Results 17,901-17,920 of 18,738 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022: Discussion (21 Jun 2022)

Michael McDowell: I compliment Deputy Cian O'Callaghan on bringing forward this legislation and pay tribute to the Department of Justice for having an open mind as to whether it would go with it or do something else. I might put a few points before the committee for consideration. What we are dealing with is, clearly, a first cousin of prostitution and pimping, whereby somebody is induced to provide sexual...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2022)

Michael McDowell: He has addressed the issue.

Seanad: Energy: Motion (14 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House. I fully accept the anxiety expressed by Senator McGreehan about the short-term consequences for many people in this country, particularly for small businesses, arising out of the massive increase in energy prices. These increases are right across the board, from shopkeepers and hoteliers whose electricity bills have shot up to restaurants, small traders...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I will reserve what I have to say about the budget until later. In the past couple of weeks, I was honoured to have been invited to go to County Sligo to commemorate the six men who were executed on top of Benbulben by the Free State Army on 20 September 1922, one of whom was my uncle Brian. While I was looking at all the documentation that surrounds the event, I was conscious of one thing,...

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: In difficult circumstances, the Government has, on balance, done a good job with the resources it has. It is not simply a matter of a little for everyone; rather it is a matter of taking a look at the crisis we are in and making sure it does not derail the economy and plunge households and enterprises into a catastrophic crisis from which they may never recover. I agree with the point made...

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: He has gone very yellow.

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Impact of Cost of Living Issues on Young People in Ireland: Motion (28 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion. I am reluctant to intervene in such a contribution because it is not merely passionate but also educational to hear a first-hand account of some of the realities for young people in Ireland, in particular disabled young people. Senator Clonan's commitment to those with disability is not simply personal; it is ideological. I admire him greatly for what he has done, the...

Seanad: Impact of Cost of Living Issues on Young People in Ireland: Motion (28 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Well done.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I thank everybody for what has been very interesting up to this point. I hope I do not change it. A number of things struck me. Mr. Millar took an agnostic attitude to constitutional change. He has different priorities. Ms Clyde concentrated on the bread and butter of apprenticeships. At the same time, we are having a discussion here about identity and constitutional change. There are a...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: The elephant in the room that has not been discussed yet as far as I can see is denominational education. I am taking the point from all the Foróige people and everything else that youth work is hugely important because it allows people to break out of the channels into which denominational education puts them. However, it is both North and South, by the way. This is not a Northern...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: It was his clothes.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am not a member of the committee, so I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to participate.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am honoured to be allowed to participate. I listened very carefully to the remarks of Mr. Swaine. He asked what is a unionist in a united Ireland. It is arguable unionism is extinct in terms of the view of a unitary Irish State. Therefore, when you ask the unionist community and middle ground in Northern Ireland to opt for a new constitutional order on this island, you are asking a...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I will be brief.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Regarding Northern representation in the House, what the parties to the Belfast Agreement agreed to was that: ... whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House. I wish to make a few observations. The Government's response document and high-level action plan to the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces commits the Government, over the years 2022 to 2028, to increase the expenditure on defence to €1.5 billion. Currently, it is €1.107 billion.We are, in effect, dealing with a commitment to...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I heard what the Minister said; I listened in my room and looked at these figures. I looked today at the budget Estimates for next year and noticed that the increase is in fact in the order of approximately 6%. That would be fine, if we were not in a situation where inflation is now running at between 6% and 8%. I want to impress upon the Minister that it is all very well to come to the...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: What is wrong with Bullock Harbour?

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am glad to hear that.