Results 4,061-4,080 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I agree with the points Mr. Curtin is making about the importance of involving communities, but it seems to me that there is an irony that those who profess to be most worried about the environment also seem to be the first to tog out against a lot of schemes by looking at it from a different environmental perspective. They do not mind interconnectors to nuclear power stations or whatever in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: The idea is that one group of people own the commonage on the hillside and one person lives in the house, but the person in the house seems to have much more clout than the people who own the commonage.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: The House will be aware that the Seanad Bill has now passed Second Stage and is awaiting debate on Committee Stage. Obviously, it is a matter for the groups to determine when Committee Stage hearings should commence. It occurs to me that perhaps we need a little more clarification from the Government, in particular, before we embark on that process. I am addressing my point to the Leader,...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: The interesting point is that, with the exception of myself, all the people mentioned as being proposers of this Bill were elected to the House by county councillors.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: The letter in which they were so categorised and loaded into the same group as myself was addressed to every county councillor in the country, as far as I can see. This raises the question of why it would be that anyone would so misrepresent the proposals of the Bill in such a way as to somehow excite opposition against them among their electorate. That raises a further question.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Which Member would be so inexperienced as to make a mistake of that kind?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Why would a Member forget that many other Members have proposed this Bill? It comes down to this point.Is the Government committed to what is in the programme for Government, the implementation of the Manning report on the reform of this House? Is the Leader having difficulty persuading some of his colleagues that they should support the Government on this issue-----

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Do we need to bring the Taoiseach in here again so that they can hear it from his own lips that he supports this Bill?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I will not embarrass the individual who wrote this letter.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I would never do such a thing but should this House not at this point seek clarity from the Government as to where its commitment lies? I look forward to Committee Stage of this Bill being brought forward early. The Leader should take this opportunity on the Order of Business to make it clear that the Government stands behind the programme for Government, that the Fine Gael Party is united...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Senator Ó Clochartaigh should write that on his letters as well.

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Council: Motion (19 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, to the House. I concur fully with and support completely what has been said by Senator Boyhan. By way of background, I was appointed Attorney General in 1999. I succeeded David Byrne as a member of a Committee on Judicial Conduct and Ethics which had been established, as Senator Boyhan said, in the wake of the Sheedy...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Minister of State for attending this debate and for his thoughtful input. I thank the Senators who contributed to the debate and to the Taoiseach who came to the House to speak on this, among other subjects. This Bill is not drafted by me but by the Manning committee. I did not spend many hours toiling through the-----

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: ----interstices of Seanad legislation. The Manning committee commissioned a former parliamentary draftsman, Dr. Brian Hunt, to do that. That is the Bill I am presenting. While it is nice to hear Members compliment me for all the hard work I put into it, and although I did assist the Manning committee on the broader issues, I cannot claim credit for the actual drafting of the Bill itself....

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I wish to advert to the contribution of Senator Norris. The amendment in 1979 was passed by 92% of people. They did not stipulate that there must be a single constituency, as provided for in this Bill and as proposed by the Government. They said we could divide up the seats differently. Senator Norris might be interested to know that it is perfectly legitimate under the Constitution to...

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: It is a little strange.

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: That is fair enough.

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: Give me a little more time. We could have been here until 3 p.m.

Seanad: Seanad Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I will say one thing about the franchise. It is not suggested that there would be online voting. It is suggested that part of the process be changed. As Senator Norris will appreciate, the process is rather cumbersome at the moment for the universities. Registered letters go out and get left in post offices. Then people have to go chasing the registered letters. That procedure could be...