Results 541-560 of 18,724 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill: Department of Justice (20 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I agree that reversing the onus of proof to the extent that one must establish beyond doubt or on the balance of probability that one is not a child abuser is more than I was intending to say. What I am really saying is that it should be compulsory to get into the box and be cross examined because there are things that can be established by cross examination that one will never establish by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill: Department of Justice (20 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: There are cases that are settled on the basis that we cannot prove the case but we know bloody well it is true. There are cases of that kind.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill: Department of Justice (20 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: The Norwich Pharmacal procedure, which tries to find out who was the originator of a major defamation, is incredibly difficult to invoke. This legislation should deal comprehensively with that. The Internet service providers cherish anonymity. They will say there are people in countries abroad who need anonymity for their personal protection. That is true, but the wild west problem is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill: Department of Justice (20 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I appreciate that, but it does not really justify a situation in which I can put up defamation from behind a screen.

Seanad: Gradam an Uachtaráin Bill 2023: Second Stage (14 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I thank my colleagues for tendering this Bill for consideration by the House. I have a problem with it and I am opposed to the principle of it. Under our Constitution, the greatest honour any of us has is that of being a citizen. There are no grades of citizenship and there is no need for an honours system among citizens. My view is a simple one. Those people in our society who are...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I identify completely with every word the Cathaoirleach, as a good friend of the late Paul Coghlan, has spoken, as well as the words of all of my colleagues. Paul Coghlan was a true gentleman. He had a huge interest in the law, something most people are not aware of. He spent a lot of time in judges' chambers and sitting in courts with judges. He loved the company of lawyers and brought...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “the Bill be read a second time on 31st December, 2023.” I welcome the Minister back to active duty. My amendment would postpone the consideration of Second Stage until the end of the year, but I wish to move it on this basis only, that we should not rush the Bill...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: I wish to make a number of comments. Senator Ward, in ebullient style, decided to commence his contribution on the basis that most of the criticism of this Bill was nonsense. I do not accept that. While I accept that much of the criticism is nonsense and that many keyboard warriors have written exaggerated and overblown criticisms of the Bill and about its threat to our society, when the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2023)

Michael McDowell: A kinder society and a moral society are not necessarily the same thing. One can be unkind and offensive. Free speech, sometimes, is offensive to other people and people legitimately cause offence and take offence from free speech. A guarantee of free speech without the right to offend has, on many occasions, been described by people across civilisation as worthless. The same applies to...

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister. I have been pressing for this debate for some time and I want to say a few things. When the Garda Reserve was originally canvassed in Dáil Éireann, it received all-party support. The one group that was opposed to it at the time was the Garda Representative Association, GRA. One of its officers said he would be waiting in the long grass for me as a result...

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Not agreed. I want to say one thing. We have had two Ministers in the House today. Not one number has been mentioned to us in the context of how many people it is intended to recruit to the Garda Reserve. That is a shame. I am not agreeable to the adjournment.

Seanad: Garda Reserve: Statements (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Under the rules of the House, I do not think I am entitled to. However, I think it is amazing that I have been campaigning here for two years and not one figure, not even one target, has been mentioned in the course of the afternoon. That is a real shame. I withdraw my objection to the adjournment.

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I congratulate the members of the Fine Gael group here today for proposing this Bill and the members of Young Fine Gael for coming up with the legislative plan. Two points occur to me. When I looked at it, I asked myself, looking back at the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, if it was sufficient. The answer is it is not, and for a number of reasons. It is not sufficient...

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I see a few things I would change.

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion.

Seanad: Academic Precarity: Motion (24 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State this evening. I welcome the Leas-Chathaoirleach's initiative in establishing sectoral debates for the various university panels. I compliment Senator Higgins on taking the initiative with this particular motion. There is now considerable publicity about the plight of postdoctoral students and the fact they are effectively being exploited by the universities...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I want to raise two matters on the Order of Business. The first relates to the Garda Reserve. It seems to me that despite raising this issue on a number of occasions in this House, we have not had a debate on it and we have had no sign of any interest in staging such a debate. The Garda Reserve has dwindled down to practically nothing due to deliberate neglect. Likewise, we discovered the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: It is not quite approved, for this reason-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: No, we are not. The Leader spoke about Senator Paul Daly's contribution on wilding one's garden. Ragwort, thistles and dock are twice as beneficial to bees as wildflowers.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I am just making the point that they are illegal under the Noxious Weeds Act and that anybody who has them on his or her land is liable to be prosecuted.