Results 1-7 of 7 for gsoc speaker:John Halligan

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2015)

John Halligan: ...to think it is not the case. Elements of the Bill will not do anything to change this. It is one matter to bring forwards legislation, but it is quite another to give people renewed confidence in the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. In the light of recent controversies, the general public is already sceptical, to say the least, that GSOC will ever adequately...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (22 Jan 2015)

John Halligan: The description last year by a Minister of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, as a toothless dog was in some way pitiful but none the less an apt analogy. Revelations over the past two years of Garda malpractice have done enormous damage, with many concluding that restrictions on investigations and limited manpower are resulting in investigations being passed on to the...

Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (28 May 2014)

John Halligan: ...Brian Rossiter and the penalty points scandal. An Garda Síochána has been a fortress shut against outsiders for 90 years. These are not my words. Opposition to oversight is not new to the Garda. Commenting on the force in 2012, former GSOC chairman Conor Brady stated: "An Garda Síochána has been a fortress shut against outsiders for 90 years." What more do we need...

An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceapacháin Bhreithiúnacha) 2013: An Dara Céim - Thirty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution (Judicial Appointments) Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Feb 2014)

John Halligan: ...hold any sway if the post refers to the presidency of the court or if the vacancy is being filled by promotion of a judge from a lower court by the Government. Public confidence in the Garda and GSOC has already taken an irreparable hammering. How can a Government elected on a mandate of accountability and reform expect to retain public confidence in the justice system under the current...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

John Halligan: It is just one question, but I want to clear an inaccuracy. I am not here to defend or attack GSOC, the Garda or the Minister, who is well capable of defending himself. GSOC stated, only last year, that it finds the failure by the Garda to release information unacceptable. It also stated that its inquiries are regularly frustrated by the refusal by officers to hand over documents. On one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

John Halligan: I welcome the Minister. We have heard much hysteria, spin and hype in the past couple of weeks on the issue which is not helping the situation. GSOC has been in the dock for not reporting to the Minister and the Garda. The situation has been likened to the suggestion that the victim of the crime was to blame for the crime because it did not report to the Garda. I believe it did not report...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Security and Surveillance Issues: Minister for Justice and Equality (19 Feb 2014)

John Halligan: Can the Minister state categorically whether such information exists that somebody else had bugged GSOC? Can he say if he was in possession of that information or is there a possibility that revealing that information would jeopardise a criminal investigation? Would the Minister agree that even if there is even a remote possibility that GSOC was bugged it does warrant a criminal...