the length and breadth of the country. Everywhere we go we come across families and communities that are under...

Consumer Protection (Regulation of Retail Credit and Credit Servicing Firms) Bill 2021: Second Stage (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I am deputising for Deputy Doherty. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It had a long gestation and its being brought to Second Stage has been facilitated by the finance committee's waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny. That is in recognition of its importance and the fact its provisions are long overdue. The general scheme of the legislation was considered by the finance...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I understand that a multiagency approach is required. We need to bring all of the services together in order to deal with this. However, when I speak to gardaí on the beat they tell me that if they took mental health issues and drug addiction issues out of the equation, almost one third of their work would be gone. That reflects the level of time and resources tied up in this area. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Acting Chairman. This issue is around the high number of people who were involuntarily detained by An Garda Síochána, people who would have had mental health issues and who have ended up in a mental health institution. This issue has had an impact in many parts of the State. Of course, we understand that many of these people may have had psychotic episodes due to drug...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I fully understand the situation in which many gardaí find themselves. It is a very difficult situation when they are dealing with a person who is having a psychotic episode and there is no option other than to take them somewhere safe, for themselves and for the rest of the community. Of course there are safeguards there. It is not the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: Sometimes I think the Minister must be a civil servant's dream. She comes in here and reads out the answer and then when I ask her the next question, she reads out the same thing again. That is not answering the question. Is the Government prepared to put the funding in place to provide an adequate Garda station in Sligo town for the people of that region? It has long been said that the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: It is not an answer.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: 86. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the proposed new Garda station for Sligo town; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37160/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I raise the matter of the Garda station in Sligo town. A new Garda station has been promised for the past few decades. The station is located on a narrow street opposite the courthouse and in an old building that has been there for the past 100 or 150 years. It is one of those places that has had extensions and bits added on to it, and to go from one end of it to the other people have to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: We are well aware of the changes that have happened, that a new Garda division has been set up and there is a new headquarters in Letterkenny. That does not change the fact the building in Sligo is not fit for purpose. That has long been the case. The Minister spoke of refurbishments being carried out. It is simply a squandering of taxpayers' money to do work continually on a building...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: 84. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a full independent investigation will be carried out into issues of 999 calls not being responded to by members of An Garda Síochána; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37159/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: This issue regarding the 999 calls is only beginning. A consensus seems to be emerging between the Minister’s Department and senior Garda officers that somehow or other the Garda should investigate itself in respect of this matter. That is wholly inappropriate. A full independent investigation must be carried out as quickly as possible into this entire debacle. It is only...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I thank the Minister for her reply. It was similar to responses to parliamentary questions tabled earlier this week. Returning to the beginning, the issue is that the Garda only reported this matter to the Policing Authority when it was clear that a journalist was going to publish a story about what had happened. When it was clear that a story about this issue was going to be published and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: The issue is that it is not appropriate for the Garda to carry out this investigation. That is clearly the situation. Until the Minister stands up to the culture of cover-up that exists in An Garda Síochána, we are going to continue with this problem and continue to have these levels of malpractice. My understanding is that in one instance thousands of calls were cancelled by one...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: 305. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if an application for citizenship by a person (details supplied) has been submitted to her for decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36953/21]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (8 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: 306. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if an application for citizenship by a person (details supplied) has been submitted to her for decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36954/21]

Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 [Seanad]: Second Stage (7 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: Sinn Féin welcomes this legislation which, by and large, seeks to formalise what many school boards of management already do. Much of that work is already happening and there is already transparency in that regard. It must be said that very many boards of management operate in a voluntary capacity. They put in a lot of time and effort to run schools throughout this country. The...

Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence: Statements (6 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: It was very appropriate that, in fairness, when the lockdown came in the Garda Síochána and many others recognised that it was going to be a time of great turmoil for many women in particular who were locked in situations where domestic violence was a threat to their safety and, in some cases, their very lives. That was made a priority, as was appropriate and right. Of course,...

Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage (1 Jul 2021)

Martin Kenny: I too thank the Ceann Comhairle for his forbearance on the problem that has arisen today. There are a couple of issues I wish to raise with the Minister. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the phenomenon we have seen in the past 18 months whereby the Government has become the last resort, if one likes, in terms of providing people's income. It is quite a strange scenario....