Results 121-140 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: They have access to legal aid under the Act.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The other people can go to the gardaí who will help them. That is the service which will be provided.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: It is up to a point. If the State is to subsidise a legal argument between lawyers on both sides of every dispute between neighbours, a situation would pertain similar to that in the UK where the legal aid bill costs £2 billion per year.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: We cannot afford this.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: It is not a lawyer-fattening matter.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Senator Tuffy was making a different point. She argued that she experienced sleepless nights as a result of the incident and that this is the experience of people at the receiving end of anti-social behaviour.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I am sympathetic to Senator Jim Walsh's argument. If a person was coming to the end of his or her sentence, in practical terms, the chances of him or her being moved to a prison are slight. The authorities tend to put them out on temporary release rather than move them to a new environment where they would learn bad habits.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I agree that such is a hard case. For a woman in those circumstances, it is a real Sophie's Choice situation. Does one destroy the family, imprison the bread winner and make the family destitute or does one protect one's child? I would hate to be in that position and I cannot conceive of an easy answer. To fail to apply this provision to a parent who sees a child being abused by another...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Senator's point is a good one. The term is particularly defined in this context as someone who is believed to be abusing a child. We are discussing people who recklessly endanger a child by causing him or her to be left in such a situation because they are safe as long as the abuser in question is never convicted. For example, take the Ferns Inquiry, from which this all falls. Where were...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: The Senator will appreciate that we are criminalising assaults on firemen, nurses in hospitals and people engaged in the due execution of their duties. The real question is whether someone rendering medical assistance other than in a hospital should be the subject of this provision, such as a general practitioner on a house call who becomes involved in a fracas there. In this legislation, we...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: A newspaper editorial told us to wake up, but we were already well down the road to making this law. However, that does not take away from the fact that the hatred shown for a fireman, an ordinary, decent member of the community——

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: ——who only does good, and for authority and the contempt shown for humanity in terms of someone doing injury to a person in those circumstances are almost unbelievable. I have never heard of a fireman who went out in his tender to do ill. I welcome that Members of both Houses said that they were shocked by this type of behaviour. The advantage of this provision is that if someone throws a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Senators Jim Walsh andCummins will appreciate that we are approaching the end of a debate on legislation. I do not wish to have this before the Supreme Court on an Article 26 reference. There are too many important provisions in the Bill, regarding which I had to make some conservative decisions following advice. I have some sympathy with Senator Jim Walsh's comments. Although one can easily...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I agree with Senator Cummins. While it is an offence for people to be in possession of fireworks, I do not want to have draconian laws which ruin children's careers by bringing them to the District Court. I want to deal with it mainly at source. It is technically an offence to have a prohibited firework in one's possession. Senator Cummins makes that point and it echoes our earlier discussion...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I am neither a killjoy nor a puritan. I often wonder whether the Irish attitude to Guy Fawkes is affected by the fact that he was regarded as someone who was doing his best. That's the way we are.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Having recently seen a magnificent display in the Phoenix Park I think fireworks are fantastic when they are in safe hands. Every year, however, particularly in the United Kingdom, the figures are horrific for children mutilated by fireworks.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: I had to face up to the question of whether, on liberal principles, I should say, these things happen, children will lose eyes, or a foot if something slips down their Wellington boots or whatever, and let people make money selling fireworks to them. We have decided to impose a significant penalty on people who have them with intent to supply. People who are in Moore Street, or wherever young...

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: One either has an enforceable law or abandons it. Senator Mansergh argued for abandoning it.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: In certain circumstances. I am shocked by the revelation that the godfather of fireworks in Tipperary allowed one of his family to light the fuse. I thought with the courage of his convictions he would take the risk himself.

Seanad: Criminal Justice Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Jul 2006)

Derek McDowell: Senator Jim Walsh is right to point out that police in some parts of the world have infiltrated organised crime gangs. One is on a very slippery moral slope when that starts to happen. If members of police forces want to impress their would-be colleagues in crime, they have to be seen to engage in criminal acts. It is difficult to justify a decision to authorise police personnel to do things...