Results 481-500 of 18,474 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: In response to what Senator Davitt said about money resting in accounts, as we know, it does not always earn interest. Fr. Ted Crilly was a great man for saying that money was resting in his account. I wish to make two brief points. First, I do not believe that mandatory sentences are the way to deal with violence against police. The people who go to jail on mandatory sentences will get...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Resolution Board Bill 2022: Second Stage (22 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him on his reappointment. I welcome this legislation too. As far as I am concerned, it is important both that it should be passed and that it should be seen as part of a general reform of the law including, as Senator Crowe said, the guidelines, perjury legislation and so forth. A couple of things have occurred to me about this Bill. First,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Regarding amendment No. 33, I have been considering what the Minister said on the last occasion we discussed this Bill. She made the case that what was proposed in this Bill was in line with international practice. I was a bit taken aback by that because clearly it is clearly not in line with the practice in America. I am not holding that out as the great model but I am just saying that is...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I have to say the following: we live in a real world rather than a theoretical world. If I apply as a judge to be appointed to a vacancy on the Supreme Court for which I am interviewed but unsuccessful - I could be in the top three - it would be bonkers for me to have to go through the interview all over again when a second vacancy arises in that court for whatever reason a week later. Why...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I have considerable sympathy for the points made by Senator Ruane. However, I would make one point. The other amendments in this grouping deal with the possibility of conducting the entire proceedings through ISL. Let us be realistic about this. The great majority of participants in most court cases would not be proficient in ISL and are unlikely to ever become proficient in it. We all...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: As Senator Ward was speaking, I wondered where we would be in jury cases? A jury of people who know Irish Sign Language could not be empanelled with any convenience. We have to be realistic. ISL is recognised as a language under the legislation referred to by the Minister but, in its present state of usage, there are limits to how realistic it is to conduct proceedings entirely through...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I will raise a few matters relating to section 41 that I want explained as to what they actually mean. There is a prohibition on canvassing in this section that states: An applicant shall not, in relation to the process of selection and recommendation (including any step that may be taken in consequence of such a recommendation) of ... [any person] for appointment or for nomination for...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: A point that arises in this context - I have not located it in the Bill and perhaps the Minister could assist me - is whether the shortlist is to be kept secret in all circumstances. Is that provided for in the legislation?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Is a Cabinet Minister at liberty to say to Senator Ward, for example, that he is one of the three that may be eligible next time? Is a Minister entitled to have that kind of conversation? If Senator Ward is number 1, 2 or 3 on the list, is he entitled to know that?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I know he would.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I know there is no number 1, 2 or 3 on the shortlist but is somebody who is shortlisted entitled to know it? Is anybody else entitled to know it? Is it a secret and is it an offence to reveal it? That is a point I would love to know about and I do not see it in the legislation. Maybe it is there.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I follow that. A person will know whether they did or did not make the shortlist.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Most people who go to the trouble of applying and being interviewed would like to know what happened and whether they were or were not in the top three.Some people are so modest that they do not want to know whether they made the shortlist. Assuming that is the case is there some rule that the identity of the persons on the shortlist coming to the Government is to be kept secret except for...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Let me tease this out. If the three names are sent forward to the Minister for Justice where does it say in the Bill that the Minister for Justice is not entitled to tell anybody else who is on the list?

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I fully appreciate what the Minister has just said but we need more clarity. The Minister gets a list of three names and goes to the leaders of the coalition parties in Government. Are they prohibited from asking any questions of anybody else as to which of the three is the better or more suitable candidate? I do not think it is in the Bill. This is not a fanciful thought. If I was the...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Or forbidden, yes. It is a fairly important point because if there is no secrecy in this it will become known that Judge Lynn Ruane or whoever was rejected by the Cabinet.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Such a thing would happen. Let us not cod ourselves. If people ask others for advice as to which of the three should be appointed or what are the qualities of the three as far as the Government is concerned, such issues would involve who is liberal and who is conservative. If they are free to make those inquiries this will leak like a sieve. There is no point in codding ourselves that...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: Consultatively.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2022)

Michael McDowell: I appreciate there is a difference between canvassing and the process whereby the leader of a small party in coalition would receive three names from the Minister for Justice and say "I do not know these three people from Adam and I do not know between them, which of them is the best, because the Bill says there is no order". If I was the leader of a party in the Government I would certainly...