Results 121-140 of 230 for garda speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Thomas Byrne: ...of which, if big enough, will be considered anti-competitive and in breach of Irish and European law. It should be as simple as that. However, it is not that simple. We need more education of gardaí in this area. As this is criminal law, the Garda Síochána should be much more apprised of it than it is and should be able to take criminal prosecutions without reference to the...

Seanad: Planning Issues (8 Mar 2012)

Thomas Byrne: ...months it will be too late for a judicial review due to the tight timelines. A number of other measures must be implemented as a matter of severe urgency. I call on the Minister to contact the Garda Commissioner about traffic in Slane. Last night on the news at 9 p.m. one could see lorry after lorry clearly breaching the speed limit in the village of Slane. It was outrageous to see that...

Seanad: Planning Issues (8 Mar 2012)

Thomas Byrne: ...parallel to a village it will not get approval for a bypass from An Bord Pleanála. That is not a planning matter. It is a matter for democratic decision making. I am trying to highlight to the Garda the necessity for enforcement in this regard and I would like the National Roads Authority to do that also. We will keep up the pressure from this side of the House. Everybody is agreed on...

Seanad: Croke Park Agreement: Statements (9 Feb 2012)

Thomas Byrne: ...blame nurses for hospital ward closures after the fact. As the Minister of State suggested, we should instead continue to engage with them under the terms of the Croke Park agreement. The issue of gardaí is a serious one. The Government made some progress following a call by the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Callinan, to fill vacancies. The Government filled some of them, but not all. It...

Seanad: Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (1 Feb 2012)

Thomas Byrne: ...the countryside. If one adversely affects the countryside in the operation of one's system, one is guilty of a crime. One's prosecution will be recorded as part of the soft information of the Garda Síochána and any conviction will be recorded on a criminal record. In fact, this section does absolutely nothing. Paragraph (h), which will become (g), allows the EPA to put any other...

Seanad: Budget 2012: Statements (6 Dec 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...and the fuel-poor. Rural schools, contrary to what we were told this morning, have been hit with a pupil-teacher ratio increase and have been told to consider merging or closing. Rural and urban Garda stations will close. The pupil-teacher ratio in secondary schools has been increased, with the removal of guidance counsellors. There are 27 schools in County Meath with fewer than 86...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...into the leaking of a private social welfare file to a Labour Party Senator as reported in today's newspapers. The investigation could be carried out by the Data Protection Commissioner or the Garda. There seems to be an agenda in the Labour Party to denigrate persons on social welfare. It started with the Minister for Social Protection talking about it being a lifestyle choice. We...

Seanad: Reporting of Lobbying in Criminal Legal Cases Bill 2011: Second Stage (21 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...in favour of the Family Home Bill. Senator Crown has identified a very serious issue but unfortunately the Minister of State concentrated only on two aspects of the Bill, which are contact with the Garda Síochána and the Office of the DPP. I assumed it was already illegal to contact a member of the Garda Síochána or the DPP on criminal matters and I have never done so. I state to...

Seanad: Reporting of Lobbying in Criminal Legal Cases Bill 2011: Second Stage (21 Sep 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...it and let it pass Second Stage. If it comes before us on Committee Stage, Fianna Fáil will suggest substantial amendments. We believe that under no circumstances should somebody contact the Garda or the DPP and in most cases contact should not be made with the courts. However, we believe circumstances do exist where private representations can be made with regard to the humane...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2011: Second Stage. (26 Jul 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...former Minister. The Bill reflects much of the frustration expressed by all of us over the past number of years at the slow pace of the investigation into Anglo Irish Bank and other banks by the Garda and of the efforts being made at that level and in the offices of the prosecutors. Those frustrations still exist. Fianna Fáil was accused of slowing up the investigation, but members of...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...for almost all Ministers. The Government has not even done that and, moreover, it has appointed its friends and colleagues to driver positions rather than allocating those posts to members of the Garda Síochána. It is a win-win situation for Ministers in that they received public acclamation for taking action while securing a certain benefit for themselves. The setting up of a website...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: ...to me that they did not know much about it, but I told them it was only a short document. I urge people to read it in advance of any debate and to stop using the document to justify reductions in gardaí, cuts to SNAs and so on, because these things are not mentioned in the IMF deal. They were Government decisions that are within the sovereignty and the economic competence of this State....

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: .... It is important, therefore, to have a special debate on the various issues in that Department. Senator Bacik misinformed the House this morning that the IMF agreement required a reduction in Garda numbers but the IMF agreement does not mention Garda numbers. One of the features of the IMF agreement is that junior bondholders be burned, yet Ministers are claiming credit for that every...

EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support: Motion (15 Dec 2010)

Thomas Byrne: ...to the banks, unfortunately. It is possible that this figure will increase to €25 billion. Some €50 billion of it will be used to pay for public services, social welfare, hospitals, schools, gardaí and all the rest. That is a fact. If one says we cannot afford this deal, one is saying we cannot afford our public services. I am not prepared to countenance that. My form of politics...

Reform of Structures of Government: Motion (Resumed) (10 Nov 2010)

Thomas Byrne: ...obligation to carry out such work. I wish to highlight one aspect of the Labour Party's motion. I refer to the proposed extension of the remit of the Freedom of Information Act to the Garda Síochána. The motion does not really qualify what is meant in this regard. I wish to lay down a marker by expressing my absolute opposition to the extension of the remit of that Act to the workings...

Reform of Structures of Government: Motion (Resumed) (10 Nov 2010)

Thomas Byrne: I pay tribute to the Garda Síochána in respect of the work it does. I repeat my assurance the Garda that I am wholeheartedly opposed to the extension of the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to its operations.

Private Members' Business (3 Nov 2010)

Thomas Byrne: -----talking about by-elections and matters which are properly the realm of prosecutors and the Garda, who have done a very good job since the foundation of the State. We should look at what the Portuguese Parliament did today. Why can the Labour Party not adopt the approach of the Portuguese Socialist Party which abstained in the budget vote in the national interest? We are not asking the...

Private Members' Business (3 Nov 2010)

Thomas Byrne: ...the Commissioner's comments on the investigation. I want to see it come to fruition. The Commissioner has said decisions will be taken before the end of the year. When we contrast the work of the Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement with what is happening in the Moriarty tribunal, which has been running for 15 years, there is no comparison. We must...

Criminal Law (Defence and the Dwelling) Bill 2010: Second Stage (20 Oct 2010)

Thomas Byrne: ...It was wrong and unfair. I have attended meetings in Kells and, to be fair, its community wants to work together to prevent such attacks. Whenever the community meets to discuss the issue with the Garda and public representatives, public pressure seems to have an impact. I hope that my raising of this issue in Dáil Éireann will have an impact on those few people who are engaging in...

Written Answers — Garda Deployment: Garda Deployment (29 Jun 2010)

Thomas Byrne: Question 380: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the increase in members of the Garda Síochána stationed in County Meath since May 2007. [28222/10]