Results 8,901-8,920 of 18,729 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——or some provision of immigration law. In cases of that kind, the assistant secretary with relevant responsibility, or the principal officer under that assistant secretary, is charged with bringing to the attention of the Minister any knowledge that he or she might have on whether a response is required to any constitutional challenge of significance to the Department. It may seem...

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: An inquiry into that matter is ongoing. I do not know the answer to the questions. When a mixed question of criminal law and constitutional law arose when I was Attorney General, it was normal for the State in almost every case, if not every case, to put one team, rather than two teams, out on the pitch. I presume the same procedures were followed before I became Attorney General and have...

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is discussed by the two law officers — the Director of Public Prosecutions, or a senior member of his staff, and the Attorney General, or a senior member of his staff. That is the normal rule.

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The point is that the Attorney General did not know. After he had nominated counsel to deal with the case in the first instance, the Attorney General had no further involvement in the case. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and an official, or some officials, in the Office of the Attorney General had ongoing involvement in the case. However, it was not brought to the attention...

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is based on immense good will. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Office of the Attorney General have never had a closer working relationship than they currently enjoy.

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No.

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No. In response to the first question, the correspondence in question was directed to the then Secretary General, but without the name of the Department. That is the common way. If one was addressing correspondence to a Department in 2002——

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I refer to the correspondence that was sent from the Office of the Chief State Solicitor to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in 2002. It was not dealt with by the Secretary General of the Department. It was dealt with by the criminal law division of the Department. The official to whom it was allocated immediately contacted the person in the Office of the Chief State...

Departmental Communication. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: A note was taken of that by both parties to the telephone call in question. The note is still available.

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Deputy Healy will appreciate that policing operations and the deployment of Garda resources are matters for the Garda authorities. It is the responsibility of Garda management to allocate personnel to and within divisions on a priority basis, in accordance with overall policing requirements. However, I am in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner to keep the measures and resources for...

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Deputy's acknowledgment that the number of gardaí has increased in the Tipperary division. I reiterate my earlier statement, namely, that the number of gardaí has, during the lifetime of the Progressive Democrats-Fianna Fáil coalitions, risen by 11%.

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is 11%.

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It must be borne in mind——

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——that this compares with an 18% increase of the strength of the force nationally. In addition, groups such as the national drugs unit, the Garda National Immigration Bureau and other national units that support local gardaí have also been strengthened. Second, as the Deputy has been operating with two particular parties in mind, he should know that when we came to office in 1997, we...

Garda Deployment. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I will inform those organisations, as I have informed the Deputy, that from today, Clonmel will receive an additional four gardaí, Thurles and Nenagh will receive an additional three gardaí each, Templemore and Tipperary town will receive an extra two gardaí each and one more will be deployed to Cahir.

Probation and Welfare Service. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Part 5 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001 introduced a scheme under which the courts could order persons convicted of sexual offences to undergo a period of post-release supervision by a probation and welfare officer. As well as placing the sex offender under the supervision of the probation and welfare officer, the court may attach such conditions to the supervision as it considers appropriate....

Probation and Welfare Service. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The proposals will give a court power to suspend or partially suspend sentences, subject to certain conditions. This will not reduce custodial sentences but it will permit the courts to leave major further sentences hanging over offenders to give them an incentive to comply with the conditions laid down by the courts for rehabilitation and probationary purposes, as well as a significant...

Probation and Welfare Service. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The newly appointed head of the probation and welfare service, Mr. Michael Donnellan, is implementing a complete reformation of the probation and welfare service to refocus its efforts in a manner which is most productive of its time. He reported that much of its time was absorbed in furnishing reports for court cases while he believed its resources would be better utilised handling...

Probation and Welfare Service. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I would like to strengthen the service in any way I can. Its new head, Michael Donellan, has a clear vision of where it is going and I have given him an assurance that I will support him in implementing reform and refocusing the service.

Crime Levels. (8 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I consistently emphasise that care must be taken in interpreting statistics, especially when considering short-term fluctuations and extrapolating trends over short periods. I emphasised this when the level of crime decreased and, on occasion, when it increased. I have indicated my concerns at recent trends but we need to be conscious of what the figures taken over a prolonged period show....