Results 2,201-2,220 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes, subsections (2) and (3) will be gone.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: To inform the Senator, it has happened on a number of occasions. Very eminent persons have been appointed without the involvement of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. As a matter of constitutional law, the Minister has emphasised on a number of occasions that it is not possible to pass a law stipulating that the only people who can be appointed are those recommended by the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes, that is correct. I am not suggesting somebody is likely to say on "Prime Time" that he or she has been turned down by the Government. I cannot imagine a lawyer in whose interests it would be to do that.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes, I apologise. The person would have been turned down by the commission. It would be of huge interest to the media to find out who had been unsuccessful in the process. I have no doubt that it would equate to the crown jewels for some journalists to find out that somebody had been unsuccessful on a number of occasions and that the Government had turned him or her down, especially if the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: That is the worrying aspect to which I keep coming back. If it is the case that a Minister could tell his or her buddies somewhere that Senators Norris and McDowell had been on a shortlist three times and that they had been turned down every time and that this appeared in a newspaper, would it be an encouraging process for people like Senators Norris and McDowell to have in mind if they were...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: One could well imagine a situation where a coalition Government was in office-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The more liberal party in the coalition might agitate for candidate A, while the more conservative party might argue that candidate A would not be approved and would seek to put candidate B in place. The expectation is that the process will always remain secret and that there will be no discussion in the coalition parties afterwards as to why a reactionary conservative judge was appointed to...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Will we do that or just report progress? I do not mind.

Seanad: Perjury and Related Offences Bill 2018: Committee Stage (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Minister shows terrible favouritism towards that Bill.

Seanad: Perjury and Related Offences Bill 2018: Committee Stage (17 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I commend Senator Ó Céidigh on his initiative in bringing about this legislation and I very much welcome the supportive and co-operative approach of the Minister and his Department to the Senator's initiative. In the current climate, everyone is talking about personal injuries, fraud and all of that. Perjury is a wider issue than that. People can tell appalling lies in commercial...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The delay charter.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I have a problem with the Order of Business in the time allocated for the Taoiseach's visit on Thursday. The nature of my problem is that an hour and a half has been allocated. Presumably, the Taoiseach will have the bones of half an hour to address us and a quarter of an hour at the end, with the remaining time to be divided between the spokespersons for the six groups represented in this...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Stepaside Garda station.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: What is the difference between stepping aside and side-stepping?

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Order of Business is not agreed.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Under Standing Order 62(3)(b) I request that the division be taken again other than by electronic means.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yesterday, I raised on the Order of Business the attitude of the Government to the declared statement of the then candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the annexation of the settlements in the West Bank and the declaration of Israeli sovereignty over them. Today, all appearances are that he is going to be the head of the next government with the support of parties of the right and religious...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----some of the Prime Minister's fellow travellers accused this House of anti-Semitism. It is wrong and I just want to put that on the record. I want to move an amendment to the Order of Business that the sos be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. so that we can have a lunch in the restaurant-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----when the restaurant functions as a restaurant rather than a sandwich break, which would be envisaged by the Leader's proposal.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Exactly.