Results 16,601-16,620 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has no respect for the House.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of the Ombudsman Staff (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Government has under consideration the appointment of a successor to the present Ombudsman to take up duty when the latter relinquishes her office. The appointment of an interim Ombudsman is not envisaged.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This Bill establishes a comprehensive statutory framework for the Houses of the Oireachtas to conduct inquiries under the current constitutional framework. The legislation is fully within the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court in the Abbeylara case. It is very clear from the views expressed in the Supreme Court judgment that the Oireachtas is not empowered in general to make findings...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Or former Ministers who are current Members of the Dáil could not have findings of fact made against them in respect of their previous-----

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is the legal advice.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: They can be compelled.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Senator said they will not come in.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will deal individually with the points that have been raised. I thank all Senators for their contributions. It is helpful to hear the clear reflection of Members of the House on legislation that is uniquely the creature of the House. Much legislation that comes in here is not exclusively the work of the House itself. Senator Byrne has a strong view on the referendum, notwithstanding his...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Given some of the utterances in committee by some members, one can understand that there would be a reluctance on the part of the general public to give more powers to the Oireachtas. However, I am a firm believer in the capacity of the Oireachtas to do the people's business. Grandstanding, as Senator Byrne put it, is often a substitute for not having actual power to do things. It happens...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We are always reforming. The only reform we can have is a tightening of the legal representation. People have constitutional rights in these matters. To put it bluntly, there would be a revolution if we were to embark on another tribunal that could take a decade, as some of them did. That was convenient for people. I sat in these Houses during a decade or more of inquiries when...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I remember all the talk, even during the conduct of those inquiries when the then Attorney General and the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform were going to do the devil and all in reforming and they did not reform any of it. We need reform because there will be occasions when a tribunal of inquiry will be appropriate again. What we are trying to do is to create another...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: -----some of the charges that are put in other parliaments. They are in no way-----

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: They are in no way used by some as an excuse not to have an inquiry.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I say that in a measured way because many people say that they were in favour of an inquiry in principle but not this one, not yet, not now or not this way.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Let us get on with the people's business. Senator Sheahan referred to bias. That is covered extensively in the Bill. In terms of costs, we have taken a great deal of care to have a determining process for costs that, first, must be scoped out in advance of an inquiry being embarked upon. A formal scoping must be made with a presentation of estimated costs. At the end of the process, for...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not normally the practice. No more than the advice of any lawyer to a client, if one is going to get the advice of the Attorney General to the Government as a client, one would have to open up the advice of all lawyers to their clients in regard to proceedings of this kind. That is something that would not be welcomed by the legal profession in terms of the fundamental principle of...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The client can, but it is very unusual, certainly in the context of inquiries of this sort. In regard to Cabinet confidentiality, subsection (1)(a) provides that the committee shall not direct a person to give evidence or documents relating to the discussions at a meeting of the Government or a committee appointed by the Government whose membership consists of members of the Government....

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not need the help of the columnist from the Sunday Independent. It is a normal part of Parliament. Other parliaments sit late to debate issues. The commitment of the Government on this important and sensitive legislation is to allow it the maximum time possible for debate. It has been unprecedented for two different sets of committee hearings to take place, to have an open ended...

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In regard to his comments on internal difficulties and Whips, we operate a whip system. That is normally the basis of how the Deputy's party operates.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We meet to reach consensus within our parties after robust debate and then we act as a unit. That is the norm. It is rare that a leader cannot bring his own troops with him and then makes a virtue of necessity by pretending that somehow it is virtuous to allow people to express whatever views they like on an issue of this importance. Normally a party takes a collective view on these...