Results 1,021-1,040 of 18,726 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: It is not agreed. I was unfortunately not able to participate in the Second Stage debate on the Bill. I would have liked to have said a few words about its general principle. I will take this opportunity on the section to make a few remarks about the Bill. First, in light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Wayne Ellis v. the Minister for Justice and Equality, I believe the present...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: There is nothing that Senator Ward said with which I disagree at all. I know, from having been where he is now and from having served as an Opposition Deputy, a Minister and Attorney General, that there is always a clamour for minimum sentences. It is said that if you hit a Garda, you must go to jail for a year, for example. Minimum sentences go down well with some parts of the media. At...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I ask Senators to recall that section 40(a), of the legislation that was passed in 2007, states: The purpose of subsections (10) and (11) is to provide that in view of the harm caused to society by the unlawful possession and use of firearms, a court, in imposing sentence on a person (other than a person under the age of 18 years) for an offence under this section, shall specify as the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021: Second Stage (10 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: A couple of things occur to me. First, we face a housing emergency and need to have dynamic and early response reactions to the housing crisis that is happening at the moment. Therefore, I commend the Minister on his hands-on approach. He is confounding some of his critics by the dynamism of his approach and his willingness to address the issues quickly. I must commiserate with the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: This morning, the draft greater Dublin area transport strategy was published for public consideration, and I have to express a sense of shame that such a document could have been produced. It is vapid and commits us to nothing but the delivery of MetroLink at some point in the ten years following 2031 and of the BusConnects programme. Apart from those two pledges, there is a virtual...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I can tell the Senator that he will be waiting too.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I will be worse than retired.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I agree with was said by Senator Buttimer with regard to Taiwan. I support him in that regard. There is a motion on the Order Paper, in my name and that of other Senators, in regard to Richard O'Halloran who is entering another year of captivity in China. I want to emphasise that. Today, I want to raise an issue of volunteerism and, in particular, to ask the Deputy Leader to seek the...

Seanad: Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House. I wish to underline the independent nature of the members of the Independent group to say that there is no unanimity among them, as is obvious already. I fully accept that we are in an emergency and that emergency measures have to be taken. I am one of these people who rejects completely the suggestion of a two-tier society. In my view, the responsible...

Seanad: Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: -----or every ten days or whatever it is and say this is what has happened over the last week? The Garda checkpoints are either justified or unjustified. The 5 km rule is either paying off or it is not. Vaccinations are having this effect or that effect. Schools are or are not a vector for infection. It is or is not safe to reopen this, that or the other in terms of universities or the...

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: My unshakeable loyalty to Senator Boyhan has the effect that I will second his amendment, which should command general support in the House. Were it not for the amendment he has proposed, I might have been opposing the whole motion. I say that for this reason----

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: As has been mentioned here, there is nothing in this to oppose because there is nothing in this which will actually make very much difference.There is nothing in this to oppose because there is nothing in this that will actually make very much difference.

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: The Senator has had his opportunity and he should let me finish.

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: There is a fundamental flaw at the bottom of this, which comes especially from the Green Party. It is the distinction between public and private transport. I am sure the Minister of State knows the route around Galway city well. That is not private; it is public infrastructure which is badly needed. There is no point in pretending, as Green Party members in Galway do, that it will be...

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: Ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.

Seanad: Public Transport: Motion (3 Nov 2021)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 2: To insert the following paragraphs after “calls on the Government to:” “- conduct a cost benefit analysis on public monies spent to date on the MetroLink project, publish all budget overruns, outline the overall final budget for the project and confirm a completion date for MetroLink; - conduct a review of the BusConnects project in Dublin...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Funding (14 Oct 2021)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, to the House.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Oct 2021)

Michael McDowell: Yesterday evening this House passed a resolution in regard to the British Government's proposal to introduce an amnesty in respect of certain offences committed in Northern Ireland. In the short time available to me last night I made some points which I wish to put in context today. I understand it is intended to convey the resolution of this House to Members of the British Parliament,...

Seanad: British Government Legacy Proposals: Motion (13 Oct 2021)

Michael McDowell: I am grateful to Senator Mullen for sharing time with me. I had intended to indicate some disagreement with the motion, but when I read the terms of the motion I decided not to do so and not to call a division on it. I wish to put some matters on the record. There is a danger that in adopting a unanimous approach, we forget the points that Senator McGreehan has made and we forget some...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Sep 2021)

Michael McDowell: This is our first occasion to meet for some time. I want to put on the record that, earlier in the year, Second Stage of the Seanad Bill was adjourned until the end of the year. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I had a conversation after that. He indicated it was his intention to have a small group among the parties of the coalition in government consider whether they had...