Results 11,181-11,200 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 23: In page 6, to delete lines 13 to 23 and substitute the following: "(c) Subject to subsections (7) and (8), if the judge determines that the accused person is unfit to be tried, he or she shall adjourn the proceedings until further order, and may— (i) if he or she is satisfied, having considered the evidence of an approved medical officer adduced pursuant to...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 25: In page 6, line 27, to delete "of committal".

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 27: In page 6, to delete lines 35 to 41 and substitute the following: "(b) Within the period of committal authorised by the court under this subsection, the approved medical officer concerned shall report to the court on whether in his or her opinion the accused person committed under paragraph (a) is (i) suffering from a mental disorder (within the meaning of the Act of...

Order of Business. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Common abuse is not defamatory.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Order for Report Stage. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 20, after "1883," to insert "TO AMEND THE INFANTICIDE ACT 1949,". I mentioned on Committee Stage that I was considering whether to change the law on infanticide. Having examined the matter in consultation with the Attorney General's office, I have decided to proceed with two amendments to the Bill which provide for amendments to the Infanticide Act...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I understand that in 1949 the view was that lactation had an effect on the mind of mothers who were breastfeeding. Medical and psychiatric science have moved on from that. Issues such as post-puerperal depression and the like would not necessarily be linked to lactation in the technical sense and it is for that reason I put forward these amendments. The Deputy will appreciate that the issue...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: ""intoxication" means being under the influence of any alcoholic drink, drug, solvent or any other substance or combination of substances;". During Committee Stage debate of the definition of "mental disorder" Deputy English made the point in support of a Fine Gael amendment relating to intoxication that the...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: One could be suffering from a hallucination that one's phone kept going off.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Would the Deputy allow people to invoke the defence of inflated ego?

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Regarding the suggestion that the terms used in the Bill should be made identical to those in the Mental Health Act 2001, the Mental Health Commission re-examined this issue and wrote to me to state that the definition of "mental disorder" as used in the Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 is identical to the definition used in the Mental Health Act 2001 when referring to issues of treatment....

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy should not be too gracious. In view of what was stated, it does not involve a point of principle, although I slightly distrust the constant moving of language, which occurs in the area of mental health particularly. Some of the phrases used with technical meaning in old Victorian criminal law and psychiatric books have completely gone out of currency. The term "imbecile" had a...

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: One can find a word in a thesaurus which has a fairly clear meaning but also means something else that sounds similar. I take the point that it looks slightly circular. Such definitions are frequently used in Acts, for example, "an assault for the purpose of this section means an assault which has the following characteristics".

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I do not have Roget's Thesaurus to hand to provide another word. There are many colloquial and other terms for having taken too much of something. I would prefer to leave the term as it is.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: There are lobby groups that want to expand the meaning of the term "intellectual disability". They are activists in this area and I admire them for that. This Act, however, does not have to follow what they, in different contexts, may want to achieve by including things within or outside the definition of intellectual disability. On balance, Deputy Costello's amendment No. 6 is preferable.

Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages. (23 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 10: In page 4, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: ""patient", in sections 11, 12 and 13, means a person detained in a designated centre pursuant to this Act;". This is a technical amendment which follows from one suggested by Fine Gael on Committee Stage. The current construction is somewhat unusual in that "patient" is defined in section 12 although it first...

Written Answers — Garda Personnel: Garda Personnel (22 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: There are currently 1,857 civilians employed in the Garda Síochána, which works out at almost 13% of total staff. This figure includes approximately 1,000 staff carrying out clerical and administrative duties and 49 staff employed in professional-technical areas such as financial accounting, information technology, teaching, nursing, research and human resources. The remainder are employed...

Written Answers — Visa Applications: Visa Applications (22 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: Temporary travel documents are never intended to be issued as a substitute for a passport from a person's own country of origin. However, in exceptional circumstances they can be issued in the event that a person has been unreasonably refused a passport from their country of origin. There is no evidence that the person concerned has made an application for a temporary travel document and the...

Written Answers — Child Care Services: Child Care Services (22 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: As the Deputy may be aware, responsibility for the National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 has been assigned to the Department of Health and Children as part of the establishment of the new Office of the Minister for Children under the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan. With regard to the application for capital grant assistance under the Equal...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (22 Mar 2006)

Michael McDowell: My Department has not received any representations, invitations or meeting requests from the Open Republic Institute nor have I met with any representatives of same.