Results 9,461-9,480 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

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

Michael McDowell: The ingenuity of defence lawyers never ceases to amaze me.

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

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 45: In page 26, to delete lines 25 to 27 and substitute the following: "(b) in section 4— (i) in subsection (2), by the substitution of "within twelve months from the taking of the sample" for "within six months from the taking of the sample", and (ii) by the substitution of the following subsections for subsection (3): "(3) Where proceedings have been so instituted...

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

Michael McDowell: While I accept what the Deputy says about the concerns of the Human Rights Commission, there are more than the accused's human rights to be concerned with. The human rights, for instance, of victims of child sexual abuse and serious assault and the relatives of victims of homicides must be taken into account, as well as the human right of the rest of the community to have an effective system...

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

Michael McDowell: What have the religious beliefs of an accused person to do with whether he or she should give DNA?

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

Michael McDowell: Is one to have an inquiry into the accused's religious beliefs?

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

Michael McDowell: I have no problem with people raising issues brought up by the Human Rights Commission. However, where tendentious remarks are put into the public domain to the effect that something may be an infringement of international or domestic human rights provisions, I would much prefer them to say that they believed it to be such. When they come down on one or other side of the equation, I am more...

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

Michael McDowell: If the Human Rights Commission is of the solid belief that something infringes human rights, let it say so. If it does not believe that, let it state so too. The notion that something may infringe human rights is made public, and we are left to deal with it, which is unsatisfactory. If it reaches the opinion that something might be an infringement but that on balance it agrees with the...

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

Michael McDowell: Let us leave them all together.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Bill proposes that where a householder uses force to repel or prevent trespass on the house or surrounding areas by persons who appear to be intent on committing a serious criminal offence, the entitlement to use justified force shall not be judged by reference to the opportunity to retreat. I have considerable sympathy for the proposition that the obligation to retreat within one's house...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It will probably agree with me that in the drafting of the Bill, children fall within the definition of "trespassers". Therefore, adults would be allowed to use any force in beating a child trespasser out of their house.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No matter how brutal or savage the force unleashed, any injury perpetrated on that child could not be the subject of a civil action because the child was a trespasser. Is that reasonable or fair? I say it is not. Instead of disregarding Senator Morrissey's Bill, Fine Gael would have been wiser to adopt it. It could have embarrassed me more by taking the Senator's reasonable text and tabling...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No. I assisted Senator Morrissey with that Bill just as I assisted——

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——Senator Norris with his Bill on civil partnerships. On a number of occasions people from other parties have approached me and asked me for my advice and assistance on Private Members' legislation. I have always been willing to do so. For example, Senator Leyden approached me with his draft proposals on the registration of wills and I gave him every assistance I could in that respect. My...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Actually, I have a few minutes remaining. My concern is that the emotive nature of an encounter with a trespasser or an intruder with what might be perceived by the occupier as a criminal intent would have the effect of rendering a person incapable of properly assessing the reasonableness of his or her response and a tragedy of serious proportions might then ensue. We must consider whether...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No. I had to hold him at bay with a poker while my parents summoned the police.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I would have used force to prevent him doing further damage to the house — he had already done some damage — and to apprehend him.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: When the gardaí arrived he made a run at them and me and was dealt with appropriately by the gardaí. I understand exactly the position of a householder in such circumstances. The incident took place long before the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, but I certainly did not believe I was under any obligation to retreat and leave my parents exposed to that individual's...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am not splitting any hairs but pointing out to the Deputy that his Bill does not even protect a child from being mutilated by guests in a house.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy admitted as much when challenged in the House. He said he was giving blanket immunity in respect of any civil action in those circumstances. We must live in the real world and Senator Morrissey's approach is far better. He said the kind of trespassers with whom he was concerned were those who broke into a house to commit a crime, not just those who crashed a party, whom most people...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I know that the Labour Party, which has a slightly better grasp on reality and the rights of people, will not support this legislation. I would bet that the Green Party will not support it. I do not know what Sinn Féin will do. The great majority of the Independent Members will not support this legislation because they will see it for what it is, namely an unreasonable, excessive and...