Results 1-20 of 81 for gsoc speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Seanad: Inquiry into the Death of Shane O'Farrell: Statements (20 Nov 2019)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...the island, how it communicates and how it ensures that those who are a threat to the public can be taken off the streets. These are very serious matters. It was always going to require much more than just a GSOC investigation as the scope needed to be much wider. The only way of getting to the truth is a full public inquiry. It is the duty of any Government to respect the wishes of the...

Seanad: Death of Shane O'Farrell: Statements (14 Jun 2018)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...Garda Síochána was contacted by the PSNI to confirm his address and criminal record, which was done, but even then the alarm bells did not ring. This was a whole-of-system failing and to leave this to GSOC to investigate is an abdication of responsibility by the Government. The only way to get to the bottom of everything that went wrong is to conduct a public inquiry. I am...

Seanad: Death of Shane O'Farrell: Statements (14 Jun 2018)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ..., we talk about people appearing on television programmes and getting a "soft interview". My God but An Garda Síochána got a soft interview. What a shocking failure. We need to give more powers to GSOC and to radically reform that organisation. That is the lesson from this episode. As it happens, GSOC was not the appropriate body to investigate this case because it is much...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2018)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...of fraud and theft, he would be sent back to jail, yet, repeatedly after that, he was not, and this is before he knocked down Shane O'Farrell. There are huge questions.It should never have been left to GSOC alone. It was not a matter just for An Garda Síochána. This was a whole-of-system failing. Any decent citizen of the State would see there has to be a public inquiry into...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2018)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: We cannot leave it to GSOC. The first part of its report is a shambles and a travesty in terms of what we can see with our own eyes based on the dossier of evidence that Lucia O'Farrell herself has put together. It is an insult to the Irish people just to leave it to GSOC. There has to be a public inquiry. We have some solemn powers in the House. We do not abuse them and we use them...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (15 Dec 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...Government. The budget is determined by Government. The Minister can demand any documents of An Garda Síochána. The Minister can issue written directives to An Garda Síochána and to the authority. CCTV schemes must be approved by the Minister. Ministerial consent is required for GSOC to investigate the Commissioner. The Minister decides the number of senior rank...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...debate on this matter on Committee Stage. I am very alarmed. When the Minister was in attendance at an event organised by the Law Society and the IHREC, Mr. Conor Brady, a former member of GSOC, made the sensible proposal that wherever something was deemed to be a matter of State security by the Garda when the police authority or GSOC requested information, a way to separate politics...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...could demand any documents of the Garda Síochána and issue written directives to the Garda Síochána and the authority. CCTV schemes must be approved by the Minister. Ministerial consent would be required for GSOC to investigate the Commissioner. The Minister would decide the number of senior rank positions and consent to the number of civilian staff, the appointment...

Appointment of Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (16 Jul 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Minister will be aware that the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality was tasked with examining the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and considering ways of strengthening GSOC, having a policing authority, ensuring the accountability of the Garda and setting up new structures. One of our recommendations was to replace the current three-person commission with one ombudsman, as...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...of some within An Garda Síochána and was being handled off the books, and that other people were being set up. Some of the senior gardaí who were blocking that information and documentation being given to GSOC were under scrutiny. That was an example of why the requirement to hand over documentation within 30 days must be on a legislative, statutory footing, rather than...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...on Justice, Defence and Equality. I know that the Minister has put protocols in place. However, the amendment would put it on a statutory footing in order that there would be no doubt about GSOC's access. It is a vital component of what it will require.

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...the Minister has not made any provision for this in the Estimates which we discussed yesterday. It could be quite some time before that system is replaced. While I take on board the Minister's comment that GSOC states it now has access based on protocols, there is concern. It goes back to the debate last night. The ombudsman in the North of Ireland signs the Official Secrets Act in...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (5 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...Commission has the capacity or power to fully investigate matters about which they are concerned. While certain aspects of the legislation are encouraging and welcome, the new powers conferred on GSOC are wholly inadequate. The amendment fits into the idea of a new beginning in that it would give people more time to submit a complaint to GSOC. It also has an element of natural justice...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...do not continue. People are having to wait crazy periods for an outcome. A large percentage of cases are being referred back to An Garda Síochána or are being dealt with by gardaí seconded to GSOC. We need to get to a stage where only minor matters can be addressed within the office, for example, a case in which a garda did not get back to a person or some other minor...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...trying to give the ombudsman, as well as the Garda Inspectorate, some flexibility in this regard. One issue that came up in the justice committee hearings was the public's concern that too often matters raised with GSOC are referred back for investigation to the Garda or to former gardaí who are working in the offices of GSOC. Perception alone creates a problem in this context. The...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Minister would be familiar with the Kieran Boylan affair. GSOC submitted a detailed report on the case and the significant lack of co-operation it received from the then Garda Commissioner on matters of the utmost seriousness. It submitted a 500-page report to the previous Minister and published a seven or eight page summary of its concerns. One of the key issues was the lack of...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Report Stage (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...essentially by one person. The model internationally with police ombudsmen, sectoral ombudsmen or public service ombudsmen is for one person with senior advisers making the call. The chairman of GSOC has recently resigned to take up a new position in Britain in order to be closer to his family and so on, and good luck to him. That vacancy gives us an opportunity to address the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That takes me to my next question, which is on GSOC. The Government has asked it to examine the penalty points issue. A major investigation has to be undertaken in that respect. We will also be giving GSOC additional powers when the Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill is passed today. That will entail the provision of more resources. Is the Minister satisfied that the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Revised)
Vote 25 - Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Revised) (4 Feb 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Will the Minister monitor the situation to see if GSOC needs more money?

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission Staff (15 Jan 2015)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: ...and Equality her views on the recommendation from the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality that there would be one Ombudsman for An Garda Síochána rather than a three person GSOC led by a Chairperson. [1327/15]