Results 861-880 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (27 May 2004)

Derek McDowell: We are not allowing him to produce evidence in his favour but compelling him to produce evidence which can be used against him.

Seanad: Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (27 May 2004)

Derek McDowell: The powers of compellability are being extended to cover judges. Will the committee have the power to compel the judge to answer questions or will he be at liberty to refuse to answer particular questions?

Seanad: Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (27 May 2004)

Derek McDowell: I am concerned at the Minister of State's response. I am sure it is in conformity with the Act but I am still a little worried. This is not a criminal trial but it is a process, which may result in the removal of a judge from office with significant implications in terms of his or her reputation and livelihood. A young fellow who appears before the District Court having been accused of...

Seanad: Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (27 May 2004)

Derek McDowell: I thank the Minister of State for attending and for doing her best to answer the questions. No doubt she will get her thanks for taking on this crown of thorns in a different place or perhaps later in the year.

Seanad: Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) (Amendment) Bill 2004: Committee and Remaining Stages. (27 May 2004)

Derek McDowell: We can only speculate about those matters. When is it intended to present the Bill to the President for her signature?

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Derek McDowell: I broadly welcome this Bill, though with reservations. Senator Higgins noted that the Minister of State's speech does not explicitly refer to decentralisation. It is interesting that his speech in the Dáil did so, at least initially. He has kicked off a lengthy debate about decentralisation in the other House which he wants to avoid in this House. He has not managed to succeed in that so far...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Derek McDowell: People do not choose to go to many of the 53 towns and villages listed by the Minister of State so the Government has decided as a matter of policy to relocate civil servants to these places to get more votes. While I understand why it is doing so, I am deeply opposed to it. As a Dubliner, I have no hesitation saying I understand why people like living here. I do not think there is anything...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Derek McDowell: For the moment, I would like to be non-specific about the God awful places. If there is a recruitment agency in Gort, Claremorris or wherever, working to a licence holder which may be in Galway or Dublin and which has a code of practice set by the central agency, there are several different layers which do not give me the certainly I currently have, and which all of us share, that the system...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Derek McDowell: The Senator betrays his rural origins. Once from the country, always from the country.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2004)

Derek McDowell: I would go to Dingle myself.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: Will the Minister of State indicate to which Departments he intends to extend it and the roll out procedure he has in mind? The Bill will apply in the first instance to a certain number of jobs over a period of time. This section gives the Minister the power to roll it out by order. How will that process work? Where will it start and what roll out procedure does the Minister have in mind?

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: This is largely an empowering Bill that envisages that PAS will take over Civil Service Commission responsibilities on its first day and that some Departments will look for permission to do their own recruitment. What does the Minister see happening? Will the PAS act in effect as the Civil Service Commission upon enactment and for some time afterwards, with recruitment at arm's length the...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: The Minister of State does not envisage that the Department of Transport, for example, based in Dublin, might decide that it wants to recruit all its road engineers directly for Dublin-based jobs. Does he see it as something Departments with sections down the country will choose to do? Is that a fair summary of his views? On the face of it, there is nothing to prevent the Department of Health...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: It is pertinent to this section.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: The issue of advisers occasioned some debate in the other House. The central question is why the section is in the Bill. Why is it necessary to exclude certain appointments temporarily from the ambit of the Act? I will not go over the Dáil debate as we all know the merits and otherwise of it. It would be a waste of the time of the House. Suffice to say most of us are satisfied with the way...

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: Will an exclusion order be necessary to employ a special adviser? Will the positions have to be explicitly excluded from the Act?

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: Coming at it from the other angle, is it therefore conceivable or possible, given that the discretion is vested in the commission, that it could decide not to allow the Minister to appoint a special adviser and not make an exclusion order?

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: While I do not have a problem in principle with the section, was it included because somebody in the Department thought it was a good idea to empower the CPSA and PAS to charge fees or is it actually intended that they will do so?

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: I ask the Minister of State to clarify the section as I have a couple of concerns about it. I would be relieved if he gave us the benefit of his speaking note because it is the only section that indirectly creates a criminal offence.

Seanad: Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (6 Jul 2004)

Derek McDowell: Interestingly, the Minister referred to the word "interference" which is perfectly reasonable, whereas the section uses the term "interfered improperly" which implies that there is a measure of interference that is not improper. Perhaps I am being too legalistic but we need to be clear as to what is proper and improper interference with the process. If I have understood the general thinking...