Results 8,001-8,020 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Crime Levels. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I will answer the Deputy's question later; he should not worry. I am answering Deputy O'Keeffe now since he raised the question of firearms.

Crime Levels. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: This is not a conversation. I am supposed to be answering questions. I am not engaging in conversation with the Deputy. Regarding the firearms amnesty, it was agreed during the passage of the legislation through this House that it would be wrong to organise an amnesty in which weapons could be handed up anonymously because murder weapons could be handed up in those circumstances which would...

Crime Levels. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——where they accounted for them.

Crime Levels. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I did not make an assault on anybody.

Drug Seizures. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Central Statistics Office's recent publication for the first time of the provisional headline crime statistics for the third quarter of 2006 is welcome in providing further expertise and independence in the compilation of such statistics and in acting as an important aid in informing policy formulation. While being mindful of the need for caution in the interpretation of such statistics,...

Drug Seizures. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I totally identify with the Deputy in regard to the incident in which a five-year-old child was shot. Nothing could be more depraved or more indicative of the total disregard a tiny minority of people in some of our cities have for human life. The people who earlier this year were shooting people on wasteland in Dublin or the people who are letting off weapons in pursuit of feuds in...

Garda Deployment. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the statistical information requested by Deputy Murphy on Garda call outs is not readily available and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources on examining each individual incident recorded during 2004 and 2005 to identify whether it resulted in an arrest. The Deputy will appreciate that it...

Garda Deployment. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I understand the Deputy's point. She is saying that if a local population believes it is under-policed and that, by making complaints, it will compile on paper a case for further gardaí to be allocated to its area, it might be tempted to make such complaints. However, the Commissioner must obviously adopt an objective approach and not just a view based on the fact that a certain group of...

Garda Deployment. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: There is also a need to address the question of having gardaí engage in front-line policing activity rather than clerical duties and administrative tasks. Both of these approaches are being pursued relentlessly by the Commissioner and I. A reply, to be given later in this afternoon's proceedings, will show the pick-up in the rate of civilianisation. The Commissioner and I will announce...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Privacy Bill implements a commitment contained in the agreed programme for Government of 2002 that the Government would, "in the context of a statutory Press Council and improved privacy laws, move to implement reforms of libel laws designed to bring them into line with those of other states". The recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Wainwright case is of interest...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I accept the general proposition that, as an academic principle, there is a right of privacy defended by the Constitution. I can advance an unfortunate proposition, however. In different circumstances, Deputy O'Keeffe and I might not be Members of this House — we might be sitting behind our desks dealing with legal issues. We might be contacted by a client who wants to know whether she...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: That is right. Deputy Howlin has interrupted in a disorderly manner to point out that many lawyers would tell such a client that while she could sue, they could not guarantee that she would win. Deputy O'Keeffe asked about the origin of the Pauline conversion on my part. The report of the group chaired by Mr. Brian Murray SC evaluated a view which I have expressed previously, which is that...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Murray group evaluated that proposition in the context of our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Two things of importance have happened in the jurisprudence of Strasbourg. First, as a result of the Caroline von Hannover case, there is now a clear statement that any old set of privacy laws will not do.

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: Exactly. In addition, following the Murray report's evaluation of the two issues, we now have the Wainwright decision. The point that has just been made by the Deputy — that the provisions of Article 8 of the convention are enough — seems to have been canvassed before the European Court of Human Rights by British lawyers acting for the British state in that case. They were told by the...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——it moves the matter forward and makes some form of protection necessary.

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I would like to say, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle, that I am open to reasonable discussion with all relevant interests about the exact sequencing of the defamation and privacy legislation. I agree with the Deputy — there is a consensus to this effect in each of the Houses — that we should proceed with the day-to-day nitty-gritty of putting in place protections for ordinary people in their...

Proposed Legislation. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: The press council may go a long way to achieving that end.

Crime Prevention. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: The recent incidents in which bank workers, non-bank workers and their families have been held captive with a view to assisting robberies are clearly a cause of great concern. The phenomenon of tiger kidnappings has been translated from the paramilitary world into the ordinary criminal world. Determined criminals use any opportunity to further their illegal activities. The targeting of...

Crime Prevention. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am suggesting the exact opposite. Any bank that does not take stern measures to deal with this threat is exposing its employees and the employees of other banks to this threat. There is no excusing corner-cutting by the banks on this issue.

Crime Prevention. (7 Nov 2006)

Michael McDowell: As the Deputy will appreciate, the majority of these raids have happened to deposit-taking institutions and banks. I have established a forum comprising the Garda Síochána, cash-holders and cash in transit companies to discuss these matters. I assure the Deputy that I do not blame the victims in tiger kidnappings. However, victims are made vulnerable if the systems are not in place to...