Results 5,361-5,380 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I apologise that I was not present when the debate started. I was meeting with survivors of child abuse in the Ferns context and the meeting went on slightly longer than I had hoped. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, has put the point fairly and squarely. To do what Deputy Costello is suggesting would be unnecessary. It was not done in the 1995 legislation. In all of the...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, was so eloquent that I do not need to add more to what I said.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I have said it all.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: Section 5 provides a definition of the relevant issue by saying, "the Minister may request the person in the designated country concerned who performs functions the same as or similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act to consent to and arrange . . .". It is clear who the person is. The definition section would only repeat that in a different place in the same statute. It is...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: This amendment, in effect, calls for an annual report on cases arising under this legislation. It is expected that, at most, only a small number of cases will arise thereunder. Perhaps no cases will arise in certain years. As a result, the requirement to produce a report would be disproportionate to the need to be addressed or the perceived benefit of such a report. I said on Committee Stage...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I will accept the amendment.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: This was discussed on Committee Stage. It has been the style in this Legislature and its predecessor under the Irish Free State to set out a Long Title to every Bill. The Long Title is generally supposed to be a statement of the overall purpose of the legislation. Deputy Gerard Murphy is arguing for a different approach that gets rid of the Long Title completely and states the substance in a...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am not an expert on procedure in this House and am not clear whether Standing Orders require there should be a Long Title. When one wanted to move a Bill one had to produce only the Long Title to get permission for it to be printed. It was necessary to state the purpose of the Bill in general terms. It is not a good idea to have a Long Title followed by a purposes clause because my...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: This amendment is unnecessary as it is already clear from sections 5 (i) and 6 (i) that the Bill deals with two distinct categories of sentence, namely, those imposed in the State and those imposed in other designated states. Section 5 deals with cases in which a person has been sentenced in this country but has fled and is now in his or her state of nationality. In that case the Minister can...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I draw Deputy Ó Snodaigh's attention to the provisions of section 9(2)(f) of the Bill. The High Court is given a very significant role with regard to every application to execute a sentence on foot of the terms of this Bill in this State. The High Court is expressly prohibited from ordering that a sentence be served under the circumstances set out in section 9(2)(f). The legislation provides...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputies to the terms of Article 7 of the Additional Protocol, the title of which is "Temporal Application". It states, "This Protocol shall be applicable to the enforcement of sentences imposed either before or after its entry into force." If we are talking about the scope of the protocol that shows this section of this Bill is totally in line with the convention and protocol to...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: For this legislation to come into operation, it is necessary that in any particular case the State whose courts imposed the sentence would have to have acceded to the convention and to the protocol. That is the first absolute prerequisite. As currently advised, I do not believe Colombia has done that and I do not know whether it intends to do that. The Deputies will know there is a pending...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am fascinated by his preoccupation with these issues when I contrast it with his total silence in respect of the many people whose bodies, showing signs of torture, were found on the Border with their hands tied behind their backs and a hole in their head from a bullet wound. We are told that these were the products of a court martial by the so-called republican movement. In fact the people...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is what happened.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I do not know what grand uncle the Deputy is talking about. I think the Deputy has got the genealogy slightly wrong.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I know of no ancestor of mine who ever brought anybody into a room and tortured them to the point where they were pleading for the torture to stop——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——told them that the only way to end the torture was to make a confession, took the confession, sent it to their relatives——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——shot them in the head and dumped them on a back road in County Louth.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is extraordinary for the Deputy to say that at least they had some opportunity. I do not believe they had any opportunities.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: They were tortured into making a confession and then shot in the head. If that is justice, fine, but if the Deputy cannot condemn that kind of activity——