Results 3,041-3,060 of 18,727 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I have heard what the Minister has said. What he intends this legislation to achieve is now clear. He intends that the Attorney General should be prohibited on pain of committing a criminal offence from imparting to the Cabinet the identity of unsuccessful candidates in the commission. The Minister says that this is appropriate because to excuse the Attorney General from any such...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I want to put it on the record that the Minister has informed the House that he believes unsuccessful candidates will be notified of that fact. If that is the case, it will have to be made very clear on Report Stage. We cannot treat this as something that the Minister hopes for, but the commission can decide not to do. Is it the case that those who will be shortlisted will be notified of...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Statements (6 Nov 2018)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Tánaiste to the House and I welcome the substance of what he has said. It is important that he gets to say, other than in the context of a hostile interview or in an editable form, exactly what the situation is. He has done so admirably. I welcome in particular and agree completely with Senator Marshall's comments on the position of the Government. It has not been...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is a great honour for me to be able to participate in this tribute to the late Maurice Hayes and to do so in particular in the presence of his family, including his wife, Joan, his daughters, Clodagh, Margaret and Dara, and his sons, Garrett and Ronan, as well as their extended families and connections who are in the House today. Maurice Hayes was born in 1927 in Killough in County Down....

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: The Acting Chairman was so out of breath, I had difficulty following his announcement of the amendments in the group.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I thought he was breathless with anticipation.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I was having difficulty with the inclusion of amendment No. 90.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: This group of amendments is of central importance to this legislation. Unless it is resolved in a manner which I consider to be satisfactory and constitutional, I will have the gravest of problems with the Bill. In general principle, there will have to be some degree of confidentiality attaching to any process, be it the current Judicial Appointments Advisory Board process or a judicial...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes. If one of the criteria in devising the shortlist is to secure diversity which is one of the aims of the commission and somebody is knocked off the list five times in a row because he or she is not sufficiently "diverse" - whatever that means - is it possibly right for an independent body to require each judge to submit to an examination of his or her suitability on the grounds of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: That is the point.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I accept the Chair's ruling, obviously, but I am not. I have asked the Minister to be explicit on this. If these things are kept secret, the Government will not know who is being knocked off the list and who is being ignored consistently and that is the reason I slightly digress. It is most important to existing judicial appointees seeking promotion. It is most important that the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: Which section or amendment?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is purely because I had earlier proposed an amendment to scrap advisers and consultants.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I indicate that the reason our amendment to section 28(2)(b) was an indictment for a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine or both was simply that if such a power is not there and it is not a serious offence to do this, the Garda has no right to arrest anybody who it suspects of having committed the offence, no right to investigate or seize various-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: No, it is not mandatory, but I will explain it to Senator Norris, through the Chair. When the Official Secrets Act 1963 applied to all members of An Garda Síochána, a habit had broken out among some members of disclosing harmful information to the media, and the Attorney General of the day was informed by the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána that unless he had a power of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I thought it was an Opposition amendment. I am sorry about that.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: I am grateful to the Minister for making very clear what I had always feared to be the devastating hole and error at the heart of this legislation. The Minister has just made it clear now that the policy is that the Government would be kept in the dark and expected to look to the shortlist except where it falls short of the maximum number available in the shortlist and that it will be cast...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: That is what the Constitution requires. It is entirely unconstitutional to attempt to invade the Government's function in this matter, which is a democratically accountable function. It is a non-delegable function of the Government, given by the Constitution, to decide who should and who should not be on the Supreme Court. There could be two equally capable lawyers but the Government might...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: It will be a crime for the Attorney General to say that while a certain person has not been shortlisted three times, he is entirely suitable for the position and that the Attorney General just wanted the Cabinet to know this before, collectively, they made up their minds about any or all of the people on the shortlist. That, however, is what the Minister is asking us to do. He is asking the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is section 62.