Results 1-20 of 114 for going forward speaker:Michael McDowell

Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed). (8 Dec 2005)

Michael McDowell: The choice is very simple. We can go forward and build a new Ireland on the policies that have made this country successful or go back down the cul-de-sac of social and economic failure which is well populated by the Members on the benches opposite.

Order of Business (19 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: As I understand it, the German Presidency proposes to bring forward the process of consultation among the member states during the period of its Presidency to see where we go now with the ratification process. The possibility referred to by the Deputy is one issue that will be on the table. It is our aim that all member states of the European Union would agree to the constitutional treaty...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----which will have the effect of requiring every nominating body to come forward with a candidate of each gender, so that in the end the result will be gender balanced. The Minister will appreciate that if she simply rolled over on this particular section and said that it could remain part of the Bill, it would be inconsistent with that ambition, on her part, because it would allow a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 May 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome Senator Malcolm Byrne's remarks about Seanad reform. I want to remind the House that the Minister with responsibility for Seanad reform informed us that he was going to bring forward proposals. I think that was a year ago.

Seanad: Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (24 Oct 2023)

Michael McDowell: ...couple of points. When we hear the Garda appealing for dashcam footage from ordinary road users, is there any problem with the use of such material evidentially? I sometimes wonder whether I can go around my neighbourhood willy-nilly with my dashcam on or if there is any control on my doing so as a local vigilante or whatever I might be. Second, do gardaí have dashcams right now or...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Dec 2018)

Michael McDowell: If we are going to compare first preferences, all I want to say is that I look forward to the time when this House is reformed and many more of us will be in a position to dismiss remarks of that kind. On a more serious note, in respect of the person in question, there is a grinch associated with Christmas but it is not necessary to be a grinch the other 364 days of the year as well.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 May 2022)

Michael McDowell: Hold on. Senator Buttimer will have his opportunity. The Minister of State told me that there was a proposal to establish among the Government parties a group that would come forward with proposals which I would be shown last October. That group has not been established let alone come forward with any proposals. I have come to the conclusion that this is an elaborate smoke screen for...

Order of Business (5 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ...the proposal. However, I am asking that other parties agree to the proposition that we devote one day only to Report Stage of the Bill on the resumption of the Dáil, following which the Bill will go to the Seanad. If that is not agreeable, for whatever reason, my proposal is that we conclude the debate on the Bill today and forward it to the Seanad for debate. Following amendment by...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Feb 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Minister has twice implied that if the three names sent forward are not accepted by Government somehow the thing goes back over the net into the commission's court. However, there is not one sentence, clause or word in this Bill, as I read it, which provides for that situation. There is not and the reason for that, if the Minister thinks about it, is that it would be remarkable if the...

Written Answers — Recidivism Rates: Recidivism Rates (2 Mar 2005)

Michael McDowell: ...to rates of recidivism in the prisoner population are not yet available, the computerisation of prisoner records from 2001 will provide a more detailed view of a prisoner is past committal history going forward. The institute of criminology in University College Dublin, with the co-operation of my Department, is undertaking a major research project on the issue of recidivism. It is hoped...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: .... I was trying to put myself in the position of a person who had been recommended. If I had been recommended on a shortlist and subsequently read in Iris Oifigiúilthat Senator Norris had got the job rather than I and then a month later the process recommenced, I would say to myself, "Oh my God, do I have to go back, fill out all these forms again, go through the interview process...

Crime Levels. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: Mandatory minimum sentences were introduced on 1 November. That is why the weapons amnesty expired the previous day. Such sentences are now contemplated under the law and I look forward to their being vigorously imposed by members of the Judiciary to whom it falls to implement the new law. I agree with the Deputy that people, particularly those involved in gangland situations, seem to...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Michael McDowell: Formally or informally, it does not make much difference; if someone gets the tap on the shoulder it is the same thing. If the Attorney General asks someone to put their name forward for consideration, implicit in that is confidence that they are not wasting their time in doing so. I go one stage further. When that happened in cases of which I had experience, I was always very careful...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (5 Feb 2019)

Michael McDowell: Under the Bill as currently drafted, if the Government rejects the three names sent forward to it, there is no provision for it to communicate that back to the commission and to ask it to compile a different list, by adding or subtracting somebody or coming up with three different names. There is no provision for that. I ask the Minister to confirm that I am right in saying that there is no...

Written Answers — Drug Treatment Court: Drug Treatment Court (9 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: ...from which the clients of the Drug Treatment Court are referred. I am satisfied that the court is providing a very worthwhile and innovative service and I will provide it with every support going forward. In this regard, the possibility of extending the Drug Treatment Court to areas outside Dublin will be considered.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ...want it to be part of the law because there could be some extreme case in which, for instance, the video camera collapsed but it was still necessary to carry on the investigation. I do not want to go through all the examples but a case could arise. It is my understanding that the majority of Garda stations where individuals are detained have audio-visual equipment installed. Regarding an...

Written Answers — Court Accommodation: Court Accommodation (17 May 2006)

Michael McDowell: ...from which the clients of the Drug Treatment Court are referred. I am satisfied that the Court is providing a very worthwhile and innovative service and I will provide it with every support going forward. In this regard, the possibility of extending the Drug Treatment Court to areas outside Dublin will be considered. The Drugs Court is funded from within the existing resources of the...

Seanad: Citizens' Assemblies: Motion (23 Feb 2022)

Michael McDowell: Generally speaking, I am supportive of citizens' assemblies if they are to perform a function that would otherwise not be performed. On the local government structures for Dublin, for instance, it is a failure of imagination and determination at a political level rather than some issue on which the great majority of Dubliners, however congregated, are to come up with some magnificent formula...

Written Answers — Prison Staff: Prison Staff (29 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: ...substantially reduce the cost of extra attendance in the Prison Service. The introduction of the proposal for organisational change will contribute to a more efficient and effective Prison Service going forward.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Michael McDowell: ...those offices. The reason is twofold. The Minister has referred to the phrase that I have used, which is "embarrassing". It is embarrassing for a serving judge to constantly put his or her name forward for every promotional position that comes up and constantly be told, or infer from the silence that follows, that he or she was not shortlisted without explanation. It is embarrassing....