Results 561-580 of 1,049,017 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Duncan Smith)

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I might rephrase it. If, on the one hand, society wants to have some control of the expanding use of drugs but, on the other, we decriminalise and take away a sanction we have in the system at the moment, whereby everybody who is illegally supplying drugs will know there is going to be more drug use in this country over time, and if we do not have measures to try to prevent that, are we not...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I thank our guests. It is really great to have people with such wide experience talking. Dr. Ó Concubhair also has lived experience. In his opening statement, he made some points highlighting what is becoming a common theme here, that is, that the present war on drugs is not winnable and that recreational drug use is essentially a fact of life. I drink alcohol. That is my vice. It...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: What I am wondering about is whether we should decriminalise and give society the idea that widespread drug-taking of all types is permissible and quite okay. Just the same as you might have a drink, you might take an opioid and all of that. Does Dr. Ó Concubhair have concerns about what that might look like? Is it a realisable vision?

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I thank Dr. Ó Concubhair for that. Mr. Glynn might like to come in here as well. My concern relates to drug dependence. I worked in a business in the healthcare space that involved regulated opioids and I have seen the addictive nature of those drugs. How are we to stop recreational drug users embarking on a pathway to a range of different drugs? Vaping might be an example. It...

Committee on Drugs Use: Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2024)

Matt Shanahan: No, I am not. I am asking whether Dr. Ó Concubhair is concerned. I believe Ireland is an outlier. With regard to alcohol, we were told for years that the Irish personality or psyche is such that, in a lot of ways, we tend to go all in. That is my opinion. We all know recreational drug users. That is fine. However, we have one system in this country, one of criminal sanctions. It...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: We have apologies from Deputies John Brady, Ciarán Cannon and Imelda Munster. I ask all those in attendance to ensure that their mobile phones are switched off or on silent mode. I wish to explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practices of the Houses as regards references witnesses may make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: I thank Mr. Gleeson. Before we go to questions, I wish to clarify something from last week's meeting. At last week's hearing, Mr. Sheahan, deputy chief veterinary officer in the Department, was here. Questions were asked by Deputy Catherine Murphy and I regarding potential historical incidents at the Straffan plant that appeared in the "Prime Time" investigation programme. I said, "In...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: Two issues highlighted. How did we get an answer like that from assistant chief veterinary officer? Will Mr. Blake, as the chief veterinary officer, or Mr. Callanan, as the chief inspector, comment?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: We take that as a given.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: To use the word "reasonable" and put it back to Mr. Gleeson, would it not have been reasonable and would there not have been an expectation that he could have said - I want to be careful in what I say at the committee - that there is an ongoing Garda-led investigation into the individuals and a court prosecution due to be heard?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: The horse racing sector was before the committee. Mr. Sheahan came in as a representative of the Department. Is Mr. Gleeson seriously trying to tell me that in the briefing before he came in here, and as the deputy chief veterinary officer, he would not have been aware that there was an ongoing court case regarding this plant?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: What is Mr. Gleeson trying to say?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: No one wants Mr. Gleeson to draw conclusions from an ongoing court case. I, the committee and Deputy Catherine Murphy, are trying to get an answer to these questions. There was an ongoing investigation. We asked specifically about historical cases regarding the individuals involved and the plan and this was not mentioned. Here it is now in a reply to a parliamentary question answered...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: That fact was highly relevant to answers we tried to get to questions here last Thursday morning. We will leave it at that for now.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: I am sorry as I had to pop out for a moment. We had some newly elected MPs from the North down. Let me move on with the questioning. My first question is on agency staff. For the year in question, there is a cost of €99.5 million, and for 2021 the figure is €91.8 million. This has arisen with other bodies, and obviously there can be explanations, but why is this such a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: In relation to the accounts-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: They include Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Teagasc.

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: Does the Department employ many staff from agencies in-house?

Public Accounts Committee: 2022 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine (11 Jul 2024)

Brian Stanley: Okay. I want to move on to the situation with the horse industry, horse slaughtering, etc. It is clear from the reply to the parliamentary question and what Mr. Gleeson said this morning that the Department was aware of an ongoing Garda investigation and a prosecution being pursued through the courts, but we were not made aware that the Department was aware of that. We have established...