Results 6,041-6,060 of 18,729 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (29 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Having regard to the terms of the Department of Finance guidelines on the appraisal of capital project proposals of February 2005, my Department has not conducted detailed cost benefit appraisal exercises within the time mentioned. I am, however, satisfied that the programme of capital expenditure under way in my Department and in the agencies under its aegis is fully justified both in...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I move: That Dáil Éireann, —bearing in mind the specific matters considered by the Government to be of significant public concern arising from the making of a confession by Dean Lyons (deceased) about the deaths of Mary Callinan and Sylvia Shiels in March 1997 in Grangegorman, Dublin 7; —noting that it is the opinion of the Government that a commission of investigation represents the...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is on the way, it is being photocopied as we speak.

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: No, I was not, I was making amendments to the speech.

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Deputies for their compliments.

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The draft order is accompanied by a statement of reasons for establishing the commission, as required by the Commissions of Investigation Act, and a similar motion will be brought before Seanad Éireann. Under the provisions of the Act, the order establishing the commission must specify the matter that is to be investigated. The draft order which is before the House describes it in the...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am glad to hear that because it means we are on the same wavelength. It struck me today that there was an infelicity in the way in which the motion was drafted, and that is the reason for the delay in circulating the script. The draft order authorises me as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to set the commission's terms of reference. If such provision were not made, that...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion (Resumed). (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: That the second draft order be agreed to. When I moved the motion this morning, I subsequently indicated that I proposed to table a revised draft order by substituting in paragraph 3(a) the words "relating to and surrounding the making of a confession" for "relating to and arising from the making of a confession". I circulated the revised draft order to all Members in...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion (Resumed). (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Whatever was in the draft order before the House, several Deputies commented that it was open to me to provide more ample terms of reference. It was perhaps an undue element of overcaution on the part of Deputy Costello and myself in raising this issue. The terms of reference will be wholly adequate to deal with the surrounding circumstances including the arrest and detention and the decision...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion (Resumed). (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: There are circumstances in which the commission can conduct retrospective inquiries under the Garda Síochána Act. I have been trying to get the various inquiries up and running in a timely fashion. I am glad every Deputy has broadly welcomed the fact that a commission of investigation is being established in this matter. While I have been criticised for the time taken to establish the...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion (Resumed). (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: All the circumstances known to me at this stage suggest there was no misbehaviour of any kind by the Garda Síochána in the Wheelock case. I express my sympathy, as I have done on a number of occasions, to the family of Terence Wheelock on the untimely death of their son. As soon as he was found in a collapsed condition in his cell in Store Street Garda Station, all the requisite steps were...

Commissions of Investigation: Motion (Resumed). (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I have received a preliminary report of the investigation and I have requested the Garda authorities to submit a full report to me on the outcome of their investigation when completed. When that report is received I will consider it. A completed investigation file will also be submitted by the Garda authorities to the law officers for consideration at that time.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I do not propose to accept the amendment. The amendment would provide that the Minister could go back to the High Court to seek a variation of a warrant for the arrest of the person only "prior to the execution of the warrant". That would limit the discretion of the Minister in a way that could be injurious to the interests of the sentenced person and to the interests of justice. The Minister...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I do not propose to accept the amendment. This amendment proposes that a warrant for the provisional arrest of a person may be issued by the High Court on the sworn information of, effectively, a superintendent or a more senior officer, rather than an inspector as is currently provided for in the Bill, given with the consent of the Minister, that a request for the person's provisional arrest...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am not in a position to come up with such an example off the top of my head, but such examples do exist in the domestic context. The 1965 Act is not that old hat. We operated it until very recently and nobody ever made a complaint on the basis of the rank involved.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Arising from a discussion that Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Costello participated in, this matter was readdressed. I see the force of the amendments and the reason they were tabled. I must indicate that I prefer the wording prepared by the Parliamentary Counsel to either of the two contending amendments, Nos. 19a or 20. I am grateful to the Deputies for drawing my attention to the omission of a...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 19a: In page 8, line 38, after "custody" to insert "or on bail".

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: These amendments relate to the powers of the High Court to ensure that any aspect of a sentence other than its duration that is less favourable than the equivalent Irish sentence shall not be imposed. Clear examples might be penal servitude or hard labour, as Deputy Costello mentioned. In practice, we may find that some other conditions are also incompatible with Irish sentencing provisions....

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate on this Bill today and on previous occasions. The Bill enables Ireland to meet its international obligations in respect of persons who fled from the state in which they were sentenced without having served or completed the sentence imposed by the sentencing state. The arrangements under this Bill will complement the extradition...

Written Answers — Visa Applications: Visa Applications (30 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: A number of years ago my Department introduced a scheme whereby the requirement to hold a valid visa prior to entering the State was waived for certain persons travelling from Belarus with the Chernobyl Children's Organisation for the purposes of visiting Ireland for a period of rest, recuperation or both. At the time, the groups involved were limited in number and were well known to my...