Results 181-200 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The phrase "of unsound mind" is a term used quite frequently in statute law. I think the Senator appreciates that it is used in 173 Acts of the Oireachtas between 1923 and 2000. Would the Senator's preferred phrase "mental disorder" refer to forgetfulness and loss of short-term memory? I do not know and I do not want to discuss it now. Can the Senator imagine a firearms dealer who suffers...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: If the Senator tables an amendment to that section for the miscellaneous part of the Bill on Report Stage I will accept it, provided it is in the proper form.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I remind the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and all those of the same mind that rapists, homicidal people and assailants would be more careful and less likely to commit offences if they knew there was a significant chance of trace evidence of DNA being used to tie them to particular offences. Therefore, this is not just a matter of the civil liberties and rights of those accused — I take...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: They will not.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I forgot to comment previously on Senator Norris's cousin who submitted to the test. I wonder whether the man was the Senator's cousin.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Which was more offensive, the video or the sample? What happened to the video afterwards was more offensive.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: It is not impossible to provide for such a measures under regulations dealing with people in custody. I will examine the issue and take a long hard look at whether samples should be taken under camera surveillance. What was done with the video was the most offensive thing about the arrest of Saddam Hussein. I do not recall violence being used to take the sample but the humiliation resulting...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Getting a doctor to come to the station to pluck two or three hairs from a person requires two or three hours of his or her time away from surgery. It may not be practicable but I will look at the question because there is a consensus that this is not a manufactured concern on the part of Senator Norris.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I cannot say off the top of my head.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I will come back to the issue tomorrow.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: To make a statutory declaration that is in any way false or that one does not believe to be true is an offence. Sections 16 and 17 provide a system whereby someone can say something solemnly to the Garda as a statement of truth, knowing that a lie will constitute a criminal offence. Let us feed that back into section 16 as an issue that a court might take into account in deciding whether one...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I see what the Senator means.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: That is true, but how practical would it be to bring solicitors to Garda stations whenever a witness is interviewed? I accept that they are not as independent as outsiders but section 16's purpose is to clarify that, in certain cases, if one makes a statement to gardaí that is material to the trial of an offence, one cannot ultimately repudiate it without the court considering whether it was...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: A judge will have an overriding obligation under section 16 not to permit a statement to be used as evidence of its contents if any injustice, risk or unfairness is perceived. That is written into section 16, which states: (4) The statement shall not be admitted in evidence under this section if the court is of opinion—— (a) having had regard to all the circumstances, including any risk...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: It is relevant.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I assure the Senator that my feelings are not all that sensitive.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: It would require a high velocity weapon to penetrate my thick hide. Section 28 is a response to representations made to me by the shooting community. I have not thought up some new wheeze to expose people to gun-toting youngsters. The section provides a new section to the Firearms Act which ascribes responsibility to the Commissioner not to a tired sergeant maybe in Donnybrook Garda station,...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Commissioner alone can do this. The administration of this provision is centralised in Phoenix Park. Section 28 states, "The Commissioner, on application and payment of the prescribed fee (if any), may issue to a person over 14 years of age a certificate (in this Act referred to as a "firearms training certificate") authorising the person to possess a firearm and ammunition...". In other...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Commissioner must decide who that specified person is. It is not the case that one of the kid's four brothers is enabled to go rabbit shooting with him. That is not in the Bill.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: That person must hold a firearms certificate himself or herself and have therefore undergone all the assessment necessary for that activity. It is not just any 18 year old, in the way that any driver can sit in with a provisional driver and go wherever he or she wants. It must be somebody who holds a firearms certificate and who the Commissioner has decided is a correct person to specify for...