Results 16,901-16,920 of 18,737 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 98a:In page 34, line 26, to delete “shall” and substitute “may”.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: No, the Minister indicated that his patience will expire if I so do.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: No, it is not agreed.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: No, we will discuss them separately.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 99:In page 34, line 30, after “shall” to insert “ensure it is compliant with section 7(1) and may”. This amendment seeks to insert in page 34, line 30, after the word "shall", which has now been changed to "may", the words, "ensure it is compliant with section 7(1) and may". Section 7(1) provides that, "A decision to recommend, under this...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The proposal is to insert into section 53(5), which states, "In the preparation of the statement referred to in subsection (1)(a)," which is a statement setting out the selection procedures, "the Procedures Committee shall, amongst other matters, have regard to", a requirement to ensure it is compliant with section 7(1) and may have regard to the critical importance of the matters listed...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I have been trying to be brief, but perhaps I should be clear about the reason for the amendment.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I can do it reasonably briefly. Section 7 is divided into two subsections, the first of which states that, "A decision to recommend, under this Act, a person for appointment to judicial office shall be based on merit." Subsection (2) states, "Subject to subsection (1), where the function, under this Act, of selecting and recommending persons for appointment to a judicial office falls to be...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is. I am reading from page 34.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The objective that membership of the Judiciary should comprise equal numbers of men and women and the objective that it should reflect the diversity within the population as a whole are two matters to which the commission is supposed to have regard under section 7(2), but they are made, as stated in section 7(2), subject to section 7(1), namely, the requirement that appointments be made on...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 99a:In page 34, to delete lines 35 to 38. This amendment proposes to delete lines 35 to 38 on page 34. It was submitted prior to the amendment we have just discussed. As a result, it is a bit redundant as we have already dealt with that issue.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 99b:In page 34, line 35, after “judiciary” to insert “in each of the courts”. This amendment deals with the proposition that the Judiciary as a whole should-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The purpose of amendment No. 99b is to show the Minister that the phrase, "the objective that the membership of the judiciary should comprise equal numbers of men and women", is somewhat skewed. It is perfectly compatible with the current phraseology that there could be a predominance of women in the District and Circuit Courts, and a predominance of men in the High Court, Court of Appeal...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am disappointed by the Minister's response. Clearly, the gender equality mandate is not properly addressed if we have a situation where, in the High Court, for instance, 70% of judges are male and 30% are female, but the split is 55:45 in the District Court. The ratio might even go to 45:55. The logic of seeking to recognise the equality of men and women, as lawyers, jurisprudents,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: This is a game of bluff.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Minister seemed to be against the amendment until I said I was pushing it to a vote. Now he says he will allow it.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: Is it generous to try to put me off with a bluff? In any case, I am happy if the amendment is accepted. It shows clearly that this debate is worthwhile.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: We are improving the legislation by degrees and via persuasion. That is something which certain people writing for theIrish Independentmight note. I observe,en passant, that Senator Conway, who is not in the Chamber just now, announced earlier that a particular story in today'sIrish Independent is fake news.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The author of that article is a very respected journalist. To accuse him in a casual way of writing fake news is not acceptable.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I want to correct the record of the House to make clear that it is not the view of most Senators that Mr. O'Connell in his article today was engaging in fake news. He was clearly careful in conducting the research which shows that a majority of Fine Gael Senators oppose the Bill.