Results 61-80 of 143 for gsoc speaker:Mick Wallace

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

Mick Wallace: ...welcome the appointment of the new commissioner. If she carries her independent streak to the new job it will certainly be beneficial. Like Deputy Clare Daly, I am worried about the potential of GSOC to hold gardaí to account and we have not been impressed with the changes made. The body struggles with the task, not necessarily through any fault of its own but because there does...

Other Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (26 May 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...still has not been interviewed by May the following year, there is a problem. If a Garda makes a complaint in November and has not even got a reply by May the following year, there is a problem. GSOC is still not fit for purpose and it is not doing the job it is supposed to; it is not able to do it. It is going to require more funding. I know there were some improvements in the...

Other Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (26 May 2015)

Mick Wallace: Will the Minister consider bringing in GSOC personnel to have a chat with them? She could ask them if they are adequately resourced and if there is enough power to deal with the challenges faced by GSOC. One of the whistleblowers I mentioned since making his complaint over a year ago has had five internal investigations against him. The person he complained about has not even been...

Other Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (26 May 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...more difficult and disappointing. Can the Minister explain why it is taking so long to replace Mr. O'Brien? I understand that under section 65 of the relevant legislation, a political appointment of the GSOC commissioners is permitted. Has the Minister considered changing that operation to make it an independent one?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Complaints Procedures (26 May 2015)

Mick Wallace: I will be careful. The garda was told then that he should refer the matter to GSOC and it said "Ye were the ones who damaged the internal investigation, so ye do it." Eventually they did it in September. In September 2014, it was referred to GSOC by Nóirín O'Sullivan but zero progress has been made to date. In the meantime, this particular garda has had a Garda car go down his...

Industrial Relations (Members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (24 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...over a six-year period. However, the GRA did not seem to take note that after six years of unbelievable harassment of this publican, funnily enough the harassment has stopped since I raised it here. In addition, even though many of his complaints were beyond GSOC's time limitations, GSOC is upholding those complaints that were within time and is investigating them, which is good news. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Commissions of Investigation (21 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...after Easter - eight months later - is that there are a lot of cases. There are always a lot of cases. I wonder why the Taoiseach thought it could be delivered in September. I wonder why the GSOC changes that the Taoiseach was extolling some moments ago have not been implemented. The legislation has not been put in place, and I find this a bit strange, given that it was passed in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (2 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: 3. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will update Dáil Éireann on the appointment of a replacement for the former Chairperson of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC; if she is satisfied that the Commission is sufficiently resourced to deal with challenges facing it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13488/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (2 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...;ochána Act 2005 allows for a 100% political appointment. Has the Minister considered changing that system in any way? It is obvious that despite the Minister having given an extra €1 million to GSOC this year, it is under-resourced and does not have the potential to do what it is supposed to do.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (2 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister said GSOC can carry on its work while waiting for the third commissioner to be appointed. The sad point is that it cannot carry out its work. It is under too much pressure. The extra workload involved in giving it the job of confidential recipient seems to be beyond it. For example, the case of a whistleblower named Keith Harrison was referred to GSOC last September. He...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (2 Apr 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister says the public has confidence in GSOC. That is not true. The Minister knows that it does not. As she said in response to the previous question, many complaints are based on the fact that people did not get satisfaction from GSOC. It is not that the people in GSOC are bad people, rather it does not have the potential to be the body it was intended to be. We all realise that...

Leaders' Questions (31 Mar 2015)

Mick Wallace: ...about whom he is complaining gets promoted? Is the Taoiseach aware that since the Government did away with the confidential recipient, there has been no place for Garda whistleblowers to go because GSOC is not geared to deal with it? What will the Taoiseach do about it?

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

Mick Wallace: ...formal request.”.”.The insertion of section 103A, as drafted, by the Government is encouraging. For the first time it establishes a statutory and legal obligation on the Garda Commissioner to provide information to GSOC. However, this only applies to section 102 investigations. This amendment broadens the scope to include the standard section 95 and section 98...

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

Mick Wallace: The Minister said she could not conceive of a situation in which the Minister or Government would not give GSOC permission to investigate where it was perceived that the Garda Commissioner was behaving very poorly. Although she placed much emphasis on the fact that the Government rather than the Minister would have the power to make some of the decisions, there is little comfort in this,...

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

Mick Wallace: Section 7 of the Bill as drafted inserts section 102B into the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This provision only allows GSOC to investigate the Garda Commissioner where the Minister consents to such an investigation and only if an offence or serious misconduct is suspected. These circumstances will rarely, if ever, arise. There is no strength or independence in this function and it is...

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

Mick Wallace: ...by the Minister about the logistical nightmare of identifying PULSE in this instance. We address this issue in the amendment which seeks to insert a new section 103B in section 9. We propose that GSOC have access to any information it wants to have within a certain time period. This would cover the issue, rather than creating a logistical nightmare. On the principle of access to...

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

Mick Wallace: ...within one year, and who would do so between one year and two years, would be small. Our experience in talking to people, and having people come to us, has been that while section 84(2) allows GSOC to look at complaints that go outside the time period, those concerned have not had much success in this area. Part of the reason for this is that GSOC probably has too much on its plate....

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

Mick Wallace: ...í may and may not do in their interactions with the public. Much greater clarity is needed in this area. It is frightening to note the large number of people who, having shown the courage to take a case to GSOC, find that their case is not admissible for various reasons, of which the time factor is the principal one. People who experience a problem with the Garda often expect...

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

Mick Wallace: ...years. It is a little scary. We do not have a normal set-up. That is why people do not like the idea of making a complaint if the complaint is likely to be investigated by gardaí without any oversight from GSOC and no feedback on why the matter has not been taken any further. This relates back to my last point about the informal resolution mechanism. The Minister agrees that...

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

Mick Wallace: Given the number of complaints received over the past two years, and their nature, there is a serious level of dissatisfaction among the public with how GSOC deals with complaints. We were actually at pains to defend GSOC. On the occasions we met the commission, we found the three commissioners to be genuine and doing their best in very difficult circumstances. The idea that one third of...