Results 1-20 of 87 for garda speaker:Mark Ward

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank the Minister for taking this question. I would like to know why the Garda National Vetting Bureau does not have a role in vetting local authority housing applicants. Is there capacity in the Garda National Vetting Bureau to assist local superintendents with this process? Is there a more efficient way to process Garda vetting for local authority applicants?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: 4. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 105 of 31 January 2024, why the Garda National Vetting Bureau does not have a role in vetting local authority housing applicants; if there is capacity within the Garda National Vetting Bureau to assist local Garda superintendents with this process; and if she will make a statement on the...

Joint Committee On Health: General Scheme of the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Mental Health Commission (16 Nov 2021)

Mark Ward: ...selected. I will resubmit it again in the hope that it will be selected tomorrow. My first question arises out of the report launched yesterday. Head 13, section 12 deals with the powers of An Garda Síochána to take into custody a person believed to fulfil criteria for involuntary detention and provides that the commission may, in consultation with An Garda...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (21 Oct 2021)

Mark Ward: Since Fine Gael came into power, we have seen community Garda numbers reduce dramatically right across Dublin. Does budget 2022 provide for additional community gardaí in Dublin? When will the Garda number meet the needs of the citizens of Dublin?

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (18 Apr 2023)

Mark Ward: 93. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda personnel across the Dublin area by year from 2011 to date, broken down by region; the number of Garda stations across the Dublin area from 2011 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18010/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (14 Sep 2022)

Mark Ward: 337. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the discussions that her Department has had with the Department of Justice to review the way that special needs assistants are Garda vetted; if a single Garda vetting process with an ongoing review will be accepted in all schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44972/22]

Confidence in the Minister for Justice: Motion (5 Dec 2023)

Mark Ward: ...a distraction. I put it to those opposite that Fine Gael must have been distracted in the past 12 years that it has held the justice portfolio. On Fine Gael's watch, there are almost 500 fewer gardaí in Dublin since it came into government. Was it distracted when two gardaí who were on overtime from Ronanstown in my area were brutally attacked in Ballyfermot? Was Fine Gael...

Community Safety and Preventing Crime: Statements (18 Nov 2020)

Mark Ward: Community gardaí could be the cornerstone of policing if given adequate resources. They are at the forefront when it comes to problem-solving and collaboration with the communities they protect. From first-hand experience of meeting community gardaí, residents and the local police forum in my area of Dublin Mid-West, I know how valuable community gardaí are to our community....

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Youth Diversion Projects (8 Sep 2020)

Mark Ward: 967. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda youth diversion programmes in each CHO; the number of young persons by gender and age cautioned by the Garda and linked in with a youth diversion programme in each of the years 2017 to 2019 and to date in 2020, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22673/20]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (21 Oct 2021)

Mark Ward: The Minister of State mentioned that designation is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, but if the Commissioner does not have the personnel, he cannot move them around. Rathcoole is a small town at the edge of my constituency, Dublin Mid-West. It has one of the fastest-growing populations in the State. It has a Garda station on Main Street. In 2010, prior to Fine Gael entering...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank the Minister of State. As I said, there is confusion. The applicants are coming back to me and saying they are awaiting Garda vetting. The local authority has come back to me to say it is waiting for Garda vetting. For example, South Dublin County Council has more than 10,000 applicants on the list waiting for social housing. That council's process is that it seeks some sort of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: This is probably where some of the confusion arises. I got in touch with my local authority, which said it is waiting for the Garda to get back to it about the vetting so tin order that a particular housing applicant can access a home. I have no reason whatsoever to criticise the Garda vetting process, which needs to be robust, especially when it comes to children and vulnerable adults....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Pre-legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Certain Institutional Burials (Authorised Interventions) Bill (Resumed) (18 May 2021)

Mark Ward: ...have a supplementary question, if that is okay. It will be a quick one. I welcome that the Minister mentioned that provision will be made but I want to know who is responsible for notifying the Garda or the coroner of potential criminal activity in the past where a loved one died. Is it the agency or the Department? Who picks up the phone to the coroner or the Garda and says there is...

Community Safety and Fireworks: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2020)

Mark Ward: ...This is beyond crazy. Where are the guards? These are just some of the things said by the many people who have got in touch with me. I would hate anybody to think I am being overcritical of An Garda Síochána in this matter. That is not the case whatsoever. Community gardaí are not the heavy hand of the law. They are there to build relationships within communities....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Fire Safety (10 Sep 2020)

Mark Ward: I live in one of these communities and my impression is that the Garda is not visible when this is happening. I will give a few examples. A newborn baby had a lucky escape last weekend, after somebody posted a banger through a letter box in Palmerstown. Customers in parts of Clondalkin and Lucan are afraid to use their local shops. People will also not walk their dogs because of the...

Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (12 Jul 2023)

Mark Ward: ...and make a requirement which serves several purposes. It first ensures that people know what the rules are and that they know the law. This is a chance for the people to understand how An Garda operates and for them to feed into consultation. I accept that the Bill states: (i) the Minister; (ii) the Policing Authority; (iii) the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission; (iv)...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Arson Attacks: Discussion (5 Mar 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank the Garda representatives for attending. I will touch on the far-right tactics of baiting gardaí into a response and looking for a response. Sometimes when there is a perceived lack of response, that can lead to an escalation of some of the situations we have seen, most notably the Dublin riots and recent events in the Chair’s area in Celbridge where members of An Garda...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Mark Ward: ...does not state "the general public", how the general public feeds into this and how they would be made aware of this. It states that a person may contact the Minister, the policing authority, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, the Data Protection Commission, and IHREC, but how will the general public be involved in this consultation?

Community Safety and Fireworks: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2020)

Mark Ward: I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges: — the number of Community Gardaí across the State has fallen from 1,182 in 2010 to 710 in July 2020, with a drop in Community Garda numbers in the Dublin Metropolitan Region decreasing by 45 per cent from 508 in 2010 to 278 in July 2020; — the number of Gardaí assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan Region in August...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (16 Feb 2023)

Mark Ward: ...a very worrying response to parliamentary question this morning outlining the number of people being spiked with drugs without their consent. In 2021 there were 62 incidents reported to the Garda. Last year that nearly doubled to 106. These are only the ones reported to the Garda. Very often they go unreported. Just this week, third level student bodies issued warnings in the lead-up...