Results 6,541-6,560 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: Eat your heart out.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: When a tribunal report is being discussed in the House it is not usual for Members to question each other on it. The House has considered many tribunal reports in the last year or two and there has never been a question and answer session, as far as I can recollect.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is not possible, at this stage, to indicate when the legislation referred to by Deputy Sargent will be brought before the House. I must stress that safety at sea does not depend on the passing of that legislation. Trawler safety must be acted upon regardless of legislation or international conventions.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: I can give the Deputy an answer. The ethics legislation will be published this year. There is a mechanism for saving the people from foolish expenditure.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is called the electoral process. It is the process whereby the electorate were saved from having €200 million spent on a taxi hardship fund and hundreds of millions of euro spent on compensating Telecom shareholders during the last five years.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Bill is on Report Stage and should come before the House as soon as possible.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is the Government's intention to get through the legislative programme as efficiently as possible. The Deputy might reflect on the following fact.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: In one week this summer, on Tuesday we spent 55 minutes on the Order of Business, on Wednesday we spent an hour and ten minutes and on Thursday we spent an hour and 45 minutes.

Order of Business (1 Feb 2007)

Michael McDowell: The people are sick and sorry at the waste of time every week while we talk about doing our business instead of doing it.

Written Answers — Taxi Regulations: Taxi Regulations (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that there is no exemption of the kind referred to by the Deputy. Section 34(3) of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 makes provision for the Commission for Taxi Regulation to establish requirements and conditions for the purpose of the assessment of applicants for the granting of licenses.

Written Answers — Garda Investigations: Garda Investigations (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 121 of 14 December, 2006. The murder of the unarmed Garda in question was fully investigated by the Garda Síochána at the time. I facilitated a briefing of a representative of the family and his legal adviser in this matter by a leading member of the original Garda investigation team, who confirmed my opinion that the...

Written Answers — Stardust Disaster: Stardust Disaster (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Victims Committee has been advised that an external and independent examination of their submission is to be carried out by an eminent legal person. The arrangements for this examination are the subject of ongoing communication with the Committee's solicitor.

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 together. Under the timetable set out in the most recent report from the Decentralisation Implementation Group to the Minister for Finance, two hundred and thirty posts from the Property Registration Authority are scheduled to move to Roscommon by mid 2009. These posts include general service, technical and specialist grades, the precise details...

Written Answers — Traveller Issues: Traveller Issues (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputy to the Report of the High Level Group on Traveller Issues which was published in March 2006 following approval by the Government. The recommendations contained in the Report represent the position of the Government. The details are available on my Department's website at www.justice.ie. The Report makes clear the extent to which Traveller groups are represented in the...

Written Answers — Public Order Offences: Public Order Offences (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Criminal Damage Act, 1991 and the Litter Pollution Act, 1997 provide for the offences of damaging or defacing property. The Criminal Damage Act 1991 does not provide a specific offence of defacing property with graffiti. Statistics are therefore not available to identify the number of persons prosecuted for offences involving graffiti....

Written Answers — Immigration Registration Certificates: Immigration Registration Certificates (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 227, 239 and 358 together. A fee for immigration registration certificates was introduced in the Immigration Act 2004 (Registration Certificate Fee) Regulations 2006, which came into effect on 27 May 2006. The introduction of such a fee had been flagged both in the Immigration Act 2004, and in the discussion document containing the outline policy proposals...

Written Answers — Immigration Support Services: Immigration Support Services (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: The person concerned made an application for a travel document in April 2006 and was refused as no documentary evidence was provided to support his claim that he needed to travel to obtain his own national passport. The person in question was asked for such documentation in a letter issued on 5 April 2006 but to date this has not been provided. In the event that the person in question...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Maternity Protection (Protection of Mothers who are Breast-feeding) Regulations 2004 which came into operation on 18th October 2004, make provision for an employee who is breast-feeding to take 1 hour off from her work each working day as a breast-feeding break without loss of pay, until the child is 6 months provided: the employee's date of confinement is not more than twenty six weeks...

Written Answers — Residency Permits: Residency Permits (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 and 372 together. I understand from the Immigration Division of my Department that the person in question was granted permission to remain in the State under the provisions of Section 18 of the Refugee Act, 1996 on the 12th August, 2005. This permission to remain is valid up to the 13th March, 2007 at which time it will renewable under the same conditions.

Written Answers — Children Act 2001: Children Act 2001 (31 Jan 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Children Act 2001 is the primary statutory framework for the youth justice system. It adopts a twin-track approach which addresses both the issue of child welfare and of youth justice. The aim is to address the needs of children who require special care or protection in tandem with addressing the issue of offending children. Responsibilities under the Act span three Government...