Results 3,261-3,280 of 18,727 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: There are six or seven that would make all the difference.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: He might keep putting a few over the bar.

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: This amendment proposes to delete section 11(7) to (10), inclusive, from the Bill. When the House rose last night and I reported progress, I was in the middle of asking the Minister a number of things. First, I asked him what was meant by the dual function of advising and assisting the commission in the consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Obviously, it is.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is now the afternoon.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: At this stage I would like the Minister to provide some of the information I have sought to enable the House to understand how he envisages the section operating.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: It is 3.20 p.m. and the Minister does appear to be filibustering at the moment.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Yes, to conduct psychometric tests.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: I do not want to be in any way crabbed, but this is a very important section, and these subsections are of crucial importance as to how this commission is supposed to work. At last we have wheedled out of the Minister the suggestion that there will be a director and a small secretariat and that that is what the commission and the commissioner's office is to be. This goes back to the point I...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: They are separate functions and one of the distinguishing features between them is that a consultant or adviser would be appointed, which has a degree of permanency if one looks at subsection (10). It is for a defined period of time. That is one thing. The other is a contract which could be intermittent and come into existence or come out of existence and be for a week, a day, a year or...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: So one class of person can be there under a casual contract, and the other can be there as a consultant or adviser, with a subsection (10) appointment, but both of them can carry out the exact same functions under subsection (8), and both of them are deemed eligible and capable of carrying out either of those functions. Let us be clear about this. Senator Norris's point was 100% correct.It...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: -----limited liability companies, on the one hand, and appointed consultants or advisers. This is of huge significance because one then goes to the three things that are permissible under subsection 8. The first is in paragraph (a), which differs from paragraph (b). By the way, these functions have no parallel whatsoever in the provision for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority. If...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: It would be very interesting to do so. In any event, these two functions are without parallel in the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and they go to the heart of the function of the commission. The first is to advise and assist the commission in its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection procedures. In this provision, it is to do two things,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: I think it is diversity among the citizenry. There is to be a preliminary stage and there would have to be such a stage where people go through the applications to see whether applicants are starters or non-starters. I do not see why staff in the commission cannot do that. I do not see why one would want to bring in temporary staff or a company on contract or appoint an accountancy or HR...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: Exactly.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: It clearly would not overrule the commission. Nobody is suggesting that but we are saying that if we adopt this measure, people who are seeking appointment to the High Court are implicitly agreeing to the proposition that not merely will the independent commissioners evaluate them, but that other parties under contract or appointment will carry out an evaluation of their merits or demerits...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: While the evaluation function will not be overridden, it does not get the Minister off the hook to say that it is purely assistance. If there is such an evaluation process, it goes utterly to the heart of this legislation that decent men and women seeking appointment to the Bench will be asked to be evaluated by third parties as to their suitability.The third parties are the persons,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2018)

Michael McDowell: The Minister cannot just keep hiding in the bushes of obscurity on this issue. What kind of money will be given to the people appointed to the commission? If they are to be paid €30,000 or €40,000, it will attract one kind of person and if they are to be paid €9,000, like the members of some semi-State boards, it will attract another kind. There is no doubt, however,...