Results 9,241-9,260 of 18,729 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: B'fhéidir go bhfuil an Teachta ag déanamh dearmaid. Tá sé mar dhualgas orm an Bunreacht agus an European Convention on Human Rights a leanúint má tá mé ag déanamh regulations faoin Acht seo. Dá bhrí sin, níl mé in ann na leasuithe a ghlacadh.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Is cúis bhróin é dom arís nach bhfuil mé in ann aontú leis an Teachta.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Níl am gan teorann ar fáil don Teach seo. Ní shílimse go mbeadh comhaltaí an choiste dlí agus cirt i bhfábhar dualgas a bheith orthu gach rialachán a phlé, mar atá molta ag an Teachta.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: A similar amendment was discussed on Committee Stage but several problems were attached to it. While I appreciate Deputy Howlin did not have the opportunity to refine his thinking on the matter, I accept his motivation in tabling this amendment. The Data Protection Act 1988 and Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2003 make specific provision on the sharing of information for the purposes of a...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I presume it is. If the Garda was attempting to find where I was, it would go through the usual channels.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It would have to consult one of its members. I do not believe there is a problem in the area of information sharing. I agree with the Deputy that a problem exists with unexecuted warrants. However, it is not related to whether people are signing on the dole. If the Garda wanted to know where a person was signing on, it could find it out. I will examine the principle in the context of the...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann declines to give a second reading to the Bill in order that consideration be given to the issues raised in this Bill and another Private Members Bill recently introduced in the Seanad on the same issue, and to allow time for examination, reflection and debate of the matters therein with a...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: If this is the case, it means that in an action for damages, a trespasser cannot rebut the fact that massive and excessive force was used against him or her, for example, if his or her legs were broken or he or she was beaten to a pulp, because he or she refused to leave someone's home. Moreover, section 7 requires the court, in determining whether the actions were reasonable, to take into...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——and one that most people would consider unreasonable, however tabloid the appeal the Deputy may consider it to have.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: This is what the Deputy told us. He was clear. He intervened in my speech to say that——

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——no civil liability would attach.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy is huffing and puffing. A dwelling is defined as including any building or part of a building used as a dwelling, including caravans. Funnily enough, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe would not allow this force to be used in the curtilage of a dwelling. Unlike Senator Morrissey's Bill, in which a person would have the same rights in his or her garden if someone was setting about that house or if...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: We must consider why this Bill is being cast in these terms. In contrast with section 18 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, section 3 does not set out the purposes for which force could be lawfully used. This would significantly widen the circumstances in which force could be used. For example, it is not stated that force must be in the defence of life or property or to prevent...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Manslaughter is committed by any unlawful use of force resulting in the death of the victim. The Deputy is saying that in those circumstances, none of the protections in this Bill would apply.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: In those circumstances, this Bill is of no use to anyone. If one shoves a person out of one's house and the person bangs his or her head and dies from the injury, this Bill is of no use. It has been consciously designed in that way, which occurs when there is hasty drafting, unlike the case of Senator Morrissey's considered drafting.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Section 6 would amend section 13 of the 1997 Act by excluding a person from an offence of endangerment where the conduct takes place within a dwelling. The objective of Senator Morrissey's Bill is to amend the civil and criminal law to allow the use of justifiable force by occupiers of domestic dwellings against trespassers who have criminal intent. This is another extraordinary aspect of the...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Bill proposes that where a householder uses force to repel or prevent trespass on the house or surrounding areas by persons who appear to be intent on committing a serious criminal offence, the entitlement to use justified force shall not be judged by reference to the opportunity to retreat. I have considerable sympathy for the proposition that the obligation to retreat within one's house...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It will probably agree with me that in the drafting of the Bill, children fall within the definition of "trespassers". Therefore, adults would be allowed to use any force in beating a child trespasser out of their house.

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (27 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: No matter how brutal or savage the force unleashed, any injury perpetrated on that child could not be the subject of a civil action because the child was a trespasser. Is that reasonable or fair? I say it is not. Instead of disregarding Senator Morrissey's Bill, Fine Gael would have been wiser to adopt it. It could have embarrassed me more by taking the Senator's reasonable text and tabling...