Results 41-60 of 6,645 for speaker:Jimmy Deenihan

Topical Issue Debate: Inspector of Prisons Reports (5 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I acknowledge the Deputy's knowledge of the subject and her genuine interest in it. The report of the Inspector of Prisons is far-reaching and an important contribution to the reform of the criminal justice system, as the Deputy has acknowledged. The Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and her officials need time to consider how its recommendations might best be implemented. The report...

Topical Issue Debate: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I agree that both the east-west and North-South relationships have never been better and they continue to develop. If there was a change of Britain's status within the EU it would set back those developing relationships and would have a huge effect on the economy of this country. A the moment, some €1 billion in exports pass between Ireland and the UK every week so it would have huge...

Topical Issue Debate: UK Referendum on EU Membership (5 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the House will be aware, the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is a matter of strategic importance for the Government. We believe the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union is highly important to Ireland's interests and the interests of the European Union as a whole. All research to date, including the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Wildlife Regulations (3 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank Senator Paul Coghlan for raising this matter. I appreciate the Senator has a very good knowledge of the national park in Killarney. As a trustee of Muckross House and having devoted a long number of years to the welfare and development of the park, including its wildlife, it is appropriate that he raise this matter. Nationally, wild deer in the State are protected under the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Wildlife Regulations (3 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister recognises that the red deer of Killarney National Park and the surrounding area are of national conservational significance and that the subject of culling is emotive. There is a considerable challenge in attempting to balance the demands of agriculture, forestry and conservation with the need to ensure that the deer populations...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (3 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank Senator Jim D'Arcy for tabling this Commencement matter. I apologise to him on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, who cannot be here to answer his question. The murder of Garda Tony Golden in the line of duty was a loss for the nation. Our thoughts are with his family and friends in their grief. He displayed a courage and commitment to duty which...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Crime Prevention (3 Nov 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I join the Senator in recognising the work carried out by Pat McGee and his contribution to enforcement of law and order in the Louth area very successfully for a number of years. As the Senator recognised, the Government is committed to the ongoing renewal of An Garda Síochána and this is reflected in the strong programme of investment in front-line resources. Since 2012, the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rural Crime (22 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who regrets she cannot be present due to other official commitments. She is grateful to the Senator for raising this important matter in the Seanad today. At the outset, the Minister has asked me to state she is highly conscious of the distress which burglary and similar crime can cause to householders, as well as the broader...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rural Crime (22 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank Senator Moloney for her remarks. In regard to County Kerry, generally speaking there is great co-operation there between the Garda Síochána and the local community. Given the current reduced number of gardaí in the force, everybody must become the eyes and ears of An Garda Síochána. Irrespective of Garda numbers it is impossible to prevent people carrying...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rural Crime (22 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: Again, the Minister apologies for not being here to take this commencement matter tabled by Senator Mooney. She has asked me to thank the Senator for raising it. CCTV systems installed for the purposes of crime prevention and as an aid to policing in areas to which the general public routinely have access, such as town centres, fall into two categories, namely, Garda CCTV systems and...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Rural Crime (22 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I again thank the Senator for raising pertinent questions here. The Minister is conscious of the value communities place on CCTV and has instigated a review of the effectiveness of the community CCTV scheme in conjunction with Garda authorities. The outcome of that review will inform future decisions on the continuation of the scheme. No doubt, the Senator's contribution here is important...

Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland Issues (21 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I thank the Deputy for what I believe has been a very useful debate. It has served to highlight the very worrying issue of the continuing impact and legacy of paramilitarism and to underscore the continuing efforts of this Government, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to address this issue as part of the ongoing round-table...

Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland Issues (21 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: On behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I thank the Deputy for raising this important and pressing issue. The Minister regrets that he cannot be present for this debate but, as the House will understand, he is in Belfast attending the roundtable talks that are addressing the challenges posed by the continuing impact and legacy of paramilitarism. The Minister agrees with...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: Budget 2016 will see the Department of Foreign Affairs maintain its steadfast support for Irish community and diaspora groups in many corners of the world through €11.6 million in funding under the emigrant support programme. The Government's emigrant support programme is focused on supporting cultural, community and heritage projects that foster a vibrant sense of Irish community and...

Building on Recovery: Statements (7 Oct 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I will give Deputy McLoughlin three minutes. Like previous speakers, I welcome Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016-2021. As the Minister said, the Government is revising upwards its capital expenditure commitment for the remainder of the decade, and this capital report presents a new €42 billion multi-annual capital investment programme. Over the period...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (23 Sep 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: Last night my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, updated the House on the range of measures being undertaken to address long waiting times and access issues in acute hospitals. He spoke of the almost 40,000 additional outpatient clinic appointments that have been provided to patients in 2015, of the 290 additional consultants who have been appointed since the Government took office,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Government Reform (23 Sep 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank Senator Bradford for raising this issue because it gives me an opportunity to update the House on the matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. As members are aware, the Minister established the Cork local government committee on 15 January 2015 to carry out a review of local government arrangements in Cork city and county,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Government Reform (23 Sep 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: The Senator must agree that publishing the report gave rise to a debate, which is part of what he is doing here today. I was in the Dáil last night when there was a similar debate by his colleagues in that House. There is an ongoing public discussion and the Minister also said he would give further consideration to all of the details in the report. To repeat his statement, a...

Topical Issue Debate: National Monuments (23 Sep 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, who unfortunately is unavailable today, is charged with responsibility under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2004 for the protection of our rich and important archaeological heritage. I assure the Deputy it is a responsibility which both she and her Department treat with the upmost...

Topical Issue Debate: National Monuments (23 Sep 2015)

Jimmy Deenihan: Again, I thank Deputy for raising this matter. Over the past five years we have walked most of the mountain ranges of Ireland with some of our colleagues, and I know he has a real passionate and genuine interest in archaeology and the protection of our uplands. I thank him very much for that. I am confident the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is particularly pleased to see a...