Results 18,161-18,180 of 18,738 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (17 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (17 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: No, for the very reason I will outline. The huge pretence in this legislation, which I believe is politically dishonest, is that we are going to have politically neutral appointments made in the future. What we are doing here is vesting in the Minister the right to produce four people, chosen by him or her, to be on the commission to mark the judicial members, so to speak. Let me address...

Seanad: Civil Defence Bill 2023: Second Stage (18 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Welcome the students from St. Pius X Boys’ National School as well. I share what Senator O'Reilly said about the great work done by the Civil Defence. I also share his sense of pride in the record of the Civil Defence over the years as a vital part of our social fabric, but I am alarmed by one thing. In 2015, the Department of Defence published a White Paper on Defence, which stated...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I want to raise two matters on the Order of Business. The first relates to the Garda Reserve. It seems to me that despite raising this issue on a number of occasions in this House, we have not had a debate on it and we have had no sign of any interest in staging such a debate. The Garda Reserve has dwindled down to practically nothing due to deliberate neglect. Likewise, we discovered the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: It is not quite approved, for this reason-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: No, we are not. The Leader spoke about Senator Paul Daly's contribution on wilding one's garden. Ragwort, thistles and dock are twice as beneficial to bees as wildflowers.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I am just making the point that they are illegal under the Noxious Weeds Act and that anybody who has them on his or her land is liable to be prosecuted.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Bertie Ahern, Former Taoiseach (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: In some institutions on an occasion like this, two motions are proposed. One is motion of thanks to the speaker for his address and the second is that the paper should be printed and circulated. I theoretically propose both of those motions. The account you have given is one that I have not heard in detail before. I am very glad that you have had the opportunity to put on the record the...

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion.

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State this evening. I welcome the Leas-Chathaoirleach's initiative in establishing sectoral debates for the various university panels. I compliment Senator Higgins on taking the initiative with this particular motion. There is now considerable publicity about the plight of postdoctoral students and the fact they are effectively being exploited by the universities...

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister. I have been pressing for this debate for some time and I want to say a few things. When the Garda Reserve was originally canvassed in Dáil Éireann, it received all-party support. The one group that was opposed to it at the time was the Garda Representative Association, GRA. One of its officers said he would be waiting in the long grass for me as a result...

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Not agreed. I want to say one thing. We have had two Ministers in the House today. Not one number has been mentioned to us in the context of how many people it is intended to recruit to the Garda Reserve. That is a shame. I am not agreeable to the adjournment.

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Under the rules of the House, I do not think I am entitled to. However, I think it is amazing that I have been campaigning here for two years and not one figure, not even one target, has been mentioned in the course of the afternoon. That is a real shame. I withdraw my objection to the adjournment.

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I congratulate the members of the Fine Gael group here today for proposing this Bill and the members of Young Fine Gael for coming up with the legislative plan. Two points occur to me. When I looked at it, I asked myself, looking back at the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, if it was sufficient. The answer is it is not, and for a number of reasons. It is not sufficient...

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I see a few things I would change.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I identify completely with every word the Cathaoirleach, as a good friend of the late Paul Coghlan, has spoken, as well as the words of all of my colleagues. Paul Coghlan was a true gentleman. He had a huge interest in the law, something most people are not aware of. He spent a lot of time in judges' chambers and sitting in courts with judges. He loved the company of lawyers and brought...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “the Bill be read a second time on 31st December, 2023.” I welcome the Minister back to active duty. My amendment would postpone the consideration of Second Stage until the end of the year, but I wish to move it on this basis only, that we should not rush the Bill...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I wish to make a number of comments. Senator Ward, in ebullient style, decided to commence his contribution on the basis that most of the criticism of this Bill was nonsense. I do not accept that. While I accept that much of the criticism is nonsense and that many keyboard warriors have written exaggerated and overblown criticisms of the Bill and about its threat to our society, when the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: A kinder society and a moral society are not necessarily the same thing. One can be unkind and offensive. Free speech, sometimes, is offensive to other people and people legitimately cause offence and take offence from free speech. A guarantee of free speech without the right to offend has, on many occasions, been described by people across civilisation as worthless. The same applies to...

Seanad: Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill 2023: Second Stage (14 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I thank my colleagues for tendering this Bill for consideration by the House. I have a problem with it and I am opposed to the principle of it. Under our Constitution, the greatest honour any of us has is that of being a citizen. There are no grades of citizenship and there is no need for an honours system among citizens. My view is a simple one. Those people in our society who are...