Results 1,861-1,880 of 4,305 for speaker:Martin Kenny

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2021)

Martin Kenny: On the Minister of State's assertion that the old legislation failed or did not work, it was not a failure of conviction; it was a failure of detection. I expect very few people were ever actually detected, arrested or charged with smuggling persons into the country in the first place. It is very unlikely in such circumstances that any legislation is going to work unless we are able to...

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2021)

Martin Kenny: I understand the position the Minister of State is putting forward. He gave the example of a person from Libya or another such country coming here and being able to make the defence that he or she had been working for a humanitarian organisation, a defence that cannot be verified. Consider the case of a family from Africa who have been in Ireland for several years and learn of a relative in...

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2021)

Martin Kenny: I am glad we have had the opportunity to come back to this. It was quite rushed the last night. We were somewhat under pressure. The events that were happening the very night we were here debating the Bill brought into very sharp focus what all of this is about and the issues involved. All of us are of common mind in our determination to find a way to ensure that the people who engage in...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Martin Kenny: I am interested in the issue of the additional investment in ICT that is required, especially in view of the cybercrime incident we had earlier this year and the ongoing growth in crime, fraud, etc., in that area, whether it is through people's bank accounts and mobile phones or other fraud over the Internet, which is clearly a growth area, unfortunately, for many people who are experiencing...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Department of Justice (Supplementary) (1 Dec 2021)

Martin Kenny: I will ask about one final aspect of this issue in respect of personnel and the adequate experience and training that they may need. Is the Garda recruiting people with that particular type of expertise or has it been contracted in from agencies that do that type of work?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Services (30 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: The Minister of State referred to the recruitment of staff as being impossible. We need to drill down on the reasons for that. The reason is that the HSE is trying to recruit staff into a chaotic situation where they are required to work in an understaffed ward with one person having to take on all the responsibilities which should be shared among three or four people. As a result of that...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Services (30 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: The issue across the entire hospital group is capacity more than anything else. We hit it all the time and the number of people on trolleys and on waiting lists comes up in the Chamber regularly. The staffing issues in Sligo University Hospital, particularly in the emergency department, have been at crisis point for the past number of months. We met the management of the hospital who told...

Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (30 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: We welcome the Bill, which is long overdue. We will support its main thrust. I understand some quarters put a spin on this, but the reality is that it is about workers' rights and it is a workers' rights issue. Legislators, as Members of the House, are responsible for many things. One of the things for which we are responsible is workers' rights. We have to stand up for the staff we...

Mother and Baby Institutions: Statements (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: We have had this debate for years. Even in the last Dáil we had similar debates about mother and baby institutions. I use the word "institutions" because they certainly were not homes for the women who ended up there. This week, I spoke to a woman who told me about her mother who, as a 15-year-old, was bought by her father and the parish priest in a horse and trap to one of these...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: The Deputy and his colleagues supported it for five years.

Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: In this Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill there is a welcome move to rebalance the situation. We all recognise that. It brings the local authorities back into play, which was one of the big criticisms everyone had of the strategic housing development process, which was the previous arrangement in place. Local communities everywhere want to be...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: I understand the Minister's reluctance to get involved. It is probably appropriate on one level but, as she said, ordinary members of An Garda Síochána do magnificent work and deserve to be properly represented. We all agree on that. In January 2018, or perhaps before that, the management consultancy firm, Ampersand, made a number of recommendations in respect of a whole range of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: 119. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the supports or assistance she or her Department gave to the holding of a conference (details supplied). [57838/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: What supports or assistance did the Department give to the holding of the Garda Representative Association, GRA, conference in 2020? As we know, the event took place during the pandemic when practically nothing was happening anywhere in the country. I have a letter to the Minister from Jim Mulligan, the former president of the GRA, in which he expressed concerns that unofficial lobbying had...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: The issues here go beyond the conference. All of us understand that there are issues with the Garda Representative Association, particularly in its governance. Individual members of An Garda Síochána to whom I have spoken are concerned at the way things are run and operated. We know there were difficulties in the past in that regard. On 15 December 2020, the Minister received a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: 117. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she has plans to establish a transport police service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58141/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: I ask the Minister for Justice if she or the Government has any plans to establish a transport police service and if she will make a statement on the matter. For many years now, this has been called for by the travelling public, particularly those in urban areas where there is much antisocial behaviour on trains, the DART and the Luas, as well as at depots and stations, and people may feel...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: I echo that sentiment; we must commend the Garda on the work done in respect of this. However, the reality is that many passengers feel abandoned and unsafe when they travel on our public transport systems. The National Bus and Rail Union has basically stated this type of service must be provided and spoken about taking industrial action if something is not done because it believes that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (25 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: I am disappointed that no consideration is being given to establishing a dedicated transport police service. Most other countries across Europe and many places throughout the world have that in place and it works very well. We also know millions of euro are being spent every year on private security firms doing this kind of work and they only deal with aspects of the issue. They do not...

Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Nov 2021)

Martin Kenny: At the core of this is the notion that there are decent, genuine, generous people who want to help in these situations. As has been said, some of them are members of various humanitarian organisations but they are also individuals who sometimes risk a great deal to help people. We know that happened recently in Afghanistan when people had to be got out of there and there were individuals...