Results 3,021-3,040 of 18,727 for speaker:Michael McDowell
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I am not going to get into the discussion. I am not going to get stuck.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I am not going to get diverted into comments about current members of the Judiciary. I am saying it is perfectly conceivable that a proper evaluation of a sitting judge might come to the conclusion that the person is having enough difficulty firing on all cylinders in the court he or she is in and is certainly unworthy for promotion. If that report was reduced to writing and leaked, the...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: If the Minister is serious about this proposal, there must be investigability. He must provide for the power to detain the person who leaks that information and put him or her through the ordinary process of questioning for a serious offence under the Criminal Justice Act 1984. In the absence of such a power, this confidentiality obligation is more or less worthless. The Minister suggested...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Thank God it is an exceptional case that something so awful could happen. If there are no sanctions, however, it will not be an exceptional case. If one can ride roughshod through a summary procedure and summary sanction, just ignore the law and send polite solicitors' letters to clients-----
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: One can ignore the law if there is no-----
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: The Minister is a skilled legal practitioner with a long record in the practice of law. He knows well that the question of sanction does not arise until guilt has been established.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: In addition, there are no prosecutions unless there is evidence. Imagine if one were caught for drink-driving and one was able to hand a preprinted card to the garda and say: "Consult my solicitor. I am driving home."
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Okay, I am a Member of the Oireachtas. My point is that these things could be very serious. A garda could impart a piece of tittle-tattle which has no serious consequence, and the Garda Síochána Act was specifically and carefully crafted to state that it had to have very serious adverse consequences before an offence would be committed. In this case, however, it is not necessary...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I am glad the Minister will do that. The Minister is correct that amendment No. 67 is effectively consequential on my objections to section 11(7) and 11(8). I will not move that amendment because it would be pointless to remove the reference to advisers at this stage unless section 11 is revisited. I still object to section 11, which is wrong-headed.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: That is right. We probably have debated this thoroughly and I hope that Senators Craughwell and Norris and I have made a strong case for the changes we are seeking. In the meantime, I am not prepared to proceed on the basis that the Minister will consider it and that his advisers say it is more important to keep consistency with the Property Registration Authority. That is far less...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: This goes to the heart of the constitutional order. I do not believe secrets in the Property Registration Authority are of the same order at all. I cannot even imagine what secrets the PRA has.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: In any event, this is of a wholly different order and requires a different approach. I ask the Minister to withdraw his amendments and we will proceed to the next section. Otherwise, I must oppose his amendments.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: It would also improve the section, if we are going to have a confidentiality obligation, to make it clear that it is not geographically confined as to its ambit and, therefore, any person anywhere, whether inside or outside the State, who reveals this information would commit a criminal offence. We would not want somebody going to Newry to hand over the information. We do not want something...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I object to amendment No. 66 on the basis the Minister has defended it here. Effectively, it permits the commission to delegate to the director the business of consenting to information being disclosed. I have an objection to this and I am not happy with amendment No. 66 in any shape or form or however it is defended.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I asked the Minister to withdraw the amendment but he will not do so.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Senator Norris referred to amendment No. 90 in my name, as it arose in discussion. The Senator referred to missing words in subsection (2) of the amendment. I do not know how they are missing; it is probably my fault and I do not blame the Bills Office. I ask that the amendment of the text-----
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: No, because we are discussing it now and I do not want to propose nonsense. I believe there is a slip rule for minor matters.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: Perhaps when we get to that amendment. That is fair enough.
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I would just like to make a few points. In the intervening period I have considered what the Minister frankly admitted to be his understanding of the proposed impact of the legislation, including his amendments to sections 27 and 28, and the inclusion of the Attorney General as a member of the commission. I have spoken to persons high and low about the suggestion that it should be a...
- Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)
Michael McDowell: I was talking about the past. I was not suggesting there is such correspondence now.