Results 1,121-1,140 of 18,726 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: A point has occurred to me. Section 6(6) states: "Where an accused has not been arraigned prior to a preliminary trial hearing in the proceedings concerned, the trial court may, where it considers it appropriate, direct that he or she shall be arraigned at the commencement of such a hearing."It occurred to me that it would be better to substitute the words "the accused" for "he or she", not...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: On the section, I want to make a couple of brief points. The provision in section 6(5) that "The trial court may, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, where it considers it appropriate having regard to the orders the making of which are to be considered at a preliminary hearing and, in particular, where the making of a relevant order is sought, direct that the preliminary...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: On the other matter that I have just raised, subsection (8)(c) refers to "relevant order". When one goes back to the definition of that on page 6 of the Bill, it states: " "relevant order" means an order as to the admissibility of evidence, including an order under or pursuant to section 16 of the Act of 1992;". I understand that that reference to section 16 of the 1992 Act is to video...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: Senator Ward is totally correct that that is the current practice, but I wonder about its correctness. If we are trying to speed up proceedings, we should not have mini-trials in advance of major trials where the jury will be asked to consider that exact point. That the Constitution guarantees a trial "in due course of law" is one thing, but it also guarantees trial by jury. It is very...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I know it is almost 4 p.m. but I would like to make one point, if I may. Some people may think that the point I am making is a academic one; it is not. It is a fundamental point.

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: The Special Criminal Court consists of three people. A member of that court - it may not be a member of the trial court, but that depends on the new rules of the Special Criminal Court - will have ruled a statement admissible. That judge is then going to sit with two other colleagues who are going to consider the same evidence, which is a starting position of one down. It is like an away...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (23 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 7: In page 9, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 91 of Principal Act 11.Section 91 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (1)(e) by the insertion of “or a confirmation of truth” after “statutory declaration”, (b) in subsection (1)(g) by the deletion of “has made a...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (23 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I agree with Senator Martin that the vast majority of people behave fairly and are genuine. The amendment has been drafted from the point of view of practitioners but all they are doing is signalling. The amendment is not drafted from the point of view of massive banks. It is merely saying that if we are going to remove this constraint, let us not have a situation where debtors will be...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (23 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Minister of State for his considered reply. I wish to reflect on the points he has made and, therefore, with the permission of the House, I will withdraw the amendment and consider whether to resubmit it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Children Amendment Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Minister for her kind words. I want to express my happiness that the legislative process has addressed the difficulties that arose from the interpretation by the Court of Appeal of the Children Act 2001 and, in particular, section 252. The Court of Appeal invited the Oireachtas to look at this issue if it was unhappy with the outcome of their decision. Everybody wanted to...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Second Stage (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the principle behind the Bill, but I want to sound a few warnings. Senator Conway has just spoken about the speeding up of trials. That is illusory at the moment on two fronts. Ireland has a very poor record on the timing between the detection of an offence and the trial relating to that offence. A cynic told me recently that Bernie Madoff would probably be on his second...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Second Stage (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: It is not agreed by me but I will not push it to a vote. We need plenty of time to consider this legislation.

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: New and Future Relationship Between the UK and Ireland: Discussion (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I welcome Mr. O'Ceallaigh and thank him for participating and his oral and written contributions to today's proceedings. There are several matters of which I strongly believe Ireland should be conscious. One of them has already been mentioned by Mr. O'Ceallaigh in his evidence to the committee. When I was a Minister and, before that, the Attorney General, I had occasion, particularly as...

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: New and Future Relationship Between the UK and Ireland: Discussion (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: That is good.

Seanad Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: New and Future Relationship Between the UK and Ireland: Discussion (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I thank Mr. O'Ceallaigh for that. I will add that the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad is proposing to hugely increase the role of the Seanad in looking at draft legislation from Europe. He deserves the support of the public service because, as Mr. O'Ceallaigh said, this is an area in which we are, by common consent, falling down a bit. I have not seen much effort being put into pre-legislative...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Impact of the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement on Irish-Canadian Trade and Relations: Discussion (13 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: My question is addressed to all of our speakers. I am grateful for their attendance. I will not reiterate what others have said about the ISDS system in general. Am I right in thinking that a US company could, by making an investment through a Canadian subsidiary, attract protections under CETA that would not exist if it was a direct investor in Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Impact of the Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement on Irish-Canadian Trade and Relations: Discussion (13 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I understand that there is an exclusion for letterbox companies and that there has to be a substantial connection, but I am talking about substantial companies. There are substantial companies created and established in Canada that have American shareholders. I think those American shareholders can decide to operate through their own companies when investing in Ireland or through a Canadian...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Engagement on the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement: Mr. David O'Sullivan (30 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: I thank Mr. O'Sullivan for being here. It is good to see him again slightly in the flesh or as near as circumstances permit him to be in the flesh with us this evening. It seems to me that the investment court system, ICS, issue is one on which it is possible to take a number of different stances. I want to explore with Mr. O'Sullivan the following. As I understand it, going back to our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Engagement on the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement: Mr. David O'Sullivan (30 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: Given that the provisional acceptance effectively makes CETA operative in nearly every respect except the investor section and the ISDS bit, is there any urgency to this at all? Nobody is suggesting that there is a major investor confidence issue between Canada and the EU so is any real damage being done by a delay in its implementation?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: It is interesting the People's Republic of China has decided to sanction UK Members of Parliament for criticising what has happened to the Uighur people and has banned them from travelling to China. Those of us in this House who have been strong on that issue have not come to the attention of the people in Beijing yet but nobody should be intimidated by this kind of behaviour. I have not...