Results 1-20 of 21 for drugs speaker:Niall Ó Donnghaile

Seanad: Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use: Motion (23 Feb 2023)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...for this issue. My instinctive feeling, again like Senator Clifford-Lee, is that we need a broad healthcare and recovery approach.There are also harsh realities for communities suffering as a result of the drugs trade and the threats, intimidation and violence inflicted on them, which also need to be dealt with and inform this debate going forward. That is why the citizens' assembly is...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...by the Government to the cyberattack on the HSE is a case in point. Little is known about the human cost of that attack. There is a failure by the State to patrol our waters. That is contributing to the ease with which drugs are imported. To protect our offshore wind energy infrastructure and to adequately patrol our fisheries, we are dependent on the EU to patrol our 12-mile radius. ...

Seanad: Citizens' Assemblies: Motion (23 Feb 2022)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...gives more responsibility and authority to those elected by the citizens, is a welcome step forward and one that we should encourage. I support the amendment, as other colleagues have done, from Senator Ruane on a citizens' assembly on drugs. Much like the biodiversity crisis, it is a live and imminent issue out there in our society. Because of that, it warrants an urgent response from...

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

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...Senator Gallagher. It is the responsibility of the leadership team of An Garda Síochána to ensure the aim of front-line visibility is realised. As colleagues have acknowledged, it is a good idea to introduce a drug-testing policy into the police service. It will bring An Garda Síochána into line with international best practice. We are told the Bill must be passed...

Seanad: Maritime Jurisdiction Bill 2021: Second Stage (31 May 2021)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...concerning foreign vessels, underwater cables, conservation measures, fishing enforcement measures and science research. It is unacceptable that this has not happened. It would also have a bearing on drug trafficking and the presence of nuclear and foreign warships exploiting the seas. Against a backdrop of so many factors, it is not unreasonable to ask the Government to hit the pause...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Apr 2021)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: .... We cannot be using inflammatory language or, even inadvertently, raising concerns about the protocol because these were isolated incidents. The groups involved in this are criminal gangs and drug dealers. They are misusing and abusing young people by putting them out onto the street and placing them in great danger. The place to negotiate and talk is via our elected representatives...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2021)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...A few weeks ago, the PSNI escorted crowds of loyalist paramilitary thugs through the streets of east Belfast close to where I live, as they stamped their authority on a community already intimidated by drug dealers, seeking to inflict even more intimidation and threat.Families had to flee their homes and seek refuge in a nearby community centre. It is reported that the families are still...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (29 Jun 2020)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...That is why Sinn Féin has called for a review of these powers. The current legislation has failed communities. Those failures are written in the blood of the young people killed in feuds and the lives lost to heroin and other drugs, and are seen each time a parent ends up trying to scrape together money to pay off a child's drug debt to try to save the child's life in the face of...

Seanad: Crime Policy: Motion (2 Oct 2019)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...in policing rural areas more effectively and for listening to the needs of people on the ground. Many of my colleagues have raised the issue of the Garda armed response unit and the scourge of drugs and armed gangs. Probably one of the commonest experiences of criminal activity is the issue of illegal moneylending and threats to people as a result, which has also been raised by Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Reform and Related Issues: Discussion (26 Jun 2019)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...for her own constituency. There have also been 11,554 charges brought under the operation to date for a range of offences including burglary, handling of stolen property, possession of firearms and drug offences. According to Garda statistics, there have been 34,461 searches, 96,997 intelligence reports and over 356,000 patrols over the same period. Garda figures further show that there...

Seanad: Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage (19 Jun 2019)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...for many years. In 2013, 14-year-old Jake McGill Lynch was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. He ended his life using a firearm. Jake was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and was given the antidepressant drug, despite research stating that the drug has no benefit for children with this syndrome and despite the emerging evidence of harm. The coroner in Jake's case rejected a...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (13 Jun 2019)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...it. It has become a living nightmare for the communities who have to live with it. People are terrorised and have lost hope that it will come to an end. There is a climate of fear, violence, intimidation, drug running and other forms of criminality that goes along with such gangsterism. As a result, there has been a devastating impact on communities. There have been six gang-related...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (13 Jun 2019)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...by gardaí have stopped crime and killings, and I pay tribute to them for that. However, the Government is not putting in place the resources they need. According to Seamus Boland of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Garda is targeting "in the region of 20 groups" at any one time. Some of the groups, such as the Kinahan gang, could have hundreds of people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Right to Die with Dignity: Discussion (22 Nov 2017)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...dignified. With the greatest respect to Dr. McQuillan, because I have nothing but admiration for what she and other carers do at the end of people's lives, but just hearing about the cocktail of drugs and talking about the balance of Brufen and morphine and all of that strikes me, and I am sure will strike a lot of people, as a reminder of the months and months of prolonged periods people...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (20 Jun 2017)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...norm of the right to a jury trial, only in very special circumstances should we deviate from this to protect the judicial process. Currently, hearings in the family court are held in camerawhile the drug treatment court is a specialised court operating within the legal system. Sinn Féin's position on the use of special courts in dealing with organised crime has been seriously...

Seanad: Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...over. All the statistics on the issues are there and a blind man or woman on a galloping horse can see that all the best intentioned policies and strategies thus far have not made the difference we wanted in the so-called war on drugs. This is why we will seek to amend this legislation. The core principle and spirit of the Bill's proposed legislation represents everything that new...

Seanad: Defence Matters: Statements (24 May 2017)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...and conditions and ensure that they have access to the Work Place Relations Commission and Labour Court. There is also serious concern about the well-being of personnel, especially in regard to the Government's refusal to withdraw the anti-malaria drug, Lariam, which is being routinely used when for most other countries it is a drug of last resort. This cavalier attitude to the health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Recent Controversies Concerning An Garda Síochána (30 Mar 2017)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...no specific evidence. Has she limited evidence? Has she an idea? Has she had any kind of confidential disclosure? For example, has she had any detail around whether this data relates to the recovery of drugs, weapons and firearms, domestic violence statistics as referred to earlier today, or the arrest and registration of sex offenders? Where exactly are her concerns on this? The...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Suspended Sentences of Imprisonment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (15 Nov 2016)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...from the point of view of the Government, if it is serious about reducing crime levels, is treating violence and intimidation in the community as a public health concern, introducing evidence based drug laws, focusing on prevention and early interventions to address inequalities and systematically targeting investment in communities, while ensuring ex-offenders have access to secure...

Seanad: European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training: Motion (19 Jul 2016)

Niall Ó Donnghaile: ...are in uncharted waters and I do not mean to veer off from the content of this motion, but this matter is critical. We know that cross-Border co-operation works particularly well when dealing with issues of human and drug trafficking. Many issues may arise for us as the Brexit decision across the water takes shape and begins to be implemented. To be valid, EU harmonisation or...