Results 1-20 of 22 for gsoc speaker:Brendan Howlin

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

Brendan Howlin: ...coming before us. We are going to have an ombudsman and a deputy ombudsman. We will debate this in due course. It is a big advance. We can genuinely say, for a variety of reasons, that our experience with GSOC has not been uniformly what we expected or desired. GSOC itself will state many of the reasons for that. I hope that, in the new legislation to be enacted, we can address...

Garda Siochana (Functions and Operational Areas) Bill 2021: Second Stage (22 Sep 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...subset rather than the crime one. The third area is performance assurance, which is extremely important. That comprises standards evaluation, internal discipline and engagement with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, or its successor organisation. Openness to public engagement and explanation is critically important. In my period in this House, I have had...

Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (27 Jan 2021)

Brendan Howlin: ...confidence in the administration of justice and that we have an oversight body that is fit for purpose for policing in this State. That cuts both ways. Many members of the Garda are dissatisfied with the operation of GSOC and their input has to be taken into account in a balanced way, so we get a proper oversight body that the public have complete confidence in, the people we give powers...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Oct 2018)

Brendan Howlin: ...na. I agree with this view. Has the Taoiseach or the Government taken a view on the recommendations of the oversight board of An Garda Síochána, the new independent complaints body that would supersede GSOC, and the new body to replace the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate, the policing and community safety commission? At the heart of all of the issues of policing...

Leaders' Questions (11 May 2017)

Brendan Howlin: Every crisis, scandal and issue is carefully boxed off to an inquiry by GSOC or the Committee of Public Accounts - somewhere, anywhere - and things carry on. Every Member can clearly see that the best interests of An Garda Síochána are not served by the status quo. That the Tánaiste cannot see this is a matter of great concern. She and I have known each other for a long time...

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

Brendan Howlin: ...as we all have, that so many of the inspectorate's key recommendations have just not been acted upon. All this has happened notwithstanding a major legislative overhaul back in 2005, including the setting up of both GSOC and the inspectorate. The more we dig, however, the more we discover that these were all just legislative platitudes and signalled no fundamental change at all. The...

Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Mar 2017)

Brendan Howlin: ...now, particularly in the justice area. I would again be interested in hearing the views of the Minister in respect of where we could site such a contact point. Perhaps a one-stop shop could be developed under the auspices of GSOC or some other existing institution that might be expanded to include this one-stop contact point envisaged by the Human Rights and Equality Commission. Its...

Commission of Investigation (Certain Matters Relative to the Cavan-Monaghan Division of An Garda Síochána) Report: Statements (25 May 2016)

Brendan Howlin: ...to extend the freedom of information provisions. The Protected Disclosures Act, which was the overarching legislation to protect whistleblowers, enhanced the protection available to whistleblowers across the board and provided a new mechanism for disclosures relating to the Garda Síochána. Now, a Garda member may make a protected disclosure directly to GSOC, which has all the...

Financial Resolutions 2015 - Budget Statement 2015 (14 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...and Equality, will outline later, this funding will also support the justice reform programme. The programme includes plans for the reform of An Garda Síochána, the strengthening of the remit of GSOC and establishment of the new independent policing authority, the Court of Appeal, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the establishment of the Charities Regulatory...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...;ochána. A reporting body for every body must be set out. Within a company, it would be the management, before they can disclose externally, and the same will apply to the Garda Síochána. While GSOC is a designated recipient of complaints, it would be possible for a member of the Garda Síochána to make an external disclosure should nothing happen after a...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (1 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...of the Guerin report regarding the operation of the confidential recipient system for Garda whistleblowers, Senators will agree that this is a very significant, important and welcome reform. Amendment No. 36 also provides that GSOC will, in accordance with the commitment given by the former Minister for Justice and Equality, be prescribed as a body suitable for the acceptance of protected...

Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jun 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...and competent. I have said that I want the regime that applies to An Garda Síochána to be the general regime. Short of challenging my bona fides on this, I am giving the Deputy a commitment that GSOC is the organisation that will be prescribed as the appropriate body to receive disclosures of this nature. On the second point, we had a long presentation of the facts before the...

Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Report Stage (12 Jun 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...am conscious of the comments made by Deputy Seán Fleming on Committee Stage that the wording might be misinterpreted and presented as ambiguous, notwithstanding my assurances to him and the clear Government decision that members of An Garda Síochána could make disclosures to GSOC and the fact that the effect of the amendment proposed to the Garda Síochána Act 2005...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is very important that we signal what is the case with regard to GSOC, and we do not want any ambivalence about that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...2005 Act is crafted to be in tandem and consistent with the Bill as drafted, which is why it is drafted in that way. It is our intention - there was a formal Government decision on this - to make GSOC the recipient of complaints or disclosures. If I can formalise that, even if it is discordant with the rest of the Act, I will do so. I just want to get the advice of the Attorney General...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: .... I must be careful in what I say but I do not think we can be confident at this very minute that we have one. I think I am safe in saying that. We need to refurbish the legislative capacity of GSOC and probably more than its legislative capacity but that is not a job for us in this committee or for me in my Ministry but GSOC is an important part of the protected disclosures regime....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is the investigation procedure GSOC already applies.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will deal with those matters first as they are the simplest ones to deal with. The public interest reference relates to the investigation by GSOC of a complaint it receives where it appears to that body to be in the public interest to carry one out. That is the way it deals with complaints. The reference I have made to the public interest refers to affording the protections under the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy was quoting somebody else, but I am mindful of what Mr. Guerin said about GSOC. If it is going to be the recipient for this, we must all be confident that it is the right place and that it is properly equipped and structured to do the job. That is another day's work. I agree strongly with Deputy Fleming that crafting the legislation does not mean the job is done. The other...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: ...in question. I am now proposing to replace section 19 in its entirety and to make provision for a completely new regime. The proposed new section 19(1) will provide for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC - under section 7 of the Bill before us - to be prescribed as a suitable body to accept disclosures. As a result, GSOC will be the new recipient of disclosures from...