Results 4,081-4,100 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell

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

Michael McDowell: That is true.

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

Michael McDowell: We have this in common: both of us achieved a first preference vote in the recent election that was more than a number of Deputies in Dáil Éireann got, and they are Members of Dáil Éireann.

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

Michael McDowell: I will try to make that point somewhat differently. The NUI register has 113,000 people on it. The figure is extraordinary. Of them, between 35,000 and 40,000 actually vote. The rest are lost somewhere in the diaspora. The point is that it is entirely possible to afford people a postal vote and to have a postal system without extensive electoral fraud. I do not believe there was ever...

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

Michael McDowell: Who knows what their views on many issues will be? God only knows what they would be on the eighth amendment and so on. In any event, I am simply making the point. I think a number of people in the House have it in the back of their minds that Sinn Féin will somehow undertake a vast vote-rigging operation in places on this planet where no one can see what is happening. That is not...

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

Michael McDowell: Next Tuesday or Wednesday, by agreement with the Whips.

Seanad: Rent Certainty (No. 2) Bill 2016: Second Stage (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I want to say a few things about the principle behind this Bill. I think it is mistaken, although well-intentioned. I do not want to engage in using over-the-top language about it but it suffers from a number of flaws.One has to consider the dynamics of a society and the provision of housing in this country. Would the introduction of this Bill bring us to a stage where more money was...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments and Threatened Industrial Action by An Garda Síochána: Statements (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I am sharing with Senator Boyhan. We will take four minutes each.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments and Threatened Industrial Action by An Garda Síochána: Statements (12 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald. I thank her for coming in response to a suggestion I made that this debate should happen and I thank the Leader of the House for arranging for it. The particular issue I was concerned about was the question of judicial appointments in view of media reports that a moratorium on the appointment of judges had been put in place...

Seanad: Budget 2017: Statements (11 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I want to make a few points and I do not want to become involved too much in the cross-aisle banter taking place. References have been made to increases in Deputies' salaries, which is not part of this budget, but some people seem to be forgetting that they are already arranging their internal party arrangements to relax the average industrial wage rule and grant themselves increases...

Seanad: Budget 2017: Statements (11 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: That is all I want to say on that as I do not want to be more acrimonious. There are two points to make about our current position. With Brexit we must be cautious as we live in a period of uncertainty when foreign direct investment is not a given and the rate of foreign direct investment is decelerated by the uncertainties that currently exist. I will speak about the self-employed and...

Seanad: Budget 2017: Statements (11 Oct 2016)

Michael McDowell: I am a former barrister.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: Will the Leader ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to come to the House to explain the appointment or non-appointment of new judges? When the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil parties made the confidence and supply agreement, which was published, it was provided that all agreements with Independent Deputies and other political parties would be published in full. We...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: I want the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to come to this House and explain to us how it is that serious damage has been done to the constitutional process by reason of an agreement which is unpublished and secret and which should not exist given the deal on confidence and supply that was entered into between the Government and the Fianna Fáil Party. A secret deal...

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: -----and who entered into this deal, and that she indicates clearly that the Constitution overrides deals of this kind and that the Government retains its right to appoint judges and will appoint judges when it is necessary to do so.

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: Will the Leader indicate the timeframe he is contemplating for this? I agree that it would be preferable for the Tánaiste to be here, but it is not essential. Will the Leader indicate whether we are talking about a week or a month?

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: I would be agreeable to that.

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: Tá mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama leis an Seanadóir Lawless.

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: Cuirim fíor fáilte roimh an Taoiseach, atá anseo linn inniu, agus roimh an méid a bhí le rá aige. Táim dóchasach go bhfuil spiorad nua ag teacht chun cinn sa Teach seo i dtaobh athchóiriú an tSeanaid as seo amach. In his extensive speech, the Taoiseach covered many matters, including very important issues like Brexit and the future...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (21 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his appointment. I have not had an opportunity to do so in public so far. The Minister mentioned myself and Roscommon. It occurred to me that there are many apartment complexes along the Shannon which, generally speaking, are owned by people as second homes. A television licence costs €145.50 per dwelling, but people with two homes are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (21 Sep 2016)

Michael McDowell: There are a pile of apartments in Dromod, which are not owned by the wealthy as far as I can see.