Results 21-40 of 57 for garda speaker:Cathal Berry

Civil Defence Bill 2023: Second Stage (15 Feb 2023)

Cathal Berry: .... They do fantastic work. As other colleagues have said, they are an integral part of the fabric of Irish society. They provide huge support for the three principal response agencies - the Garda, the HSE and local authorities - and for charitable and community organisations. This may be controversial, but perhaps the Civil Defence is modern and effective in what it does because it...

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 Oct 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...but it is a gateway crime as well for even more dangerous crimes thereafter. It is good that it is nailed down in a particular stand-alone way. I liked the fact the Minister mentioned that the Garda Commissioner was the person who recommended this law be brought in. It is an important point to make that when the senior law enforcement professional in the country requests a particular...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2022)

Cathal Berry: ..., with drastically reduced terms and conditions for pensions and pay. I find that unacceptable and the Taoiseach probably feels the same. I do not think anyone would try to chance that with a garda, a nurse or a teacher. Does the Taoiseach know when these terms and conditions will be available? Will he intercede with his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that military personnel who are 50...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Sep 2022)

Cathal Berry: I raise with the Tánaiste today the matter of the deliberate and outrageous ramming of a Garda car in Cherry Orchard on Monday evening, which I utterly condemn. Is it a disadvantaged area? Yes, for sure. Is that an excuse? No. There are plenty of disadvantaged areas across all our constituencies where that type of behaviour would not be accepted or tolerated. Of particular concern...

Defence Forces: Motions (5 Jul 2022)

Cathal Berry: .... Any interaction we have had with the European Union, from a national perspective, has been, on balance, positive. Students use the Erasmus programme and engage with the European Union. An Garda Síochána uses Europol and Ministers use the Council of Ministers. PESCO is how militaries engage and co-operate with each other, exchange skills through workshops and bring them back...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Projects: Motion (30 Jun 2022)

Cathal Berry: I will make my last point, and everyone here might not agree with me on this, but the farm boy inside me is speaking. PESCO to the military is really what Europol is to An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána interacts with Europol. It gets excellent information and it gets excellent training. It ploughs that back and makes Ireland a safer place. I see the four...

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (29 Jun 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...if there was no need for it. However, the court has served the State well since its establishment, particularly in the early years when everything hung in the balance. I note the findings of An Garda Síochána and its intelligence assessment of the threats posed by dissident republicans in the North as well as in this jurisdiction. I have taken on board its professional...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Jun 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...any opportunity it has to tie up or to clarify points of law. This is a good example of this and it is a good opportunity to do that. We should grab it with both hands. The third point is that gardaí do not work as individuals, but as teams. We need to appreciate that. I do not see any difficulty whatsoever with one particular court presenter handing over key information in...

Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 May 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister her opening statement, which she delivered yesterday. I am delighted to be in the Chamber today to contribute to this important debate on the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill. I am very happy with this Bill and welcome it. I recognise it is probably long overdue. I am happy to support its passage through the Oireachtas. I do so for the following...

Prüm II Proposal: Motion (26 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...this time. I am also reassured by the fact that information received or transacted through the system will be the exclusive preserve of law enforcement agencies. In this country, that will be An Garda Síochána, Forensic Science Ireland and the Department of Transport. It is completely appropriate and fitting that should be the case. I very much welcome the motion and am...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...pension, but the 31-year pension will be pushed back down to a 21-year pension. It seems this issue is unique to the Defence Forces, although I am open to correction if that is not the case. If a garda, a prison officer or a firefighter has 31 years' service, he or she will keep the 31-year pension and it will be included with the old age pension. There appears to be an anomaly in the...

Appointment of Member and Chair of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (15 Dec 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...motion and thank the Minister for bringing it before the House. I have just three points to make in the time allowed. First, I very much welcome the appointment of Judge Rory MacCabe to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Having reviewed his CV, I think he is eminently suitable for the role. Not only is he suitable as an individual, but also, collectively, it makes...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (18 Nov 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...measure of reassurance to the hundreds of impacted troops and their families. On a more general note, I take the Minister's point that we want to have young soldiers. We also want to have young gardaí, firefighters and prison officers but entrants to those three professions are not subjected to the same types of contracts as military personnel. In that context, we need to overhaul...

Financial Resolutions 2021 - Budget Statement 2022 (12 Oct 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...states to fly our troops around and look after and sustain them in theatre, which is certainly not a good look and is very demoralising from a morale perspective. The budget provides for an extra 800 garda and additional civilian staff in the Department of Justice, which is a good thing, but there is no mention of the guards of the sea, the members of our Naval Service. I visited the...

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (16 Sep 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...the navy. That arrangement is called the single-agency concept and it is working very well. For instance, the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority does not have vessels of its own. Nor does the Garda Síochána, and even Customs and Excise vessels cannot go out too far and generally piggyback on naval vessels. I suspect MARA will be no different and will have to utilise the...

Fisheries and Coastal Communities: Statements (17 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: ..., only six remain. That has massive knock-on effects for the fishing community as well. The third point I wish to raise concerns law and order. This is a massive issue. We are investing in the Garda Síochána to police the land mass. That is appropriate and it is exactly how we should be doing business but, unfortunately, we are reducing the investment in how we police our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...two organisations in particular have excelled and demonstrated once again that they are critical when it comes to national resilience in the face of the strategic shock we have just been through, that is, An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. Ironically, these are the two organisations that get very little, if any, funding directly from Brussels. This is an opportunity to...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for the Public Services 2021
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (20 May 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...about 40% of those claims will go to legal fees. I do not think the Defence Forces should exist to pay the legal profession. The establishment of a compensation tribunal should be considered by the Minister and the Department. I refer to the model used by An Garda Síochána and the Irish Prison Service. As in the case of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, which is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Air Corps (13 May 2021)

Cathal Berry: ...having a role in search and rescue; his views on whether the Air Corps should be tasked to undertake this role in the same way as it was tasked to provide the emergency aeromedical service and Garda air support unit service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24605/21]