Results 1-20 of 72 for drugs speaker:Martin Kenny

Road Safety and Maintenance: Motion [Private Members] (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...the ground who are dealing with this on a regular basis. Speed has been a major factor in a lot of these collisions and a lot of that speeding is happening because of intoxication, the use of drugs and all so on. We need greater enforcement and we need more gardaí out enforcing the rules of the road to ensure people obey them properly. That will only happen if we have the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: An Garda Síochána (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...regarded them as one-trick ponies, unfortunately. They watch one thing and that is speed whereas a member of An Garda Síochána monitoring traffic monitors everything. If there are people moving drugs, travelling in a stolen car, stealing farm machinery or up to anything, gardaí can monitor that. I always felt it was a kind of privatisation of the service. Although there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: An Garda Síochána (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: The witnesses stated that their new drug wipe test was not only portable, but delivered faster results on the list of drugs it detected. From an evidential point of view, is that test sufficient or, as with alcohol, does the person have to be taken into the station to be given a blood or urine test?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: An Garda Síochána (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: We have always heard that, when a person drinks alcohol, the level reduces every hour afterwards because alcohol is essentially water soluble whereas many drugs remain in people’s fat cells. At least, that is what I have heard. The witnesses might confirm or deny it. If a person takes drugs at the weekend, those drugs would still be in his or her system three, four or five days...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: An Garda Síochána (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: Regarding drug detection, many people take medicines or use cannabis oils, ointments and so on, for example. I am thinking of the slick barrister – we have a few of them in Leinster House – who can talk his or her way around that. I am not referring to anyone on this committee, thankfully. Has the Garda gone through enough prosecution cases yet to be able to determine where...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: An Garda Síochána (15 May 2024)

Martin Kenny: The drug test is not for a specific level, but any level. Does that create a problem? If a person consumes a drug, he or she can test positive up to a week later. Obviously, the person’s driving would not be affected at that stage. The test is just detecting the legacy of something that happened well in the past. Is discretion applied? Are there issues? Does the test involve any...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Issues Relating to Road Safety: Road Safety Authority (24 Apr 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...the country. It was mentioned that speed is the big factor. We see that ourselves, as does everyone who travels the roads. Speeding happens, sometimes, because people are intoxicated or drugs are involved or whatever else. There is also erratic and reckless behaviour. We have all driven the road where somebody comes up behind us very fast, brakes hard, swings out, possibly on a...

Road Safety: Statements (17 Apr 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...notice in the last 12 months. That would indicate that they are not working at all and we need to acknowledge that there are sections that are not working in any case. We also have the whole issue of drink and drugs. The new legislation will allow gardaí to test for drugs after an accident. This is welcome and we need to see it happen. The biggest problem is that most people...

Select Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Traffic Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...thing but by numerous things. The big lesson in all of that is that everyone we have had before the committee, and I have spoken about this at various locations in the past, has told us that drink and drug driving are the main contributors to accidents, as well as to speed, which is also a factor in many accidents. Of course, the falling number of gardaí and the issues we have...

Road Traffic Bill 2024: Second Stage (13 Feb 2024)

Martin Kenny: ...by collisions and by road traffic accidents. Yes, an awful lot of it is down to speed. Speed is a big factor in that. The speed issue is also around people who are intoxicated either with drugs or alcohol or whatever. Usually they are the people who are also speeding on our roads. We can look at the issue internationally. I have read the recommendations and the speed limit review....

Road Safety: Statements (26 Oct 2023)

Martin Kenny: .... People drive too fast when they have alcohol or other substances on board. This can have detrimental consequences for them and their families. I welcome the idea of having mandatory drug testing at the scenes of accidents. Indeed, drug testing is something we need to see rolled out more across the country in general when it comes to checks that gardaí are doing at checkpoints. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (25 Oct 2023)

Martin Kenny: ...test, are being addressed . There is no argument with regard to the intoxication test. The committee heard from An Garda on this. It showed us the tests and explained that the test for drugs is a more expensive and elaborate test and will be used less regularly than the alcohol test. We understand that. It is appropriate for that to be part of the legislation. As regards speed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Safety: Discussion (27 Sep 2023)

Martin Kenny: ...mobile phone is moving. Can technology be applied to the phone that it will not send or receive text messages? Perhaps there are things like this that can be examined. That would be helpful. Drugs testing is vital but I have a concern. Someone mentioned to me recently that some people take medication such as painkillers very often. Will this be considered? There needs to be...

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (27 Jun 2023)

Martin Kenny: ...be conflict-related legislation. We all accept that there are aspects of it that are primarily used now in regard to the very violent criminal gangs which, in the main, plague our communities with drugs, violence and all of that. They have huge power, a massive network and many are international in nature. We have to have 21st century legislation to deal with that and firm legislation...

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2023)

Martin Kenny: ...CAMHS did not have the resources to bring the child back to review her medication. That is a problem across the entire country. It is why we have many young people who have been on anti-psychotic drugs for years and have damaged their health, sometimes irreversibly. The State has to own up to having a problem with this service. The problem is that it has been under-resourced. This is...

Drugs Policy: Motion [Private Members] (30 Nov 2022)

Martin Kenny: I commend Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Labour Party on bringing forward this motion. We can all agree that there is an exceptionally serious issue with drug use and its links to organised crime throughout Ireland. Some people will seek a numbness to whatever trauma they have in their minds, and quite often the only way they can get that is through the use or misuse of drugs. ...

Dublin City Safety Initiatives and Other Services: Statements (17 Nov 2022)

Martin Kenny: ...that is in many parts of the capital city was mentioned, but we all agree there is also an element of danger and antisocial behaviour, which is the core of the debate this evening. Open drug-dealing and use has been a common sight in our city’s main thoroughfares and transport hubs. Unfortunately, people in addiction are often used by criminals in a most dangerous way. A...

Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill 2022: Second Stage (21 Sep 2022)

Martin Kenny: ...and we have to acknowledge that as well. We recognise that our own homegrown criminal fraternity has spread its tentacles across the globe. Many of the criminal organisations that engage in drug and human trafficking and make substantial amounts of money use that money to invest in what would normally be considered to be legitimate enough business enterprises. They can do that in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

Martin Kenny: I thank all the witnesses. I have a couple of small points to make because some of my questions have already been asked. It seems to me that the old adage about the war on drugs not working is very true. That war has generally been on the supply side. We have always been trying to stop supply, find the people who are supplying it, find the dealers and cut them out. We need to look more...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Sanctions for the Possession of Certain Amounts of Drugs for Personal Use: Discussion (12 Jul 2022)

Martin Kenny: Does Dr. Capaz understand the dilemma that this presents from the point of view of getting this situation to work in a way that means the State does not become an advocate for the illegal supply of drugs?