Results 41-60 of 143 for gsoc speaker:Mick Wallace

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: 14. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps she proposes to take in view of the call from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, for urgent legislative change to enable it to carry out functions appropriately; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27626/16]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (28 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: Last week at the justice committee, Judge Mary Ellen Ring expressed her frustration at GSOC's lack of power to hold An Garda Síochána to account. We warned the Minister about that when we debated the legislation. The minimal changes introduced ensured that GSOC as a body was designed to fail, which is the current situation. Gardaí are not co-operating. They are withholding...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (21 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: I thank Ms Justice Ring for her presentation. She said that GSOC deals with very frustrated people. I get the impression that it is fairly frustrated by the challenges it is facing. Ms Justice Ring made the point that it would be good if minor complaints could be dealt with within the Garda. She argued that resolutions should be found before disciplinary measures are required. I see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (21 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: ...to avoid serious scrutiny in the next couple of years. On the issue of the €1 million, it was used in the Chamber by the Minister saying that we are moving the whistleblower operation to GSOC and we will give it an extra €1 million. Obviously, the €1 million is for GSOC’s general operation but I brought it up because it was used in the Chamber as an excuse...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (21 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: I go back to two questions I asked the first time but which the witnesses might have missed. Reference was made to the fact that legal redress is available in the North. I asked if GSOC had discussed this with the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality and asked for the same. I also asked about disciplinary proceedings and sanctions. At the moment, they are within the remit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (21 Sep 2016)

Mick Wallace: Ms Justice Ring has said that the promotions issue is an internal matter. If, however, GSOC is looking at individuals who are about to be promoted by means of the internal process, does Ms Justice Ring not think that there should be a freeze on such promotions while those officers are under scrutiny by the commission?

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

Mick Wallace: ...has been significantly transformed" and lists, as an example, the new whistleblowing mechanism under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 now permitting a serving garda to make a protected disclosure to GSOC for investigation. Although investigation by an independent body such as GSOC is an improvement on the internal investigations preferred by An Garda Síochána and the...

Adjournment Debate: Garda Reports (17 May 2016)

Mick Wallace: ...;300 per week and the other gets nothing. Every effort has been made to hound them out of their jobs. It is two years since Mr. Harrison tried to get a proper hearing and he has only had one proper meeting with GSOC. GSOC requested Mr. Kehoe's file after a poor internal Garda investigation. The Garda was given 30 days to deliver it but still has not done so. Ms Nóirín...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (19 Jan 2016)

Mick Wallace: ...opportunity to address many of the issues and concerns people now have in this area. I found it interesting that the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors was so eager to jump all over GSOC again, and it is laughable how it reacts sometimes. I read a very good letter in The Irish Timesthis morning by Ray Leonard. He stated:I would suggest that any journalist aggrieved by...

Topical Issue Debate: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (19 Jan 2016)

Mick Wallace: ...Charles Flanagan, had received assurances from the United Kingdom that nothing was going on, even after GCHQ's oversight body had found it had been in breach of the law. I, too, think that before GSOC can look at anyone's phone, it should have to go before a court. However, as we have argued before in this Chamber with the Minister and her predecessor, Deputy Alan Shatter, so too should...

Other Questions: Protected Disclosures in the Public Interest (1 Dec 2015)

Mick Wallace: In one of the cases, the senior investigator from GSOC told his solicitor that the Garda was refusing to co-operate and would not supply documents he was looking for or comply with his requests. I have got the very same reply from the individual who made a complaint in Kilkenny. We have a serious problem. The absence of sanctions for indiscipline among senior gardaí is glaring. It...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...toothless that it is only going to complicate matters. The Government is also going to make all the appointments to this board. Even if it were not, it is giving it so little power. It is a bit like the GSOC issue. GSOC was designed to fail and this non-independent policing authority is also designed to fail.

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...Act provided that the Minister shall establish by regulation a code of ethics, including conduct and practice for members of An Garda Síochána following consultation with the Garda Commission, GSOC and the then Irish Human Rights Commission and having regard to European standards. Neither the current nor any previous Minister ever did this. It is a major problem. We have never...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (12 Nov 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...fully to the authority through the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality on any aspect of his or her relevant functions relating to policing issues and account fully to GSOC in relation to security issues. As a result of the manner in which the amendments have been grouped, we are pushed for speaking time on the different elements. Our policing Bill, introduced two...

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

Mick Wallace: ...as an independent arbiter. We have partially touched on this principle already. The amendment is intended to prevent the excuse of national security being invoked by the Minister to prevent a full investigation by GSOC. The legislation as drafted proposes to set the Minister as the final arbiter where there is a disagreement over whether an issue is considered a policing or a security...

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

Mick Wallace: ...something is deemed to be an issue of State security. More often than not, decisions that are made are not necessarily made in the heat of the moment. Often such decisions are contemplated in advance. When GSOC, for example, looks for information or wants to check a Garda barracks, the Garda Commissioner is able to say it is a matter of State security and that she cannot let GSOC in to...

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

Mick Wallace: ...because there was not the same need for the distinction since the Garda and the Minister were responsible for both policing and State security. There is a reference to State security in section 99 of the 2005 Act which restricts GSOC, when investigating a possible offence, from searching any Garda station designated under section 126 and allows the Garda Commissioner to object to any...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Misconduct Allegations (20 Oct 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...Assistant Commissioner was involved with the other garda. It beggars belief that the Commissioner would make that decision. Zero tolerance is what the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, says it is getting from the gardaí in trying to address one of the cases. In terms of the other one, it has been an unmitigated cover-up for a long time in regard to drugs in...

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

Mick Wallace: ...Stage. The amendments are similar to Deputy Mac Lochlainn's amendments. The thinking is to prevent the excuse of national security being invoked by the Minister to prevent full investigation by GSOC. The proposed legislation sets the Minister as the final arbiter if there is a disagreement over whether an issue is considered a policing or security one. The Minister could have a...

Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2015: Second Stage (24 Sep 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...one of the over-riding issues in the proposed legislation. Uniquely in Europe and other common law countries, An Garda Síochána has responsibility for both policing and national security issues. Conor Brady, who is a former GSOC commissioner, has noted that the invoking of national security by An Garda Síochána to prevent full investigation is already a huge obstacle....