Results 15,941-15,960 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I was called away for a meeting of the Committee of Members’ Interests of Seanad Éireann and did not quite hear everything the Minister said in response to the points I raised. I believe I have gathered the drift of them from the discussion thus far. The terms of this Chapter and Part of the Bill and of Part 7 have quite clearly been seriously interfered with by the amendments...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Clongowes or wherever else. I will not mention any other school-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----because I will be accused of snobbery. Other such criteria might include the person's religion or things like that. Why are we even considering for a minute giving the appointments commission the function of trying to work out a shortlist of three people from among the Judiciary in order of preference for appointment to the Supreme Court? Why are we doing that? Who are these people...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes. As a member of Government, he or she has undertaken a constitutional office. At least members of the Government are given by the people under the Constitution the role of deciding who they should recommend from among the Judiciary to vacancies for the position of ordinary judge of the Supreme Court. I cannot see any basis in the Constitution for saying the Government should not find...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: The presidencies are selected out in the Minister's model, which was rejected for a special recommendatory process, but the ordinary members of the Supreme Court are just as important as, for instance, the President of the High Court. They are just as important and just as crucial to the operation of the State and the operation of the constitutional order as anybody else is. Therefore, I...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: The Senator would. That proves my point.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: There is no problem here. I served for eight years as Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the people who were appointed to the Supreme Court were not appointed on the basis of cronyism or political allegiance. They were appointed on the basis of what kind of people they were, what kind of brains they had, what kind of social attitudes they had and what...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: No. He said I am too wide in my amendment No. 90 and he thinks he is going to try and get back to where he was in the Dáil before it was amended. No practical reason has been given as to why this should be done. I am against this section. It no longer makes any sense at all. It is ridiculous that we should now be putting in legislation that the three highest presidencies in the land...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Section 36 is related to section 34(1).

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I would like to know what suitability "on grounds of health" means.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes. One could have a lifelong disability of various kinds and be a perfectly good judge. The implication is that there would have to be medical examinations in order to be appointed to the Judiciary.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes, or fill out a form about one's medical background. I wonder why it is that the commission is being given this function of assessing the health of candidates. Why are we doing that? It has not been a problem in the past.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Section 37 is the first section in Chapter 1 of Part 7 of the Bill. It states: "Nothing in this Chapter or Chapter 2shall be construed as being applicable to a judicial office to which section 44applies". As we know, section 44 applies to three offices. Those are the appointments to the positions of President of the High Court, President of the Court of Appeal and Chief Justice. The...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: Exactly.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: And rightly so.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: This Bill still offends that and I believe that the Judiciary in Ireland will find that and I believe the objections stated by the European Commission are still valid. What business is it of any group to take upon itself the function of looking at judges of the Court of Appeal, short-listing them and setting them out in order of preference for appointment to be an ordinary member of the...

Seanad: Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I wish to speak briefly to the section. I agree with Senator Black's analysis of it. The definition of "occupied territory" is not related to one particular corner of this planet and is of general application. It is perfectly legitimate for the State to uphold international law by rendering the importation of goods and the supply of services from an unlawfully occupied territory to be a...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Dec 2018)

Michael McDowell: I would like to raise a number of matters that have come into the public domain internationally in the past week. In particular, the G20 summit in Buenos Aires featured Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman-----

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Dec 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----being feted by the other members of the leading economies internationally. We in this House are very much muted in expressing any views on international affairs. When we do express views, such as on the occupied territories legislation, which I hope will be debated and concluded in the House tomorrow, we come under a major push-back from the Department of Foreign Affairs for standing...