Results 13,881-13,900 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I believe I have answered that question three or four times in the past month. Serious consideration needs to be given to the issue of legislation to give effect to the protection of children by preventing unsafe people from working with them. One of the problems relates to the issue of soft information and hard information. One of the points that arises in that contexts is what we propose...

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: There is very close co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda Síochána regarding dangers to children from sexual offenders.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I will need to communicate with the Deputy on those matters. I do not know when the uncommenced sections of those Acts will commence. The Deputy will need to ask the Minister in question.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I did not say another day. However, if the Deputy raises it in a week's time, I will be in a position to deal with it.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I do not know the answer to the Deputy's question and it would be disrespectful for me to wing it.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I do not know the section to which the Deputy is referring.

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: If the Deputy does not know, how do I know——

Order of Business (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: ——and how can I answer?

Corporate Manslaughter Bill 2007: First Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: No. We welcome the Deputy's interest.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: To avoid confusion, we are technically on Report Stage and are recommitting a number of matters.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Yes. We are on Report Stage and are reverting to Committee Stage for these amendments.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy's amendment refers to the person in respect of whom bail is being varied or an application for bail is being made being given adequate time before the proceedings in the court are dealt with. In the District Court if somebody needs extra time, he or she will get it. If the prosecution tried to proceed prematurely there would be an adjournment. It is not necessary to tell the...

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: With regard to amendment No. 43, the court will always give a person brought before it adequate time to meet the case against him or her. It is not necessary to provide for that in a statute. If we started to do that, it would have to be included with regard to every offence and procedure in a court.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: On Committee Stage we discussed the question of cost effectiveness. Deputy Howlin was particularly interested in this. The Department has been examining this issue and has looked at evidence from, among other places, the United Kingdom, where a report by its Comptroller and Auditor General showed that the numbers on curfew had risen from 9,000 in 1999 to over 50,000 in 2004-05. It showed...

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: Curfew monitoring.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: I have no information on that point.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is almost impossible to be absolutely scientific about how long these processes take. From dealing with a number of projects which required procurement, my view is that it would be optimistic, from the time of a decision to definitely go ahead with it and to put out a tender specification, to say that one would have a result and implementation within a year of that date.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: A year has not passed since we passed the last Act so I do not, therefore, agree with that proposition. Since the Deputies are spending some of their time here looking at electoral tea leaves, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe might be better employed asking Deputy Howlin whether he wants this at all if he anticipates being in a position to influence the decision himself.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (4 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: This is an interesting proposal which would effectively codify as a canon of interpretation the law which is common law to some extent and judge-based law in respect of when exceptions must be proved or disproved. Subsection (2) proposes to set out the exact criteria which a court should have regard to in deciding to apply rules of construction. It also proposes to deal with submissions of...