Results 3,201-3,220 of 18,727 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Project 2040 and Transport Matters: Statements (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I should have said that no proper cost-benefit analysis had been done.

Seanad: Project 2040 and Transport Matters: Statements (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: It has been criticised by everyone.

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Second Stage - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: An Dara Céim (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: This proposal to amend the Constitution is something which needs much more consideration than it has been given in public for a number of reasons. If one looks at the entire section of the Constitution and the article to do with free speech, it is quite clear that free speech and freedom of expression are guaranteed, subject to public order and morality. It is not an unqualified right of...

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I wanted to debate section 2.

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I wanted to discuss this further, however. The Minister of State indicated in his speech that he intends to repeal the criminalisation of blasphemy. I should say that when I introduced a Bill to replace the Defamation Act 1961 I, as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, included nothing in respect of blasphemy, although I understand that a subsequent Attorney General was of the...

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I do not want to have to table a Report Stage amendment but I think that when we are amending the Constitution we should discuss what we are doing.

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: Unfortunately, I did not-----

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I did not have the text of section 2 in front of me. When I was speaking I did indicate that I intended to return to the matter at a later Stage in the debate.

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: That is fair enough. May I make the following point? If the Minister of State does proceed with his stated intention to repeal the provisions of the Defamation Act he will be saying that nobody, in any circumstances, can ever be prosecuted for publishing anything which deeply offends the religious sensibility of the Christian faith in Ireland no matter how gross the offence is. No matter...

Seanad: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages - An Bille um an Seachtú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Cion a aisghairm arb éard é ní diamhaslach a fhoilsiú nó a aithris) 2018: Céim an Choiste agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha (20 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I want to make a few observations. Indecency is as flexible a concept as blasphemy. There were times when people who doubted and publicly refuted the biblical explanation of the garden of Eden and the story of Adam and Eve were accused of blasphemy. Obviously blasphemy as a concept is one which has changed with the passage of time, as has indecency. There is no doubt about that. The mere...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: I echo the call made by Senator Bacik for a real debate on the report of the Commission of the Future of Policing in Ireland. It is a very thorough and challenging document. It will require very considerable political commitment and the application of resources, not merely financial but also intellectual and emotional, in changing the culture of An Garda Síochána and supporting...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: That is wrong.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: Somebody who really has a challenge should have to meet very significant initial thresholds or else the process should stop immediately. The idea that one can consider appealing to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court and then engage the activities of those courts in the process is a real problem. We should speed up the process and make it more certain. This is not the first time...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Sep 2018)

Michael McDowell: Senator Maurice Hayes.

Seanad: Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the members of the Traveller community who have come to the House today to watch this important debate. Senator Kelleher asked me to support her legislation and I have indicated I will support it. Hardly a word has been spoken in this debate thus far with which I do not agree, but there are points I want to personally emphasise....

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: The group of which I am a member is a diverse one with different views. I fully respect the views just expressed by Senator Marshall. I also take into account what the Minister said today and what Senator Leyden has said on the issue. However, I have a different view. Since 1967 and the subsequent illegal occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and west Jerusalem and the annexation of Golan by...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: I stand by what the United Nations declared in Resolution 242 that this is not Israeli territory and that its annexation is therefore illegal and must end. It violates international law. If, like Senator Marshall, I took the view that things were progressing in the right direction and we were in the middle of a delicate peace process that could be destabilised by unilateral statements from...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----and that message has to be a very simple one, that is, Israel must respect the rule of international law, go for the two-state solution-----

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----and commit itself to an evacuation of the illegally occupied territories. Those are the minimum aims. I do not say this has to be done tomorrow but those are the minimum aims of establishing peace in the Middle East. Therefore, no matter how complicated our position is by virtue of our membership of the European Union and no matter how ineffectual the passage of this Bill may be...

Seanad: Situation in Palestine: Statements (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Then why do-----