Results 221-240 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

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

Derek McDowell: Section 10 relates to drug trafficking ——

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

Derek McDowell: The general detention provisions under the 1984 Act, as amended by this Act, do not require a court intervention.

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

Derek McDowell: We do not want to give chief superintendents a right to contemplate it. Garda officers who extend time under those provisions should work with the time limits that exist.

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

Derek McDowell: This section, to some extent, anticipates the next amendment in Senator Norris's name which deals with forensic samples. I hope the Senator will allow me to get my retaliation in first. I do not agree with the general principle of the destruction of anything. I hold the view — it certainly applies to politicians — that one's photograph is in the public domain and it is no great intrusion...

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

Derek McDowell: ——to prevent ourselves from being photographed.

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

Derek McDowell: I am sorry I let that out. There are not many implications for the infringing of civil liberties in the Garda having a person's photograph or not having it. The whole of continental Europe operates on the basis that citizens carry an ID card. One cannot board a Ryanair flight without producing one's photograph. The world has moved on in this context. To address Senator Jim Walsh's point, in...

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

Derek McDowell: One would hope so.

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

Derek McDowell: Senators Norris and Henry represent the Trinity College constituency and Professor McConnell as they probably know——

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

Derek McDowell: ——is a strong advocate of the universalist principle that, from a criminal law point of view, none of us has anything to concede and we should be happy, in the same way as our photograph is displayed on our driving licence, to assist the Garda to enable it to exclude us from an investigation. I am not being dismissive of Senator Henry's argument. If three brothers were of a criminal...

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

Derek McDowell: ——all he or she seemed to be and had a different parent from those whom that person considered to be his or her natural brothers and sisters. There is an issue in that respect. Without going as far as Professor McConnell's view of saying that everyone's DNA should be automatically on a register as of duty, although I have some sympathy for that point of view because some of his arguments...

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

Derek McDowell: We have not moved on the Senator's amendment.

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

Derek McDowell: I accept the proposition that privacy and the use of material is a crucial question. This will be dealt with in the DNA legislation when we bring it forward later this year. Listening to Senator Norris, I was struck by his description of the retention of fingerprints, photographs or DNA samples as an additional penalty. I do not see how retaining these samples constitutes a penalty. I have a...

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

Derek McDowell: I do not know whether the Soaps would agree with me or Senator Norris on this matter. One of the great things about DNA and paternity testing is that when a person is a citizen of a republic, ideas surrounding heredity are slightly less important than in a society based on aristocracy or breeding. It reminds me of the story about an English monarch who visited Ireland and, while touring the...

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

Derek McDowell: The king asked the Irishman whether his mother had ever visited London. The Irishman replied that she had never visited London but that his father had.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Senator was on the fringe of the Labour Party.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I thank the Senators for their contributions to this debate which were, as always, insightful and interesting. I will reflect on the arguments between now and the later Stages. We share a common aim to ensure that criminal law can respond effectively to the needs of a modern, complex society. This Bill contributes to that end. This is a long Bill and got longer as it passed through the Lower...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I deleted the latter provision.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: One can only be convicted of a criminal offence on proof beyond reasonable doubt but the order, setting the conditions of behaviour, can be made on the balance of probability.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this important Bill to Seanad Éireann. The House will be aware that the Bill recently completed its passage through the Dáil. We had long and fruitful discussions before and after the Bill was published in that House, especially on Committee Stage, on the content of the Bill. The heads of the Bill had been published for discussion and the Bill...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Second Stage. (30 Jun 2006)

Derek McDowell: ——I have circulated a memorandum to Senators setting out the Bill in its present state. Some of the content is technical and one would need three statutes in front of one to work out what the text of the Bill will do. During the course of the Dáil debates, it was made clear that all parties share a belief that the criminal law must be kept up to date and relevant as otherwise respect for...