Results 41-60 of 88 for garda speaker:Barry Ward

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Barry Ward: ...offences that there are difficulties believing people? How do we address that? I also agree with sending out the message that people will be taken seriously when they bring these offences to Garda attention and potentially in a way that they never have been before. People need to understand there is a listening ear for this kind of thing. I am conscious of what was said about the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (27 Apr 2022)

Barry Ward: ...the serious problem relating to the reporting of these types of crimes, and the fact so many victims and people who have been the subject of these offences decide it will be easier not to go to the Garda and not to allow the matter to go to court than it would be to have the matter proceed and to have the person who perpetrated the crime face justice. That is, without doubt, a flaw and a...

Seanad: Automated Data Exchange for Police Co-operation: Motion (26 Apr 2022)

Barry Ward: I welcome the Minister to the House. Because this is the first opportunity have had to address the issue, I congratulate the Minister and the Department, as well as An Garda Síochána, in particular, for the work that has been done in Ireland and internationally in regard to the Kinahan gang. We have taken extraordinary steps forward. If ever there were a case for international...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Mar 2022)

Barry Ward: ...át sásta leis an mBille ach, ag an am céanna, feicim an fáth go bhfuil sé ann. I understand the relevance of this Bill and the reason it is being introduced. In my profession, I have seen instances in which gardaí have had to react to violent circumstances, such as when a melee breaks out. Where members of An Garda Síochána are present in such...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: An Garda Síochána (8 Mar 2022)

Barry Ward: This is an issue with which the Acting Chairman is very familiar. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this matter.He will be aware that in 2012 An Garda Síochána undertook a rationalisation programme, which meant that it looked at whether it needed all its stations throughout the country. As a result of that review, a decision was made to close a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: ...anyone on what they said, but could we explore a bit more the issues of natural justice that have been outlined? Two things were said that I am concerned about. First, on the issue that a garda can be investigated by GSOC without being on notice of that, I do not necessarily see that as a problem. On the other things that have been said about a garda being suspended while he or she does...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: Any of the Garda representative organisations. It is for the sworn members rather than for the civil servants.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: I agree. However, if a garda has been under investigation by GSOC for a period and does not know it, that in and of itself is not a problem. Would Mr. McAnenly disagree with me?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: Let us say that I am being investigated for fraud by An Garda Síochána. All of the investigations would take place. My bank accounts might be examined, there might be surveillance and whatever else might happen by An Garda Síochána, and rightly. It would not want to tip me off to the fact it is on to my wrongdoing. Obviously, before the Garda sends its file to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: I make a distinction between civil servants in ordinary Civil Service roles, if we can call them that, and those who are engaged in An Garda Síochána. There is a higher standard required of them. I wonder, in respect of the regulation of those people, if it is not fair they are subject to greater regulation and greater transparency in their activities. What was described earlier...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill: Discussion (15 Feb 2022)

Barry Ward: Would Mr. Mullen accept Civil Service members working within An Garda Síochána are in a different category from somebody working within even the Department of Justice or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or wherever it might be, and there is a basis on which they should be subject to more stringent regulation in the context of the sensitive material to which they...

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Second Stage (27 Jan 2022)

Barry Ward: ...with them. I cannot say with any authority whether they will work, but I accept the Minister's assertion that this Bill is providing an assurance that there will be a continued effectiveness of the Garda at every level under those changes. Setting that aside, the part that jumps out most at me is the drug testing element.It is surprising that there has not been a facility to test...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Barry Ward: ...a very delicate balance within our criminal justice system, central to which is the right of a person to obtain legal advice. I cannot see a circumstance in which it would be justifiable for a garda to decide a lawyer was being disruptive when that is exactly what his or her job is. A lawyer's job, if it is to be disruptive, is to represent the rights of the person who is being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2021 (8 Dec 2021)

Barry Ward: ...legislation, finally. It is putting in place what the Supreme Court has said in Gormley and other cases, and that is important. It is a difficult area to gauge because we rarely get to see inside Garda interviews, but in my professional experience, I have never seen a situation where a solicitor interferes to any significant extent in the interviewing process. I know that from speaking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Minorities Engaging with the Justice System: Discussion (24 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...certain intellectual or learning disabilities or autism or whatever it might be in circumstances where they just need a moment to formulate their thoughts or say what they need to say to a judge, a garda or whomever it may be. I am a practising barrister who works regularly in the courts. I had never heard of this card before. What has the experience of our guests been? Have they found...

Seanad: Report on Victim’s Testimony in cases of rape and sexual assault: Motion (17 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...because of anything any government in this jurisdiction has done but because of the victims directive at European level, which forces the Director of Public Prosecutions, prosecutorial authorities and the Garda to take a much more victim-centred approach and to have much greater consideration for the perspective of the victim and the difficulty and trauma a victim has gone through. Even...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Public Order) (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...The context in which an assault on an emergency worker is carried out is clearly an aggravating factor in any subsequent sentencing. It is therefore entirely appropriate for the Oireachtas to make it clear that this is a specific aggravating factor in the case of ambulance workers, members of the fire brigade responding to an emergency, members of An Garda Síochána or - and this...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...mar dheadh. We continue to fight the drugs, and the danger is that the casualties in that war are the middlemen or lieutenants and not the kingpins. We must work on a continual basis. We hope that An Garda Síochána and the prosecutorial authorities in the State are constantly working away at those kingpins but there is collateral damage in that war. People have been unfairly...

Seanad: Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Barry Ward: ...has told us, we do not have any analysis of how often they have been used. How often have these significant powers included in these Acts been deployed by the relevant authorities, be it An Garda Síochána or anyone else? How many cases have arisen from that? How many successful prosecutions have there been? It is important for us to have that information to make a proper...