Results 13,341-13,360 of 18,733 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2005: Second Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: It would not be easy to do. I wish to put on the record of this House that of all the land that was offered in that process and adjudged suitable the cheapest was bought. Whatever way one looks at it that is the case although different impressions have been given. If another option had been chosen would this House have congratulated me for saving a lot of money by putting a farming family out...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2005: Second Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I aspire to staying a few more nights there at some stage. I agree with Senator Mansergh in that it is a pity that public procurement of land, especially when there is no CPO power attached to it, and even when there is, ends up with the taxpayer paying top dollar. That is the society in which we live. There is no easy alternative way of doing business without causing much reaction. The...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2005: Second Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I hope whatever replaces the prison will be of an equivalent if not better architectural standard. Those who lament the building's demolition should remember that what I propose to have built in north Dublin at Thornton Hall will be of a similar standard for both men and women, and young people currently in St. Patrick's Institution. That is good news. Senator Brady mentioned padded cells....

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I refer the Deputies to the terms of Article 7 of the Additional Protocol, the title of which is "Temporal Application". It states, "This Protocol shall be applicable to the enforcement of sentences imposed either before or after its entry into force." If we are talking about the scope of the protocol that shows this section of this Bill is totally in line with the convention and protocol to...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: For this legislation to come into operation, it is necessary that in any particular case the State whose courts imposed the sentence would have to have acceded to the convention and to the protocol. That is the first absolute prerequisite. As currently advised, I do not believe Colombia has done that and I do not know whether it intends to do that. The Deputies will know there is a pending...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am fascinated by his preoccupation with these issues when I contrast it with his total silence in respect of the many people whose bodies, showing signs of torture, were found on the Border with their hands tied behind their backs and a hole in their head from a bullet wound. We are told that these were the products of a court martial by the so-called republican movement. In fact the people...

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is what happened.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I do not know what grand uncle the Deputy is talking about. I think the Deputy has got the genealogy slightly wrong.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I know of no ancestor of mine who ever brought anybody into a room and tortured them to the point where they were pleading for the torture to stop——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——told them that the only way to end the torture was to make a confession, took the confession, sent it to their relatives——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——shot them in the head and dumped them on a back road in County Louth.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is extraordinary for the Deputy to say that at least they had some opportunity. I do not believe they had any opportunities.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: They were tortured into making a confession and then shot in the head. If that is justice, fine, but if the Deputy cannot condemn that kind of activity——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: No and the Deputy never condemns it either. He just goes into a silent mode.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy has been asked now.

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: In dealing with the——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: We are dealing with these two amendments. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe——

Transfer of Execution of Sentences Bill 2003 [Seanad]: Report Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——has rightly asked if it has potential application. It does have potential application if those conditions precedent are met but it is subject to the same proposition that if extradition would be impossible then execution of the sentence in Ireland would be impossible on foot of the same order. It is not something that will radically or profoundly alter the position and the Tánaiste...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2005: Second Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am pleased to have this opportunity to open the debate in the House on the Prisons Bill 2005. The purpose of the Bill is to provide for contracting out certain prisoner escort services; the closure of Mountjoy Prison, and prisoners participating in certain court hearings by means of a live television link from prison. The measures provided for in the Bill are intended to provide for a more...

Seanad: Prisons Bill 2005: Second Stage. (27 Oct 2005)

Michael McDowell: The development of the 150 acre Thornton site will produce a modern prison campus with the appropriate range of facilities and with room for future expansion. It will end the unacceptable practice of "slopping out" which the inmates of Mountjoy endure. It will prevent drugs being catapulted over the prison walls into the exercise yards. It will make it possible to have a drug-free prison...