Results 301-320 of 11,812 for speaker:Denis O'Donovan

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I accept that. In regard to barristers, solicitors and their clients, anybody can be a client of a solicitor but one must be introduced to a barrister by a solicitor. Perhaps further clarity could be provided in that regard because one cannot approach a barrister directly with a request to be represented in court. It is much more common now than 40 years ago for junior counsel to represent...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I am glad Senator Norris raised the issue of infallibility of judges. A Bar Council was enunciated eight years ago by a previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy John O'Donoghue. It is a concept I have always supported, in particular given that I chaired a committee that examined matters in regard to a certain judge who was not infallible, as the...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: He lost all his dollars in the first venture and does not have the finance to pursue it.

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: It is good that the ombudsman will have to appear before an Oireachtas committee, at its request, on an annual or biannual basis. I am slightly concerned about this section of the Bill, which provides for the ombudsman's appearance before "other committees" of the Oireachtas. It needs to be teased out logically. There are 20 Oireachtas committees at present. If an agriculture-based...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I commend the draughtspeople and the Minister of State on the proposed levy. It is a very good concept that might go unrecognised whereby the professions against whom complaints are likely to arise and proceed will have to pay a levy towards the upkeep of the ombudsman's office. I cannot but concur with Senator Bacik's point that a very small proportion of complaints is made against...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I have one final point I forgot to raise earlier when I got carried away on my issue about the high earners. It is mentioned in the Bill that the complaint must be made within six months. Perhaps I am confused in this. What worries me are issues we have come across in legal complaints where a person is not compos mentis and there is a time lag or a complaint has been initiated by an...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: Senator Bacik hit the nail on the head when she stated this section is the cornerstone of the Bill. I note the ombudsman is an additional layer of control over the legal professions. In the Solicitors Acts, which regulate the solicitor profession, there are substantial mechanisms along these lines and from my experience and knowledge, they are well utilised. Many solicitors have been...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: This is another important section. Here, the ombudsman can issue directions to the Bar Council or the Law Society following investigations. There is room for improvement in any system of investigation and once the ombudsman's office is up and running, in five or seven years, I would like to see it point out its successes before an Oireachtas committee. I heard the former secretary general...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I do not want to delay the Minister of State but I wish to express my gratitude to him for taking this Bill through the House. At the start, I should have welcomed him to the House. I was a close working colleague of his in the last Dáil and I am delighted to see he has been promoted. He is doing an excellent job and I wish him well in dealing with a delicate and difficult portfolio. I...

Seanad: Legal Services Ombudsman Bill 2008: Committee and Remaining Stages (3 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: Amárach ar 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I rise to ask the Deputy Leader to convey to the Taoiseach and the Ministers travelling to the United States for St. Patrick's Day the severe plight of the undocumented Irish there. I know from a reliable source that many of them are now out of work, and if they show their faces they could end up in jail. It is becoming very serious because of the major downturn in the American economy....

Seanad: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (10 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I move: That Seanad Éireann, noting that the Government on 3 February 2009 nominated Mr. Dermot Gallagher for appointment by the President to be a member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and to be its Chairperson, recommends, pursuant to section 65(1)(b) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, that he be appointed by the President to be a member and to be Chairperson of the Commission.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (10 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, to the House. Like my colleague, Senator Regan, I will speak in support of the motion. As the spokesman for justice, equality and law reform for the Government side in the House, I wish to record my indignation at the unfortunate and callous murder of Constable Stephen Paul Carroll of the PSNI. I also wish to indicate my indignation at...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (10 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: Ag 10.30 maidin amárach.

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I concur with the points made by Senator McCarthy. There appears to be a sort of corporate governance that local authority members should not be on boards, which is wrong. Last week Senator McCarthy and I attended the launch in Dunmanway of the new west Cork community part of the Leader development. I believe at least five or six councillors are on that board. Here we have the Department...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I move amendment No. 9: In page 17, to delete lines 27 and 28.

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I am happy to withdraw the amendment but before formally doing so I refer to the protracted debates in this Chamber. Perhaps I spoke for longer than I had ever intended on the entire area of the Bantry Harbour authority and so forth. I put on record my appreciation to many Members of the House, particularly to Senator Donohoe, who was present for a long time debating these issues, to...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: In moving the amendment I will be withdrawing my amendment but I want to speak to the issue.

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I am entitled to make a few points. I can speak on the Government amendments later but I will not be keeping the House for four hours.

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (12 Mar 2009)

Denis O'Donovan: I thank the Acting Chairman for his advice. The principal reasons for my outspokenness on the amendments concerning Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners and the Port of Cork Company was that I saw a change coming that was not properly planned or thought out. Government amendment No. 14 is critical as it deals with public consultation. I do not wish to be critical of the Minister of State or...