Results 10,181-10,200 of 18,733 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: On the Deputy's first question, I do not know if he was having a quiet snooze but I dealt with the deaths and weapons in Mountjoy and all the issues approximately five minutes ago. I would like to make a couple of points about Thornton Hall. The Deputy will be aware that the Committee of Public Accounts will examine that issue this month. I am confident the Accounting Officer of my...

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: Second, nobody is in a position to point to any land suitable for a prison at that distance from or nearer to the city of Dublin which has sold or changed hands for a lesser price. Third, the Comptroller and Auditor General did not say €15 million was wasted. He said — let us be clear about it — that if I had agreed to secretly buy the land and not disclose the purpose for which I was...

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: That is what he said. The Deputy will appreciate that what happened was that the Accounting Officer of my Department came to the conclusion that it would be ethically wrong to send people out to farms that became available without having a fully transparent, advertised process seeking appropriate land for the purpose.

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: All of these matters will be thrashed out before the Committee of Public Accounts. I am confident that the decisions made by the committee in question, which was composed of senior public servants, including one of the commissioners of the Office of Public Works, on the basis of an approach which was devised by the Accounting Officer of my Department, will stand up to any scrutiny. I again...

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: What I would say to the Deputy——

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: No land which was suitable for a prison was sold for the prices in question closer to or the same distance from the city of Dublin. The second matter about which I remind Deputy O'Keeffe relates to his own auctioneering tendencies. It is interesting to note that in July 2005 he stated that five acres of the Thornton Hall farm which was kept back by the vendor was worth €1 million per acre...

Prison Accommodation. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy is awake now. It is a curious fact that he thinks five acres out of the 160 acres of the original land parcel were worth €5 million when two minutes ago he stated——

Prison Building Programme. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The issue of the acquisition of a prison site at Thornton Hall was included in the 2005 report of the Comptroller and Auditor General at the request of the Committee of Public Accounts and will be examined by it in October. The relevant officials from my Department will be present to account in detail to the Committee of Public Accounts on all the issues raised by the Comptroller and Auditor...

Prison Building Programme. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I reject the suggestions that this was a dodgy deal and stinks in any way and that the committee, comprising senior public servants, acted improperly. It is unworthy to suggest that about them without knowing any of the basic facts. This acquisition will be fully investigated by the Committee of Public Accounts. The Accounting Officer and Secretary General of my Department, the director...

Prison Building Programme. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: That is further from Dublin.

Prison Building Programme. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: No.

Prison Building Programme. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: They are not within the distance.

Garda Training. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: In July of this year, I received Government approval for a number of proposals to strengthen and support the senior management structure of An Garda Síochána. Among the measures approved by the Government was the establishment of a four-person advisory group chaired by Senator Maurice Hayes. The other members of the group are Ms Emer Daly, former director of strategic planning and risk...

Garda Training. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I strongly deprecate and reject the reported remarks attributed to the secretary general of the Garda Representative Association concerning the way in which members of the reserve will be regarded. I have asked the Commissioner for a full report in respect of those remarks so that appropriate action can be taken. Regarding the reaction to the Morris tribunal reports, the House will have an...

Garda Training. (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: All of these matters will be before the House or, if it chooses, a committee of the House because they require our urgent attention as legislators.

Written Answers — Prison Building Programme: Prison Building Programme (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The planning process for the proposed prison development at Spike Island has not yet commenced. I am advised by the Prison Service that it expects to be in a position to lodge the relevant planning documents in early 2007. Full details of the proposed prison development will be made known at that time in accordance with the statutory planning procedure. At that stage, all of the relevant...

Written Answers — Weapons Amnesty: Weapons Amnesty (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by An Garda Síochána that in the first three weeks of the Weapons Amnesty, which commenced on the 1st September, 2006, 101 guns, 26 knives and 14 assorted offensive weapons were handed in to Garda stations throughout the country. In addition, a quantity of ammunition has also been surrendered. The amnesty runs for a period of 2 months, from 1st September to 31st October,...

Written Answers — Gender Discrimination: Gender Discrimination (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: The National Women's Strategy, which is nearing completion, is a wide ranging document setting out the Government's Strategy to foster socio-economic opportunity; well-being; and active participation in decision making for the women of Ireland over a ten year period. The Strategy is set in a context where we have a strong corpus of equality legislation in place but where women still...

Written Answers — Criminal Evidence: Criminal Evidence (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: Section 16 of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992, as amended, makes provision for the video recording of any evidence given, in relation to a sexual offence or an act involving violence, by a person under 17 years of age through a live television link in proceedings relating to indictable offences. The relevant subsection — (1)(a) — was commenced in 1993. It will be noted that this...

Written Answers — Inspector of Prisons: Inspector of Prisons (3 Oct 2006)

Michael McDowell: Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen was appointed on a non-statutory basis as Inspector of Prisons and Places of Detention for a five-year term with effect from his retirement from the High Court Bench in April, 2002 on reaching the statutory age limit for service in that Court. His term of office will therefore expire in April, 2007. I have received Government approval to establish an Office of...