Results 101-120 of 4,808 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Alan Shatter

Topical Issue Debate: Child Abuse Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: There is no point in a member of Fianna Fáil shouting at me when these were matters put to bed by that party in government in 2007.

Topical Issue Debate: Child Abuse Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: Perhaps the Deputy might contain himself just for once. This is a serious issue and the Deputy should not play politics with it.

Topical Issue Debate: Child Abuse Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: Moreover, the Deputy should not make the pretence that he had any previous interest in it, because he had not.

Topical Issue Debate: Child Abuse Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: This is a serious issue. I assure Deputy Boyd Barrett, with whom I frequently disagree, that this is an issue on which there is no disagreement between us. If this issue can be advanced in a manner that would bring some closure to it and that would ensure that identifiable individuals who can be properly prosecuted will be prosecuted, that would be a desirable outcome. The holding of a...

Topical Issue Debate: Child Abuse Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. This is a matter with which I have an intimate knowledge because for a period of time I represented de bonoCynthia Owen in my law firm and tried to be of assistance to her. I am aware of background information and I do not know whether the Deputy is aware of everything of which I am aware. This is a case which greatly troubled me during the period...

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy is addicted to conspiracy theories. I have a particular view of the world, which is that if an illegality takes place of a criminal nature, it should be investigated by An Garda Síochána if the illegality is clearly a criminal offence in this jurisdiction. I have a simple view of the world. I do not know why the Deputy thinks my view is more complex than that.

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: If the Deputy is suggesting, without substantive evidence, that An Garda Síochána should simply present to the offices of the print media and demand access to all of their computers and information, and violate the print media's right to freedom of expression, to write articles and to report information, I would disagree with her. We have seen in Britain, and rightly so, that an...

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: The drafting of the general scheme of a bail Bill to modernise the law on bail is at an advanced stage in my Department. I intend to bring proposals to Government on the matter in the first half of this year, if possible, having regard to other legislative priorities. It has unfortunately not been possible to progress this legislation as quickly as I had hoped due to other legislative...

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: To give the Deputy a straight answer to his final question, there is concern within my Department. I have concerns about the number of occasions on which some individuals find themselves before the courts while they are on bail pending the hearing of their cases. There are individuals who commit a series of offences between the time they are first charged and granted bail and when they are...

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: There are certain restraints under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The fact that someone has previously abused his or her position while on bail, as I understand it, cannot under our constitutional system and the European Court of Human Rights lead a court automatically to the conclusion that he or she should be automatically denied bail if charged at a later...

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy constantly confuses the investigative and operational roles of An Garda Síochána and my role as Minister for Justice and Equality. I am advised the Garda received no complaint regarding the matters the Deputy raises. I take with great seriousness the breach by any news media of individuals’ privacy, and any action that could detrimentally impact on the lives of...

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: It is open to GSOC to determine whether it should investigate a complaint or use the mechanisms provided under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to ask that a designated officer of An Garda Síochána investigate the complaint. This is a matter on which GSOC, as an independent investigative oversight authority, makes decisions. It is not for me to interfere in its independent...

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: GSOC makes those decisions. In the context of the review of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, there are a range of worthwhile reforms which could be made regarding statutory revisions in respect of GSOC. It was created under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and we have almost nine years of experience of GSOC's operations. I look forward with expectation...

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: I have a final important comment. When GSOC receives the result of an investigation, that is not the end of the matter. It is open to GSOC, under statutory provisions, to request that a matter be further examined or to raise issues regarding the outcome of any such investigation. It is not that GSOC gets a result and it is the end of the matter.

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: GSOC exercises an oversight of those investigations, which is frequently forgotten in the context of this issue.

Other Questions: Proposed Legislation (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: I am, of course, aware in general terms of information which is in the public domain relating to the organisation named and which I understand to have been the subject of a public inquiry and also criminal prosecutions in the United Kingdom. Such a prosecution is still taking place and it would be entirely inappropriate for me to comment on matters which are the subject of proceedings,...

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: I am concerned at having three different questions. Perhaps we could give Deputy Mac Lochlainn a little extra time and I can respond to Deputies Wallace and Daly.

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: I can only regard Deputy Wallace's onslaught as of a regular nature. I missed it over the couple of weeks of the Easter break. There is always an onslaught, drama and allegations about all sorts of things. However, his onslaught about GSOC is extraordinary considering Deputies Wallace and Clare Daly delivered to my Department last October a series of complaints against 24 individuals,...

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: Let the Deputy not accuse me in this House of undermining GSOC when he is running around the place with a series of complaints about the manner in which GSOC has dealt with complaints. Let us have some honesty about these issues.

Other Questions: Corrib Gas Field (30 Apr 2014)

Alan Shatter: On the specific question the two Deputies raised, GSOC has investigated approximately 124 complaints against members of the force arising from the policing of the Shell to sea protest. Of these complaints, GSOC deemed 37 to be inadmissible. That left 87 admissible cases of which 85 are closed. The following is a breakdown of 57 complaints directly linked to the Shell to sea protest. There...