Results 2,901-2,920 of 18,727 for speaker:Michael McDowell
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: With respect, I asked whether a person who occupies the position of director will, ipso facto, be a civil servant. I am getting a different answer, namely, that somebody could be a civil servant when appointed or might not be, depending on what the Public Appointments Service-----
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Does a person become a civil servant when appointed? That is the first question.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: My second question is on why, for some policy reason, a person appointed to the position at the age of 52 should be told at the age of 62 that his or her services are finally dispensed with and that he or she may not carry out the function any longer. I have not heard one solitary reason that should be the case. Saying it was in the Bill as drafted does not help us at all because much of it...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: That is not the case. If somebody who is not a civil servant is appointed under section 31 as director, and if it is conceded — it has not yet been — that he will not become a civil servant by virtue of such an appointment, then the question arises as to whether such a person should perform properly for two terms, at a maximum, up to the age of 62 and then be told, unlike any...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Are they civil servants?
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: If they are civil servants, that is one thing.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: The question about county managers is whether they are civil servants.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: If they are public servants, is the director a public servant?
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I am querying how it can possibly be that every member of staff is a civil servant while the man or woman who controls and directs them is not. I am querying why it is that such a person should after ten years cease to have any job at all. If he or she is not a civil servant, what does he or she do at the end of the ten years? Does such a person just walk out the door and say "Thank you"?
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: It has nothing to do with the private sector.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: It is remarkable. I will remove the word "scandal" and go to the word "remarkable". It is remarkable that the staff the director will be in charge of will be civil servants under section 30(6) whereas the director will not, even though he or she will be appointed by the commission following a Public Appointments Service selection process. I have had no good reason advanced to me as to why...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: What superannuation would one get for five years' service?
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Exactly.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: In the real world where we live, is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform going to hand out a full pension to someone who has done five years? It is not. As such, what kind of pension will the person get? I find this unconvincing. I continue to ask the Minister and I continue to encounter a stone wall as to why there is a maximum term of ten years in this position.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: If that is the explanation that is forthcoming so be it. I find this section entirely unsatisfactory.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: If I may comment briefly on the section as I do not wish to waste time. This section is the third section in Part 5 of the Bill. I have set out at some considerable length, and I will not repeat myself now, my entire objection to the wasteful expenditure involved in the establishment of the judicial appointments commission and its office. Therefore, consistent with that position I am...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: The Legal Services Regulatory Authority and Property Registration Authority are institutions which are performing a useful function. We have a Judicial Appointments Advisory Board which costs practically nothing. The Minister's Government has been making excellent appointments to the Bench without the assistance of a commission of this kind. We do not need this commission and every cent...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I will assist Senator Norris.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Section 33 contains a number of separate proposals, one of which is to allow for the amendment of section 5 of the 1961 Act, which is either the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 or the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act, 1961, to provide that: "A judge of the District Court who has served as such a judge for a period of not less than 2 years shall be qualified for...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Exactly. A new section will be inserted stating: "A person who is for the time being a legal academic of not less than 12 years' standing shall be qualified for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court or the District Court, but this is subject to subsections (2), (3) and (5)." It goes on to provide that a legal academic must have...