Results 121-140 of 1,203 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I support the Order of Business. I wanted to welcome the news overnight of the conclusion of the COP28 summit and the fact that, for the first time ever, an agreement has been made that commits to a transition away from and a phasing out of fossil fuels. This is an historic agreement. It is the first time that COP has managed to reach this agreement. We know it is not perfect and that...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State and the Department for the work in bringing forward the legislation. The issue raised by the amendments proposed by the Labour Party Senators is one that we discussed at the committee. We have discussed many matters about our electoral activities but I will try to confine my comments to the Bill and come back to the Minister of State on other issues, such as...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Now.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for being in the House. Section 62 is very important with regard to the determination of the priorities for the service. I come from central Dublin. Twenty years ago, determining the priorities for the Garda locally in Cabra and Glasnevin was a contentious issue for the community. We came together and we got the Garda to engage with the local community and public...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I apologise to the Cathaoirleach if he thought I was wandering. It was not my intention at all.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I tried to be succinct.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is a very important issue and I apologise.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I was getting to the point on security services. There are a number of very high-profile locations in my area. When we speak about security services we could be speaking about Connolly Station, Croke Park, which attracts more than 80,000 attendees, the GPO or O'Connell Street, or the Phoenix Park. The security services have to respond to incidents. I appreciate that the Minister may...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I would like to hear the Minister's response as otherwise we may not get one.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: If I may clarify one point, did the Minister say the national security centre is under the Department of the Taoiseach and is separate from the Department of Justice?

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for the plan. It is really important that every organisation has a good strategic plan. It allows you to identify what is important, get consensus on that and allocate resources to that. I absolutely support-----

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I had just started to speak.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I had only started to speak.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I take exception to being challenged about contributing on this debate. I have given a significant amount of time to policing in my community and to making my community safer. I am a founding member of a community policing forum.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Acting Chairperson-----

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: As I was saying, the strategic plan element is important. There are four issues in this section. One is the length of the strategic plan. Policing is a hugely human resource-intensive activity. To put a strategic plan in place will take significant additional resources. I know the Minister is aware of this as she has secured an additional budget to increase the resources in An Garda...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I did not hear the Minister's reply.

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister for repeating her remark. I had not heard her. The exact point we were trying to make is based on my agreement with her comment that I do not believe anybody would want to go into a Garda station and ask to have a look at the service plan nor would anyone want to go in to ask to see the strategic plan and, therefore, the suggestion being made is valid. For the...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank an tAire for her reply on that issue. I mention a scenario where resources are needed or if objectives or targets have not been satisfied. I support the idea of the annual service plan. From my time as chair of a JPC in Dublin city, there was a practice where once a year the chief superintendent would engage with all of the stakeholders of the committee and ask them for their...

Seanad: Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I did not get a specific answer to my question about giving a statutory role to the community safety partnerships in the preparation of the annual service plans.