Results 9,221-9,240 of 18,729 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: Yes. It also means that if a person is caught by the Garda in possession of firearms with the intent to endanger life and he has in the past, say in 1997, notched up a relevant offence, he is on notice that he will receive the mandatory minimum sentence without any deductions if he commits that offence. I am grateful to Deputy Jim O'Keeffe for opening this line of territory and to the Office...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: That is what I am advised. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe aimed at the same outcome in his amendments Nos. 118, 130, 137, 143 and 163. I propose the Government amendments to cover the points he raised in his amendments. I am grateful to him for raising these issues. Deputy Ó Snodaigh is correct, and I agree with him warmly, that he has not persuaded me to change my mind on these matters. I know and...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am not going down that road. However, any person in Dublin who has a Glock pistol in his pocket is a menace to society and this House must tell the Judiciary that there are no special and excusing circumstances for carrying a weapon with the intent to endanger life. If you commit a serious offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, you can expect to take a serious hit if...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: We will advertise but without my photograph.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It refers only to these offences.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I will respond briefly to Deputy Lynch's queries. I assure her that the deprivation of the special and excusing circumstances clause applies only to repeated instances of the offences with which we are dealing in this legislation. If one was done for shoplifting at an early age, that is not relevant.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy asked whether there is a contradiction between the line we are taking in this respect and the manner in which we are dealing with other issues such as the defence of one's home. Deputy Murphy will agree that not all of one's defence of one's home is done with a firearm. Most people do not have firearms in their homes——

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: ——and are not in a position to use firearms to defend their homes.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: They are in a position to use pokers, hatchets and other implements.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: They are entitled to defend themselves. There is nothing contradictory about saying that any obligation to retreat should be irrelevant when one takes a stance in defence of one's self, one's family, one's property and one's home. I do not think that is some kind of neo-fascist view, I think it is a reasonable view. I do not think one should be obliged to retreat from people who are invading...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am just saying——

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is not for me to exploit the huge and vehement disagreement between the Labour Party and Fine Gael on this issue.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I will merely say that it is the first sign of a major fracture of opinion. Perhaps Deputy Murphy will agree that the cynic in me is possibly justified in saying that this division is a reflection of the parties' task of securing different segments of the electorate's vote. Deputy Lynch will be the bleeding heart and Deputy Murphy will wear the jackboot. They will be happy then.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: We are straying a wee bit from the subject matter.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The subsection uses language which is already used in other portions of the Bill but I agree it is rather quaint.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I accept the amendment.

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Commissioner has agreed to consult the shooting lobby, if I may use that phrase, and does so on a regular basis. It is not as if the——

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: It is not as if the Commissioner is hostile to that lobby. The guidelines are being provided for because effectively the High Court held that each local Superintendent was a corporation sole as regards making his or her mind up as to what policies would apply. Missives from the Phoenix Park and the Commissioner were deemed to be ultra vires and an improper circumscription of the discretion...

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: I am saying to the Deputy, yes, very definitely——

Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputies are ignoring the fact that the Commissioner may want to issue security-related guidelines but he or she should not have to put them into the public domain just for the curiosity of the Deputies who wish to see how the matter is being dealt with. The Commissioner may want, at a particular time because of a particular perceived threat, to issue a particular guideline and it is not...