Results 741-760 of 1,160,348 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:John McGuinness OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Bríd Smith OR speaker:Micheál Martin OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Gerald Nash OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Paul McAuliffe OR speaker:Colm Brophy)

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank our witnesses for their opening statements. It was very interesting to listen to them. I am from Clondalkin and over the past few years, we have been lucky enough to have some very progressive community gardaí, particularly with regard to people in the throes of addiction. They see these people as people and not as a burden on society. Once that relationship changed, we could...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That daily interaction with people, when done humanely, trickles back into the community, families and the organisations the people may be engaged with. Community policing, especially at that level, really works.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Are conversations taking place with members of the force in relation to potential changes in drug policy? For example, if we move from decriminalising the person but not the drug, how would that affect gardaí on a daily basis? What are their thoughts on that?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I am sorry to cut across Mr. Kelly. He referred to the organisational change the Garda has to make and there could be more organisational change if some of the recommendations are carried into legislation. Does the Garda get support on that? Does it get resources to implement that change or it is doing that out of existing resources?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I welcome the witnesses. I congratulate Mr. Kelly on his new appointment. We might stick with that matter for a moment. I often ask a question about data and not just data but its relevance. As somebody knocking on doors at the moment, I do not disagree that people feel we need another 1,000 officers or so. I imagine we also need ICT resources. It is not just about data, which is a...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Mr. Kelly is describing highly specialised work. I imagine for practical reasons that much of that is centralised. What is the experience of the average garda dealing with it on the street? How does that work? Do they feed into those systems?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Then, there is the more national service. Do I have time for one more question, Chair?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I am trying to get a sense of what that international piece looks like in a practical way. Mr. Kelly spoke about linking up with international counterparts. When I did some reading for today, many of the stories that came up about Irish drug gangs were in The New York Times or on BBC News. We have graduated to a new era. How does that work? How often do they meet? What bodies does the...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is it that when something happens, the Garda contacts Interpol and Europol or do they meet quarterly?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: On the ground.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: When EMPACT sets the goals for the year, how many times during that year does it meet as a group?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It is completely integrated.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Effectively, gang activity is the same whether there is decriminalisation or not.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It is interesting that the slight variations do not act as a barrier to prosecuting or dealing with gangs.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank Mr. Kelly.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses for being here this morning and the Comptroller and Auditor General for putting in the work on the report. I agree with Deputy Cannon that it is a very complex landscape and that we are dealing with charities of different capacities and sizes. I think roughly 11,000 charities are registered. Has their turnover been categorised in any way? How many fall into the very...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Ms Delaney have a breakdown for the number of charities that have incomes of less than €10,000 or €5,000 per year?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: If a charity has less than €10,000, it is an incredibly small operation. It more than likely does not have any paid staff and is mostly volunteer run. Equally, the auditing requirements are very onerous. Regarding audit fees in some cases, I know of one group with a total income of €2,500 and the cost of auditing is just north of €1,000. Has any consideration been...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I find it very frustrating, as does the group itself, which I will not name, that to carry out charitable work, and it inherited a legacy structure, 50% of its fundraising is to satisfy the Charities Regulator. While that is necessary, and I cannot see any other way around it, there is scope to have a more agile approach for smaller charities, as Ms Delaney mentioned. I will leave that with...