Results 9,501-9,520 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

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

Michael McDowell: Yes, from recollection the gravamen of the report was that there should be qualifications on the general right to issue section 29 warrants.

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

Michael McDowell: I am not in a position to do it in a measured balanced way right across the board.

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

Michael McDowell: I will act in a balanced manner when I am in a position to explain to the House exactly what the issues are. It would be unfair of me to say that I am changing the law without saying exactly why.

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

Michael McDowell: It is very unsatisfactory but that is the position in which I find myself.

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

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann declines to give a second reading to the Bill in order that consideration be given to the issues raised in this Bill and another Private Members Bill recently introduced in the Seanad on the same issue, and to allow time for examination, reflection and debate of the matters therein with a...

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

Michael McDowell: If this is the case, it means that in an action for damages, a trespasser cannot rebut the fact that massive and excessive force was used against him or her, for example, if his or her legs were broken or he or she was beaten to a pulp, because he or she refused to leave someone's home. Moreover, section 7 requires the court, in determining whether the actions were reasonable, to take into...

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

Michael McDowell: ——and one that most people would consider unreasonable, however tabloid the appeal the Deputy may consider it to have.

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

Michael McDowell: This is what the Deputy told us. He was clear. He intervened in my speech to say that——

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

Michael McDowell: ——no civil liability would attach.

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

Michael McDowell: The Deputy is huffing and puffing. A dwelling is defined as including any building or part of a building used as a dwelling, including caravans. Funnily enough, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe would not allow this force to be used in the curtilage of a dwelling. Unlike Senator Morrissey's Bill, in which a person would have the same rights in his or her garden if someone was setting about that house or if...

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

Michael McDowell: We must consider why this Bill is being cast in these terms. In contrast with section 18 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, section 3 does not set out the purposes for which force could be lawfully used. This would significantly widen the circumstances in which force could be used. For example, it is not stated that force must be in the defence of life or property or to prevent...

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

Michael McDowell: Manslaughter is committed by any unlawful use of force resulting in the death of the victim. The Deputy is saying that in those circumstances, none of the protections in this Bill would apply.

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

Michael McDowell: Yes.

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

Michael McDowell: In those circumstances, this Bill is of no use to anyone. If one shoves a person out of one's house and the person bangs his or her head and dies from the injury, this Bill is of no use. It has been consciously designed in that way, which occurs when there is hasty drafting, unlike the case of Senator Morrissey's considered drafting.

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

Michael McDowell: Section 6 would amend section 13 of the 1997 Act by excluding a person from an offence of endangerment where the conduct takes place within a dwelling. The objective of Senator Morrissey's Bill is to amend the civil and criminal law to allow the use of justifiable force by occupiers of domestic dwellings against trespassers who have criminal intent. This is another extraordinary aspect of the...

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

Michael McDowell: There have been Criminal Justice Bills concerning public order, insanity and many other issues. Therefore, it is not as if this was just a one-off, mammoth Bill which substitutes for the absence of any other legislation. I wish to respond to remarks made earlier in the debate about the three amendments, which are entirely typographical and grammatical and have no substantive meaning. It is...

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

Michael McDowell: No.

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

Michael McDowell: As is clear from the Garda Síochána Act, volunteer reserve members of the force will only have such powers as are conferred on them by the Commissioner. As I indicated to the committee last week, the powers conferred on the reservists at this point are those set out in the discussion document which was before that committee. They do not, at this stage, involve the issuance of warnings under...

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

Michael McDowell: Tá mé buíoch den Teachta as an méid atá ráite aige. Phléigh muid an t-ábhar seo anuraidh le linn na díospóireachta ar an Garda Síochána Bill. Ní aontaím leis an Teachta. Ar leathanach 14 den Bhille, "be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows", ní bhainimid úsáid as an réamhfhocal "an" sa chomhthéacs sin. Ceist stíle atá ann ach tá mé sásta leis an téacs mar atá.

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

Michael McDowell: Níl stíl phearsanta i gceist. Sa Garda Síochána Act 1925, úsáidtear "the Garda Síochána" agus dúirt an Teachta O'Keeffe faoi sin that if it is alright for Kevin O'Higgins, it is alright for him.