Results 81-100 of 786 for garda speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Extra Curricular Activities (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...their teaching and implementation. This means that the content of the religious education programme in a particular primary school is determined by the patron of the school. In relation to Garda vetting, the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016 (the Vetting Act) was commenced by my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality in April of last...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Garda Vetting Applications Data (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: In April 2016 the Minister for Justice and Equality commenced the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Acts 2012 to 2016. It put in place statutory requirements for the Garda vetting of persons involved in working with children or vulnerable persons, including requirements for the retrospective vetting of persons who have never previously been garda vetted. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (24 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...the school. A number of site options were identified and a comprehensive technical assessment of feasibility was undertaken on all.  A suitable site option on the Old Carrigaline Road, close to Douglas Garda Station has been identified and the acquisition process in respect of this is at an advanced stage. Officials in my Department continue to work with Cork County...

Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation Provision (23 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: .... A number of site options were identified and a comprehensive technical assessment of feasibility was undertaken in respect of each option. A suitable site on the Old Carrigaline Road, adjacent to Douglas Garda station, has been identified and the acquisition process for this is at an advanced stage. Departmental officials continue to work with Cork County Council in the context of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Grievance Procedures (16 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...not make any judgment on the concerns brought to its attention and ensures that the details of the concern reported to the Department are immediately passed on to the relevant investigatory authorities, including the relevant school authorities, the Child and Family Agency and/or An Garda Síochána. My Department cannot guarantee confidentiality to complainants in such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...as an option since September 2008. The programme is available in twenty hour and forty-five hour units. It features inputs from agencies such as the ambulance service, fire service and An Garda Síochána, as well as providing for visiting speakers, trips out of school, projects and case studies. The programme provides for an introduction to road safety for pedestrians,...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: There is progress in the way the Garda is deploying and impacting on serious crimes affecting people. It is important to recognise the strengths and weaknesses that have been exposed. I am convinced of the approach of establishing a commission and making sure it has the right make up, in other words that its membership is drawn from those areas which will maximise its impact on the future...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: We are creating a commission that will design the future of the Garda, for the next century we may say. It will shape the future of this very important force that is integral to our community. It is right that we take the time to get it right. Of course I can understand the urgency, but we also have to take the time to get it right. The time that has passed since we debated this and set...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...and the legislative framework for policing. It is a broad-ranging approach and care must be taken to ensure that we do not in any way undermine the important work, which the Deputy recognises, of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate or of the Policing Authority. Both of these bodies are not only growing in public respect but we can see the mark of the impact of their recommendations...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...those. I know the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality met the family and I am sure she is considering the issues raised. I am sure many of the relevant matters are being examined by the Garda Services Ombudsman Commission but it goes deeper than that. As the Deputy knows, the Dáil recently established a commission to look at deeper issues within the Garda...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I cannot draw a conclusion on that. Clearly, if we establish an independent Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission under law, give it the authority to interview the gardaí concerned in the type of instances the Deputy describes and give it, under a strong judge, the power to pursue such cases, I expect the Minister would wish to see the conclusion of that work before any decisions...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cycling Facilities Provision (2 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: .... Cycle Right was developed by a partnership steering committee consisting of stakeholders including the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, the Road Safety Authority, Cycling Ireland, An Garda Síochána, An Táisce (Green Schools), Coaching Ireland and representatives of local authorities. Schools can apply to partake in this programme. In the Primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Safety (2 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...is a concern that a person poses a potential threat to public safety (including to the safety of a school’s staff or pupils) the responsibility for dealing with such a situation rests primarily with An Garda Síochána in accordance with its duty to protect the community, to undertake criminal investigations and to bring offenders to justice. In any case where a school...

Reform of An Garda Síochána: Motion [Private Members] (11 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...contribute to this debate. This is a very serious debate for anyone who is in politics as long as I am. I entered politics with what was probably a very naive faith in the whole way in which An Garda Síochána was run. Over this long period many people's faith in that has been shaken. What we have decided today in government is really important, namely, that we need to look at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Drugs Strategy (5 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...with developing a new National Drugs Strategy.  The Steering Committee, which has an independent chair, is made up of officials from various Government Departments, offices and state agencies, An Garda Síochána, representatives of the Regional and Local Drug and Alcohol Taskforces, the Community and Voluntary Sector and people who use drugs.   ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Garda Vetting of Personnel (5 Apr 2017)

Richard Bruton: On the 1 January 2017, there were approximately 32,500 teachers on the Teaching Council’s Register of Teachers who had not been previously garda vetted by the Council. This cohort of teachers were typically permanent teachers who have been in the same school since prior to the introduction of vetting in 2006.  The Teaching Council Amendment Act 2015 Act has, inter alia,...

Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: A very specific initiative has been taken by the Garda and resourced by the Government. This initiative is designed to confront burglary in rural and urban areas and includes targeting mobile gangs. It has been very effective. There has been a very significant reduction in crime levels in the targeted areas. This is an area which the Garda has targeted and in respect of which it is...

Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: I just do not accept that staff and resources are behind the sort of problems that we are seeing in An Garda Síochána. They are not behind the issues that we have put out to a tribunal or behind the issue of the falsifying of reporting that we have seen. Those issues cannot be explained by staffing and resources. Of course, staffing and resources will help in the context of...

Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: I do not accept that argument. The Garda Inspectorate made 81 recommendations and we need to see those implemented. They will take time but we need to do this root and branch investigation. On the issue of the wrongful convictions and a single Act, as I understand it, 96% of those cases involved other issues as well. It is not a single, uniform batch that we can just change at the...

Leaders' Questions (30 Mar 2017)

Richard Bruton: ...action changing things. I know, for example, that the divisional structure, which was criticised by the inspectorate, is being changed. I know that there is a new ICT plan being put into the Garda. There is a restructuring of the traffic section, as the Deputy knows. There is a whole range of things that are being implemented. The difficulty we have is that we are on a painful journey...