Results 16,961-16,980 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: I agree with Senator Ó Donnghaile that these Houses, and in this House in particular, need to engage in an intelligent and reasonable debate about future relations between the two parts of this island. The debate on whether there should be a Border poll is somewhat premature and would be far better replaced by a debate on whether there are intermediate steps towards co-operation between...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: We have been very generous to the Department of Justice and Equality through the past year.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: The conclusion of Committee Stage of the Bill.

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am one of the few people in the House who has never been scared of the idea that people with political accountability should in the end make far-reaching decisions about certain kinds of people who have been sentenced to prison for life. It has always surprised me that people should claim that it is wrong that somebody who is politically accountable should have the final say on such...

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----the Bill should not be rushed through. I commend Deputy O'Callaghan on getting the Bill through the Dáil and to this point, but that does not mean that Members of this House should pass section 24 without knowing what it means.

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: There is no need to rush this legislation.

Seanad: Parole Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am grateful for that. I may have had six or seven minutes.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: First, I endorse warmly the remarks the Cathaoirleach made of congratulation of those involved in the restoration of Leinster House, not least this Chamber itself, and I express my admiration for the work they did. I had the privilege of being shown through it when it was at a very raw stage of rehabilitation and the extraordinary skills that were shown in restoring the House and the extent...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: There has been recent press and media comment to the effect that as a result of the financial crisis in RTÉ, which I understand to be a real crisis, a number of proposals are in contemplation, one of which is the possible ending of Lyric FM.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: Donkey's years ago, when the pirate stations were functioning, I remember meeting a very senior executive of RTÉ who claimed that if pirate stations were legalised and if there was any competition with RTÉ on what were then called pop music stations, it would be the end of democracy in Ireland. As a result, we got 2FM. If there are to be economies in Montrose as to what goes out,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: I do not want to get into a discussion of earnings of individual broadcasters, but anybody who listens to the radio a good deal, as I have done for a long time, and who listens to the advertisement slots on RTÉ must be struck by the fact that nearly all of the advertisements are now either self-advertisements or advertisements for semi-State bodies and that the great majority of...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: As I understand it, the proposal is that each Member will have 12 minutes, including the Minister. The Minister should have ten minutes to respond. I thank the Leader for acceding to this amendment. I have said at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges that if one goes back to Senator W.B Yeats’s speech about how we are no petty people, under our speaking rules, he would have got...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: The agreement is that the Order of Business should be amended to provide that on No. 4, each Member’s contribution shall not exceed 12 minutes, including the Minister’s, but that the Minister shall have ten minutes to reply at the end.

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: I wish to politely welcome the Minister of State and note that he indicated that he is in listening mode, which is simply not good enough at this stage. Listening has gone on for a long time. The time for action and implementation has arrived, as has the time for ending the pretence that Fine Gael has any interest in reforming the Seanad. There is no appetite in Fine Gael for reforming the...

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----and that can be fairly conclusively proven. We must remember that at a time when Deputy Enda Kenny was leader of the Opposition and fending off an internal dispute within Fine Gael, he was inspired to come up with the gimmick of announcing - at a president's dinner, national conference or whatever - an intention to abolish the Seanad.

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: It was a shameful gimmick and the Irish people eventually saw through it. Senator Paddy Burke will have his opportunity. The abolition of the Seanad, as proposed by Deputy Enda Kenny, would have left the Constitution in tatters. The checks and balances provided for in the Constitution would have ceased to exist. There are many such checks and balances. I will not recite them all, but I...

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Government bows down in acceptance of the Bill against the muted hostility of its Members in this House, as explained to the media. I do not expect the Minister, Deputy Zappone, to resign in protest at the way the Government has shabbily treated this issue, but I object to the way the Minister, Deputy Ross, has come in here since, having established a group. The Minister, Deputy Ross,...

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: I will finish on this point. Members of this House have nothing to fear from the passage of the Bill, which is appended to this legislation. I recommended to the Taoiseach in my covering letter of the report that the Bill should be initiated in Dáil Éireann not here, because turkeys do not vote for an early Christmas, but Members of this House do not have anything to fear because...

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: Fine Gael has let itself down.

Seanad: Seanad Reform Implementation Group: Statements (24 Sep 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am concluding. Fine Gael has let itself down very badly. The people will not be fooled. If the next Dáil is the place where this must be dealt with, so be it. I hope there are people in that Chamber who will do-----