Results 11,141-11,160 of 18,733 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I will bring the Deputy's suggestion to the attention of the Parliamentary Counsel but I will not attach a recommendation.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I thank my officials for the work they have put into this. A quarter of a century has passed since this matter was first dealt with by Judge Henchy. He is one of our great judges and he is still alive and well. It would be churlish not to thank him for all the work he and his committee put into the original document.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 14: In page 4, lines 16 and 17, to delete all words from and including "established" in line 16 down to and including "1845" in line 17. This is a drafting amendment as suggested by Parliamentary Counsel. There is no need to refer to the statutory basis for the Central Mental Hospital in the Bill because section 39 of the Mental Treatment Act 1961 already provides for the...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 15: In page 4, to delete lines 22 to 27 and substitute the following: "(2) The Minister for Health and Children, after consultation with the Mental Health Commission established under section 32 of the Act of 2001 by order may— (a) designate a psychiatric centre, or (b) with the consent of the Minister, designate part of a prison,". The issue of prisons or parts of...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I examined it carefully, and Deputy Ó Snodaigh has acknowledged that I have moved considerably from the original text, but in the last analysis what we are faced with is what it is reasonable to do with somebody who is beyond treatment, for whom therapy is no longer an issue and who is simply psychopathic to such an extraordinary extent that he or she is dangerous to anybody who might come...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: If an order of this kind were made, the Mental Health Commission would have to be involved in the process. It would not be the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform conveniencing himself. It would be the Minister for Health and Children of the day saying the facilities at the Central Mental Hospital were not appropriate for the person and that the person was effectively so dangerous...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am resisting all bad thoughts at the moment. To reply to Deputy Ó Snodaigh, this is an exceptional power. There are designated centres in place. The Mental Health Commission would have to express a view on this and it is extremely unlikely, therefore, that it would be used in an abusive way because the Mental Health Commission would say we are going down the wrong track in this particular...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The policy behind this dates back to 1996. This provision may cause more trouble than it is worth. In those circumstances, the appropriate thing to do would be to accept Deputy Ó Snódaigh's amendment and to withdraw my own.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I presume it is the case that all the paragraphs collapse into one if Deputy Ó Snódaigh's amendment is accepted. We do not have paragraph (a) sitting in the middle of nowhere. I believe that to be the case.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 20: In page 5, to delete lines 14 to 25 and substitute the following: "(b) Subject to subsections (7) and (8), in a case to which paragraph (a) relates, the Court determines that an accused person is unfit to be tried, that Court shall adjourn the proceedings until further order, and may— (i) if it is satisfied, having considered the evidence of an approved medical...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Tá mé buíoch den Teachta.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I considered this amendment, which the Deputy tendered previously. Senator Tuffy, on behalf of the Labour Party, tabled a similar amendment in the Seanad. I have accommodated it as far as I can. I went back, through my officials, to the Parliamentary Counsel, who felt that if we took the route suggested by the amendment, a game of ping-pong would start that would prove unsatisfactory. Having...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 23: In page 6, to delete lines 13 to 23 and substitute the following: "(c) Subject to subsections (7) and (8), if the judge determines that the accused person is unfit to be tried, he or she shall adjourn the proceedings until further order, and may— (i) if he or she is satisfied, having considered the evidence of an approved medical officer adduced pursuant to...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 25: In page 6, line 27, to delete "of committal".

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 27: In page 6, to delete lines 35 to 41 and substitute the following: "(b) Within the period of committal authorised by the court under this subsection, the approved medical officer concerned shall report to the court on whether in his or her opinion the accused person committed under paragraph (a) is (i) suffering from a mental disorder (within the meaning of the Act of...

Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Common abuse is not defamatory.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Order for Report Stage. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 20, after "1883," to insert "TO AMEND THE INFANTICIDE ACT 1949,". I mentioned on Committee Stage that I was considering whether to change the law on infanticide. Having examined the matter in consultation with the Attorney General's office, I have decided to proceed with two amendments to the Bill which provide for amendments to the Infanticide Act...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I understand that in 1949 the view was that lactation had an effect on the mind of mothers who were breastfeeding. Medical and psychiatric science have moved on from that. Issues such as post-puerperal depression and the like would not necessarily be linked to lactation in the technical sense and it is for that reason I put forward these amendments. The Deputy will appreciate that the issue...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: ""intoxication" means being under the influence of any alcoholic drink, drug, solvent or any other substance or combination of substances;". During Committee Stage debate of the definition of "mental disorder" Deputy English made the point in support of a Fine Gael amendment relating to intoxication that the...