Results 12,961-12,980 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Written Answers — Residency Permits: Residency Permits (1 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: The person in question was originally granted permission to remain in the State based on parentage of an Irish born child on 9 January 2002. The permission was granted on the basis that the person concerned was living in the same household as the Irish born child and discharging the role of parent to that child. However the person referred to changed circumstances in 2004 and a review of his...

Written Answers — Legal Aid Service: Legal Aid Service (1 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: As the Deputy will be aware, separate arrangements exist in respect of Criminal and Civil Legal Aid. The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 provides that free legal aid may be granted, in certain circumstances, for the defence of persons of insufficient means in criminal proceedings. The sum of €43.503m has been allocated for this purpose in 2007. An accused person is entitled to be...

Written Answers — Asylum Applications: Asylum Applications (1 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 107 of Thursday, 22nd February, 2007, 329 of Wednesday, 27th September, 2006, and 702 of Tuesday, 25th April, 2006 and the written replies to these Questions. The position is unchanged.

Written Answers — Asylum Applications: Asylum Applications (1 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 378 of Wednesday, 31st January, 2007, 140 of Thursday, 19th October, 2006, and 358 of Wednesday, 27th September, 2006 and the written replies to these Questions. The position is unchanged. There are no other grounds, other than those referred to in the questions above, under which this person's case file can be reviewed.

Written Answers — Asylum Applications: Asylum Applications (1 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions No. 75 of Thursday 26th October 2006, 179 of Thursday 22nd of June 2006 and 77 of Thursday 15th of June 2006 and the written replies to these Questions. The position is unchanged.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Order for Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The primary purpose of this short Bill is to remedy an error in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006. The particular point with which we are dealing was brought to my attention last week by Deputy Rabbitte, for which I thank him. It was a drafting error for which I am politically accountable and regretful. While the error is not as...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: No parent or politician has a differential approach to this matter based on other party political beliefs or philosophies. As all Members of the House share a common desire to protect children from crime of this nature, I have approached this issue by accepting the spirit of the Labour Party Bill and most of the substance of the Fine Gael Bill and introducing additional material which I...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is more or less correct, but the Deputy oversimplifies the matter.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (Resumed). (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I thank Deputies for their contribution to this debate. I will begin by referring to the contribution of Deputy Peter Power, which was thoughtful and which surveyed recent events in a fair-minded and reasonable way. I agree with him that this area needs to be restated comprehensively. I will ask that the criminal law codification committee takes this as its first task. It is not good...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (Resumed). (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: Nobody does. It is not morally minor in that sense. This explains to some extent how the particular section was overlooked. If it had been an indictable offence, it would have leapt out in the drafting process for last year's law that there was a problem in this regard which had to be addressed. However, it looked like a District Court offence and did not look to have all the importance...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (Resumed). (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I did not realise I had only five minutes. I thought I had the usual time.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Second Stage (Resumed). (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I must conclude but I want to record that it is not necessary to stick into every offence for which we legislate, just because the Supreme Court laid down that particular judgment in regard to one section of the 1935 Act, that there should be an explicit defence of mistaken belief. On principles of constitutional construction, an Act is construed in accordance with the presumption that it is...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: On Deputy Jim O'Keeffe's point, the Bill refers to the 1998 Act in the list of legislation referred to. It is a matter of drafting style as to whether we should include everything. I do not believe that much hangs on whether reference should be made in the section to the Act of 1998. Including such a reference might make the section more easily readable or it might make it less so. I am...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I have not been in a position to do so. I cannot really answer the Deputy's question save to say that prosecution policies are laid down by the Director of Public Prosecutions. All the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform does is sponsor laws. It does not contact——

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I am not clear as to why use of the provision appeared to dry up. It may be that a more serious view was taken in respect of offences of this type and that an effort was made to deal with them on an indictable, rather than a summary, basis. Perhaps that is what happened. However, I cannot say much more because I am not privy to the prosecuting policies that are adopted in respect of these...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I made the point, in respect of Deputy Peter Power's intervention, that it is a patchwork quilt. Our law is scattered across an archipelago of individual Acts.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I take the point that the law should be consolidated. Unfortunately, however, we are not in a position to do that work now and we will not be able to do it or implement the report of Deputy Peter Power's committee until we resolve this fundamental constitutional question. There are some obstacles to a consolidation. On Friday, Deputy Rabbitte welcomed the fact that I had cleared the decks...

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Parliamentary Counsel prefers the language used in the Bill.

Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2007: Committee and Remaining Stages (6 Mar 2007)

Michael McDowell: I would not state that there were no such charges. However, Deputy Howlin is correct that there appears, in the context of prosecuting policy, to have been a decline in the use of the summary offence. Perhaps it is the case that mere verbal remarks were not provable beyond a reasonable doubt and that attempts——