Results 2,301-2,320 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes, that is what I thought. I just wanted to make that point.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 92a:In page 31, line 28, after “Minister” to insert the following:“at any time in respect of the type of judicial appointment in respect of which the Government is advising”. I wish to outline the purpose of this amendment. The House will appreciate that section 46 currently reads:In advising the President in relation to the appointment of a...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Will the Senator give way?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: It seems Senator Norris's point is technically correct and that there are commas missing in the phrase "or, in the case of section 44, the Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act". It would make sense if they were inserted.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The word "to" and also the commas.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am deeply disappointed by the almost knee-jerk reaction of the Minister to the amendment. What the Minister is proposing will massively load up the workload of the commission with repetitious applications. I was trying to put myself in the position of a person who had been recommended. If I had been recommended on a shortlist and subsequently read in Iris Oifigiúilthat Senator...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is the same court. I do not know how the Minister can argue that it is a different vacancy. It is essentially the same vacancy.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is the same vacancy in the sense that it is appointment to be a judge of the High Court. A vacancy has arisen and been filled and somebody who was short-listed and recommended the Government will be required to reapply when the next vacancy arises. Amendment No. 92 tabled by Senator Bacik was rejected and, as such, there is no particular order of recommendation. The Government will not...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is difficult to know exactly how the system works, but the Government makes the appointment and does not know why people are or are not on the shortlist or why people have been removed from the shortlist. It seems to me it would be far fairer if, in January or February Mr. A or Ms A has been recommended to the Government but then the Government gets a different shortlist in March or...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: No one says any of that about the appointments being made at the moment. Yet, the Minister is creating a highly complex system that will require people to submit and resubmit applications. It will even require people who have gone through the whole process and been winnowed down and told that they are among the top three applicants for a given position, only to be told two months later that...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: This is utterly wasteful and pointless. I have made the case about sitting judges, although the Minister will not accept it. Since all High Court judges are ex officiocapable of functioning on the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court as ordinary judges, they have already passed a threshold of suitability. This idea of requiring judges to submit applications at all is wholly wrong. If...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: There are going to be interviews too.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: The interview might go badly or better.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: All I will say in response is this. If the person stays recommended, it does not matter if there is a change of Government. The new Government will get a new or different shortlist, so no harm is done if a person is recommended.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: No. My point is that if every time there is a vacancy, there is a shortlist, which is what the Minister is insisting on, all my amendment is saying is that somebody who was previously, a short period before, recommended for the job stays recommended, and as there are three on the shortlist, there will be four or five people to look at, depending on who has been discarded. In any event, I...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 92b:In page 31, lines 28 and 29, to delete “or, in the case of section 44 the Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act”. Arising from what we have just voted on, it occurs to me to point out to the Minister that even if he sticks to the principle of what we have just been discussing this afternoon, there will still be occasions where it...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: There will be occasions where the Government will appoint a member of the High Court or Supreme Court and it will also have before it a vacancy regarding another appointment for the High Court. In those circumstances, the Minister should consider introducing some kind of system whereby the Government can make two appointments from the same shortlist. It seems pointless to have to start the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Apr 2019)

Michael McDowell: I report progress.