Results 81-100 of 739 for garda speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (12 Nov 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ..., Deputy D'Arcy, that this situation "should have been dealt with sooner and better". I disagree, however, with his ill-informed comment that the people have been let down by local members of the Garda because I believe they have been let down by the State. Should local members of the Garda be left to deal with such serious cross-Border criminal activity, smuggling and the campaign of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (2 Oct 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...the wayside. Reform is not simply a subject to be focused on in times of crisis; it is ongoing. I repeatedly said that and I think the Taoiseach believes it too. There are big issues in terms of Garda reform that need clear public debate, encouragement and explanation so that people can be brought with us. The issue of morale in the Defence Forces has not been addressed. In terms of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (2 Oct 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...Administrations of both Republican and Democratic Party hue. Maybe we need to burst through the diplomatic camouflage and make clear Ireland’s interests in these matters. We were told by the Garda Commissioner that the cost of the security element of the visit is of the order of €15 million to €18 million. We understand this will not be met by supplementary...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2019)

Brendan Howlin: It is reported that An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, are developing a system that will allow for the application of an adult caution, rather than a criminal prosecution, for people in possession of drugs for their own use. Apparently this is a recommendation in a Government working group report but this report has not been published and has not been...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Jul 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...at the issue of core pay. The Minister is aware that there is any amount of wriggle room available in these agreements. The Government found it for the nurses - rightly so - and found it for the Garda when it was put under pressure. Because the Government knows the Defence Forces cannot strike, its members are to be treated differently and they are not to have the increase in their...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Jun 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...nearly three times that of Northern Ireland and we can anticipate that we are not immune from that crime. Will the Taoiseach consider instituting the same level of monitoring? Will he require the Garda to record hate crimes and provide regular statistics to ensure we will understand the extent of the problem and that we will root it out in the State?

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Programmes (12 Jun 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...on the Future of Policing in Ireland and I had a disagreement with the recommendation of the majority of the commission on one issue, that is, to re-establish a management group within An Garda Síochána again around the Commissioner. I have raised this with the Taoiseach. I know he does not have a closed mind in regard to it but I believe this is a fundamental issue. We are in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (14 May 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...common. The case highlights the serious escalating problem with knife crime. We can look across the Irish Sea to see what is happening in Britain in this regard. The number of knives seized by gardaí here has risen by two thirds since 2016. A total of 264 knives were seized by the Garda in the first six weeks of this year alone. The family of the late Azzam have stated, very...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Communications (17 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: .... It has been said in the past that not only could an attack occur on our own soil in the Republic, but the Republic could be used as a base for an attack on a neighbouring jurisdiction. The Garda have noted an increase in online activity aimed at an Irish audience of those of the extreme right - the fascist right. Has the Taoiseach considered this as a major threat? I know that the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: Since the publication of the Morris tribunal report a number of years ago, significant and far-reaching proposals for reform of An Garda Síochána have been made. Multiple reports and recommendations have been produced during the years. The Policing Authority report published yesterday assesses the progress of the modernisation programme which is now five years old. It is the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Apr 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...norm. What is the Government specifically doing about this? Will it take on these escalating attacks? We need to know whether this is a resource issue. Has the Government discussed that with An Garda Síochána? How will the Government and the Minster for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, respond?

Post-European Council Meetings: Statements (27 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...or resident in the UK and he or she could walk across the Irish Border but that would be unlawful, and just like many other breaches of the law, we enforce it through the normal operation of An Garda Síochána and the public agencies that we charge to do that job. Similarly, we continue to control the movement of diesel fuel across our Border. Fuel transports must be registered...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Mar 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...were carried out in New Zealand by a far-right terrorist group. Such attacks have caused great concern, particularly among the Muslim community across the globe, but also in this State. Has An Garda Síochána consulted with the Muslim community in Ireland about its security? Have any concerns it has expressed been addressed, and are particular measures being put in place to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...cases. This review and the implementation of changes have been led by a safeguarding specialist who is beyond reproach on this issue. Scouting Ireland staff have engaged with Tusla and the Garda since then. This House and the families involved need to know whether there is a new problem in Scouting Ireland. I ask the Tánaiste to provide a timeline of events and explain exactly...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...working? The Taoiseach likes a catch-all phrase and, obviously, a catch-all Government website. However, I question the notion that the Government can deal with health or housing or can drive the Garda reform agenda via a general committee. The former practice took a lot of time virtually every Monday, with a long time spent on issues by specific committees. I happen to be an ex...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (22 Jan 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...the national newspapers last weekend that Ministers who criticised the drink-driving legislation enacted by this House are not fit for office? An interim report published last week found that An Garda Síochána failed to prosecute 3,500 children in respect of almost 8,000 crimes under investigation over a period of seven years. Some 3,400 victims were impacted by the crimes. I...

Government's Brexit Preparedness: Statements (17 Jan 2019)

Brendan Howlin: ...to handle trade in the event that transport of goods across Britain to the Continent becomes blocked or prohibitively expensive. There is preparation for the introduction of customs, new agriculture inspections and Garda facilities, but the current timeline is for those to be delivered between three and five years' from now. They are still at design stage. No application has been...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (19 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: ...security co-ordinator. For the purposes of clarity, will the Taoiseach tell us if it is a new post to be advertised externally or if it is to be an internal appointment from the Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána?

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (19 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: ...yesterday my views on that. The implementation of the report will be transformative but it would be a major mistake to hand back the appointment of senior personnel to an internal board and the Garda Commissioner. The single most important move we made was to take that away from An Garda Síochána and to have an external appointments procedure. I hope that has been reflected...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Brendan Howlin: .... It really is a transforming moment for which we have waited a long time. There is one net issue, however. The report stated that the right mix of skills can be achieved by giving the Garda Commissioner the freedom to design his own team. It cannot be right for whoever is at the apex of the Garda Síochána to design and select the management team of An Garda...