Results 12,921-12,940 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I want to put on the record that in July last Deputy O'Keeffe announced that five acres, which was part of the farm at Thornton Hall that was kept back by the owner because it had planning permission potential, had a value of €1 million per acre. However, later in this House, his party, not himself, said the remaining 150 acres had a total value of €6 million. It is an interesting...

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Deputy O'Keeffe valued the five acres at €1 million per acre.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is fair enough. The Deputy accepted this figure and put it into the public domain. I paid less than one fifth of that per acre for the remaining 150 acres.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The land in question is totally suitable for the purpose for which it was bought. It was examined carefully by a team of engineers. The report is available under FOI to anyone who wants to see it. The Deputy can examine it at any time if he wishes. He knows it was examined fully at the time of purchase. As an environmental impact procedure will be put in place, the Deputy need not worry about...

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Yes, and the Deputy should know that it is suitable land. Road access to the land is not inadequate as has been suggested. I wonder has the Deputy driven up the long straight road, because he would be impressed by the road access to the land. It is not as inadequate as the Deputy is implying. On the construction of the prison campus, this will be done on a public private partnership basis....

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I believe it will run to €200 million or €300 million, depending on how extensive a prison facility is constructed. It will be between two and six years before it is completed fully. On the Mountjoy site, it is my intention to dispose of it. Given a proper planning scheme, it will recover for taxpayers well in excess of €100 million.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: Unlike Deputy Costello, I believe that Mountjoy Prison should be demolished. There are a couple of features which can be retained as part of redevelopment of the site, including the execution shed which it is proposed to remove to Kilmainham.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The work will go ahead and the campaign of obstruction against it will not succeed. I am amused by the neighbouring landowners who suddenly say that the fields I bought are of huge architectural significance. Who was there when they built their houses? No one has explained what is under their houses. Just because I buy land it becomes of architectural significance, while they have built a...

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that 13 prosecutions under section 49(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended, were dismissed by the district judge sitting at Belmullet District Court on 9 November 2005. An application has been made, by way of case stated, to review the decisions of the district judge. As the Deputy will appreciate, the courts are subject only to the Constitution...

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The courts are independent under the Constitution and carry out their functions independently.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I will not comment on a decision that is to be the subject of an appellate process. The decision on whether to provide information requested is primarily for the person having carriage of the prosecution, the Director of Public Prosecutions. He is the person in charge of a prosecution and it falls to him to decide what information is supplied or what facilities for examination should be...

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: This is the point that must be decided by the courts and not by me. It is not appropriate for me to express opinions on the merits of an outcome.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: If it is reasonable, a set of implications follows but if it is not correctly legally based, other inferences must be drawn. I am not in a position to speculate on what a court will decide on these issues and it would not help if I did so.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: In a process of discovery in a criminal prosecution decisions are primarily for the prosecutor because we have an adversarial legal system. The prosecutor decides if, as part of bringing the case, he will make available certain information. It is not the function of the Minister to send directives to the gardaí as to what they should do in particular cases.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform would be wholly unaware of the state of litigation in any particular case and would have no reason to become involved. These are matters left by the Constitution for others to decide.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am not aware who made the decision.

Road Traffic Offences. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is certainly not, however, a decision made in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Government has approved in principle the development of a new prison complex on the Thornton site on a value for money PPP basis. The Irish Prison Service is preparing a detailed assessment of the project in accordance with the Department of Finance guidelines for the provision of capital projects through public private partnerships which will result in a detailed business case being...

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: With regard to the process envisaged, consultants will be appointed because that is justifiable in these circumstances. I visited the Midlands Prison last Monday. The new buildings were constructed there on a quasi-PPP basis in good time and to a high quality. It compares favourably with the construction of prison buildings in the past, which caused substantial problems.

Prison Building Programme. (23 Nov 2005)

Michael McDowell: No. This is a design, build and maintenance project and, therefore, the prisons will not be operated privately, similar to those in America and the UK. I intend to keep the operation of prisons within the public sector as long as that is economically feasible.