Results 41-60 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: National Development Plan: Motion (7 Feb 2007)

Derek McDowell: Yes, let me go to the boring part.

Seanad: National Development Plan: Motion (7 Feb 2007)

Derek McDowell: The problem with the plan is that it includes much that we have heard before. One example is the provisions in regard to the health service, an area with which the Minister is particularly familiar. I have read the full section on health and find it deliberately dodges the two major issues in health, both of which require significant additional infrastructural investment. It dodges the...

Seanad: Consumer Protection Bill 2007: Second Stage (6 Feb 2007)

Derek McDowell: I broadly welcome the Bill. Members will forgive me for being a bit churlish at the beginning of my contribution but some of the rhetoric used by the Government side in welcoming the Bill was a bit over the top. The Bill, in effect, consolidates existing legislation and transposes into Irish law the unfair commercial practices directive of 1995. It also gives significant additional powers...

Seanad: European Communities Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Derek McDowell: Along with other Members who spoke, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the European project. I am willing to go one step further than Senator Dardis in embracing German cooking as part of the project. The Minister of State spoke about it at great length. I am not sure why he did so because it did not appear to be entirely apposite to what we are discussing. I will let that pass, however. I...

Seanad: European Communities Bill 2006: Second Stage (7 Dec 2006)

Derek McDowell: If this and the other House have passed a Bill, why should a Minister acting on his or her own be entitled to amend it? If we have had a full debate and this House has taken a view, if the other House has taken the Bill and the President has signed it in the normal course, why should a Minister, simply because he or she considers it is necessary to fulfil our obligations to the European...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Report Stage. (5 Dec 2006)

Derek McDowell: The judge has the decision in the matter. Clearly a prisoner cannot participate unless the prisoner is somehow involved. I want to avoid a person saying a testimony is invalid because a notice was not served on the prisoner and his legal representative when both were well aware of what was happening and it was adequate to serve it on the legal representative. Physically serving a notice...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (30 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: Senator Leyden opens up so many interesting avenues of approach, it is almost tempting to follow him down them. I might later but I think I will stick to what I intended to say.

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (30 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: This is the second debate in the House on the National Development Finance Agency. In October, we had statements on its annual report. That debate was pretty poor because so many Members did not have a notion what the agency was. I suspect many of them still do not. That is not terribly surprising because the role of the NDFA has changed since it was first mooted several years ago. The...

Seanad: National Development Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (30 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: We will debate that another time. The decision in principle to commission a building project is made by the Government. The NDFA decides the funding mechanism for the project. This is technical advice that calls on the agency's expertise on funding and putting together contracts. It does not proof against a bad decision by Government. It ensures that once a decision on a project is made,...

Seanad: Tax Code: Motion (29 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: That might have something to do with it. We need to do this in a focused way and know what are our objectives. There is a danger — we have witnessed some of it this evening — that it will become a debate between political parties as to who can say the most populist thing. In that context, we must be conscious of two issues. First, we must recognise that the housing market is very...

Seanad: Tax Code: Motion (29 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: I do not support wholesale across-the-board reductions in stamp duty. I am proud to be a tax-and-spend social democrat. In order to improve social services we need to spend public money. To pretend that we could greatly reduce the rates of stamp duty would be hypocrisy on my part. In the context of the housing market, an overall reduction putting extra money in everybody's pockets would...

Seanad: Estimates for Public Services 2007: Statements (23 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: The projections made by the Department of Finance in October suggest that we will enjoy economic growth of between 4% and 5% of GNP and GDP for each of the next three years. On the face of it, that is a rosy scenario that we all welcome. There are, however, worrying trends and fault lines in the economy we must be aware of and, as far as we can, address. The most striking feature is our...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2006: Second Stage (22 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: I am pleased to be before the House today to present the Prisons Bill 2006. This Bill deals with a number of issues relating to prisons and prisoners and its purpose is manifold. The Bill provides primarily for the following matters: video conferencing of certain non-trial court hearings; the placing of the Office of the Inspector of Prisons on a statutory footing; planning provisions for...

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: The main amendment in this group dealing with judgment mortgages is amendment No. 62, which is intended to clarify the meaning of subsection (1) of section 116. The purpose is to clarify that a judgment mortgagee may seek a court order for sale or such other order for enforcement against the debtor's land as the court thinks appropriate. The amendments to sections 3 and 123 are...

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: This is a drafting amendment to clarify the definition of tenancy by inserting the term "the estate or interest which arises from".

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: Had the amendment been moved I would have asked for it to be withdrawn. However, it is the intention of the Parliamentary Counsel to submit a Report Stage amendment along the same lines. If Senator Tuffy sees the record of the House she will know her amendment has had some effect.

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform is examining the question of reform in the area of property management companies and estate management charges and will address it in the context of the reforming legislation on auctioneers and estate agents.

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: The purpose of amendment No. 16 is to ensure consistency between subsections (3) and (4) of section 13 by providing that the conversion of a fee tail into a fee simple will take place only when any protectorship has ended. This is intended to avoid interference with any existing interest in land.

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: I may be very old fashioned but I always imagined witnessing a signature was the same for a will as for a deed and that one could not witness it if one did not see it happen.

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2006)

Derek McDowell: Section 65 abolishes the needs for words of limitation in conveyances of unregistered land. This is a drafting amendment to bring the wording of section 65 into line with section 123 of the Registry of Deeds Act 1964 which abolished the need for words of limitation for transfers of registered land. Section 65(4) aims to cure defects in conveyances executed before this Bill comes into...