Results 121-140 of 152 for garda speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...all. I will have more to say tomorrow on an article in one of today's newspapers by Ger Aherne, a former general in the Irish Army. A week after I was elected to the Seanad, I got a letter from a garda recounting for me the events that led to me leaving the British Army in 1974. My mother and father were put through an horrendous time with phone calls at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. telling them I...

Seanad: Minimum Custodial Periods upon Conviction for Murder Bill 2017: Second Stage (22 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...refinement but I would strongly urge the Minister of State to accept it today and to amend it as necessary on Committee Stage. We have spoken in this House a number of times about members of An Garda Síochána and young adults who go at night never to return home, taken in the most violent manner from the people who loved them most, leaving families with no opportunity to say...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...of the tribunal of inquiry, which I hope can be agreed in this House without politicising the issue. The issue of the presumption of innocence has been brought forward as a reason that the Garda Commissioner should be left in her position. There is absolutely no question from anybody here about the presumption of innocence. Everybody is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty,...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: The Garda Commissioner must take a neutral position and in doing so that requires that she steps down and steps aside while the tribunal is going on. Whether she returns or not will be a matter for the outcome of the tribunal, but she must step down, and she must do that immediately.

Seanad: Establishment of a Tribunal of Inquiry: Motion (16 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: It took Superintendent Geary from Ennis around 70 years to get justice from An Garda Síochána. Like my colleague, Senator Robbie Gallagher, I compliment the gardaí, sergeants, inspectors and superintendents who will go to work tonight and have no guarantee that they will come home and who have served the country with distinction. I send a message from this Chamber that not...

Seanad: Clarification on Statements made by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs: Statements (15 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...who cannot keep information confidential.This organisation needs to suspend all inquiries until such a time as it is established that it is capable of doing the job it was set up to do. Another garda has come forward who had been reported to Tusla because somebody wanted to have a go at him. At the end of the day, we really need to get a hold of Tusla and find out what is going on. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: ...the same story as Mr. and Mrs. Bloggs six weeks previously. The entire story was told to the second family which was a complete and utter breach of confidentiality. We have heard much about the Garda, but Tusla is a dysfunctional organisation which needs a root and branch examination. With respect to the Garda and Sergeant Maurice McCabe, I will not be lectured about politics and what...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: The Garda Commissioner must step aside. She has no alternative. I am not for one moment saying that she has done anything wrong, but the man who was restored to his job yesterday said she did something wrong. He pointed the finger at her and said that he was instructed to go out and damage Sergeant McCabe's-----

Seanad: Commission of Investigation relating to disclosures by members of An Garda Síochána: Statements (9 Feb 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: These are difficult times. As one who has worn a uniform in the past and whose brother was a member of An Garda Síochána, I am deeply saddened by what is happening. I am sure it is extremely uncomfortable for the Minister because I believe she is an excellent Minister for Justice and Equality. We need to broaden this out and find out exactly what is happening and how far and how...

Seanad: Social Welfare Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (13 Dec 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: At the end of the day, we have to stop being afraid of what the people will think. We saw recently that members of An Garda Síochána got a miserable settlement to bring them somewhat close to where they should be. What did they do then? Two days later, they came out and said a garda is worth €100,000 per year. This has to stop. We should stop pandering to the popular...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Road Safety (10 Nov 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...to be using these vehicles. I have also found that these bikes are being used on main roads in places like Tallaght and Finglas. As these bikes have no registration, no tax and no insurance, a garda who sees one of them on the road has no way of identifying the owner. If one of these vehicles runs into a bus or a car, the likelihood is that the person driving the vehicle will be killed...

Seanad: Budget 2017: Statements (11 Oct 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...am delighted the Government is putting such a commission in place. However, it will not be until the middle of next year while the Government has a crisis on its hands today. Tomorrow, the House will debate the impending Garda industrial action. Gardaí and nurses are knocking the door while teachers are in crisis. Our public service deal, the Lansdowne Road agreement, needs to be...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Public Sector Pensions (20 Jul 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The truth is that I could bring in a list of people who have retired from the public service in education, health, the Garda, the Army and various other places, many of whom are back working in the public service through agencies and are suffering no abatement whatsoever. Then there is a small number who came directly into a public service job...

Seanad: Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (5 Jul 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...man in Salthill in Galway witnessing a stand-off one night outside the Hangar ballroom between a group of thugs from Dublin on one side and a group of thugs from Galway on the other. There was one garda on his own standing in the middle but neither group would move because he was there. Where have we gone? Today, we have a situation where thugs wander around Dublin city with firearms....

Seanad: United Kingdom Referendum on European Union Membership: Statements (28 Jun 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...required. Informed contingency planning by the Defence Forces will be key to securing Ireland's borders for both economic, or trade, and sovereign security. I believe that the cannibalisation of the Garda and Defence Forces by successive Governments will have an impact on both forces' ability to adequately mitigate identified and unidentified risks in this context. Currently, based on...

Seanad: EU-UK Relations: Statements (22 Jun 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: ...concerns me is the loss of corporate knowledge on the management of the Border in the event of a Brexit. We once had the military patrolling our Borders. We had customs on our Borders and we had Garda stations reinforced on the Border. At a conference I attended recently in Dundalk these were the issues alluded to. I have some concern about it. Will the Minister advise us on whether...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage (10 Dec 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: ...this country, the people Senators Wilson, Cummins and various others have spoken about who are working hard to make their communities better places. That is despicable. I have also written to the Garda Commissioner and asked her to carry out what I would regard as a proper investigation without any form of inducement or what some call entrapment. If people are guilty of some form of...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Pension Provisions (9 Dec 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: ...somebody's pension than I can arbitrarily decide to take their house". That comment was published in The Irish Timesin June 2015. While this may be true, for some it is not true. Some 80 former gardaí who despite having the required five years minimum service, did not have their pensions preserved until the age of 60 because they were dismissed or resigned from the service prior to...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Nov 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: ...in excess of 78 hours. My colleague, Senator Healy Eames, has estimated that there is four hours per hour of delivery. The 78 hours have become delivery hours, so it is a substantial number of hours. Colleagues in the Garda Síochána have taken great exception to the fact the Minister has discounted the 30 hours they gave through the Haddington Road agreement. It has been...

Seanad: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Nov 2015)

Gerard Craughwell: ...agreements, which we fought hard on. Many people within the trade union movement are very dependent upon this legislation getting through. However, I can see that we have two difficulties. One is gardaí and the other is teachers. Gardaí say the Minister has reneged on a promise which was a review of structures, remuneration and the industrial relations process within the...