Results 14,161-14,180 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am very grateful to the Senators for the supportive remarks they made. I would make the point to Senator Jim Walsh that he won the war, effectively. He may not like the exact terms of the peace treaty at the end of the war but he won the war in the sense that when I came into this House with this Bill about a year ago, the model was radically different.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I listened carefully to what was said here and it accorded with my own hunches that we were going down the wrong track then and we have switched to the right track. On the guidelines, it is to be noted that section 36(1) of the Bill as it now stands states that a local authority and the Garda Commissioner shall arrange for the establishment of a joint policing committee in accordance with...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am talking about the members of a local authority.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Some areas may have very active chambers of commerce with business improvement district arrangements in place but that may not be the case in other areas. I do not want to mention a town in case it has an active chamber of commerce but councils in some areas do not have developed infrastructure of that kind. I want to put guidelines in place that offer a menu of choices, thereby allowing...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Local authorities sometimes say they have no money but they often get money for projects about which many people would be slightly sceptical. They can always find money for many projects when it suits.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I will conclude on that note. I believe we have the balance just about right. I realise Senator Jim Walsh believes I have moved back somewhat from my earlier position but I will keep him happy by putting different models of local policing committees into the guidelines to allow people choose from a menu of models which are best suited to their own needs and give local authorities that degree...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: If we had said that one of the functions of the ombudsman commission was to entertain complaints by gardaí against other gardaí, the force would be mud-wrestled to the floor as an institution and would become an arbitrator and industrial relations kind of theatre of war. I do not want to go down that road. I want the commission to be one that deals with the public's complaints about...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Senators will recall that I brought forward an amendment in this House on Committee Stage which inserted a new subsection (2) into section 114. This amendment provided as follows: "Regulations under subsection (1)(i) shall include provision for the establishment of promotion boards comprising 3 members, one of whom (but not the chairperson) shall be a member of the Garda Síochána". I...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: If the Senator had my copy of the Bill it would make more sense.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: When amendments are made, the sections of the Bill are automatically renumbered. That is the way the system operates. The correct reference is to subsection (3).

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is not incorrect. It is done by reference to the original Seanad Bill. It becomes more complicated for one to follow the process if one does not have a copy of the Bill, as passed by the Dáil.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: In regard to members of the Garda Síochána, we are in danger in this House of operating on the basis of outdated stereotypes. One of the great pleasures of my job is to visit Templemore to see the passing out parades. The notion that these are young farmers' lads, with the leaving certificate sticking out of their breast pocket, who have no experience of the broad wide world, which may have...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is well paid. The notion that the education of gardaí involves a group of people, who have no experience of the broader world and no other education, attending a kind of monastery in Templemore is not true any more. Anybody who wants to leave their prejudices aside should go to Templemore to learn the truth because the situation is radically different from the picture being portrayed of...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Yes, there is.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am rooting for the Senator.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: It surprises me that Senator White objects to the retirement age of 57. This has been debated for many years and there are two sides to the argument. It is easy to ask why somebody should be let go at 57 when he or she is doing a good job. On the other hand, do we want people between 57 and 60 who, getting on in years, are not in a position to hop over walls and chase burglars? I am 54 and I...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: If the Senator were a female member of the Garda Síochána I would not like to see her scaling walls either, although I am sure she is younger than me.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Members of the Garda Síochána are entitled to a full pension after 30 years service, although this is changing for new recruits. That is a substantial property right accorded to them. Not everybody can retire after 30 years and receive half their salary, inflation-proofed for the rest of their existence.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I agree with Senator Jim Walsh that it is desirable that gardaí live in the communities they police. I cannot, however, force any garda to do that. I cannot force a garda policing Donnybrook to live in Donnybrook, or one policing Ringsend to live in Ringsend. I can, however, encourage reservists to enlist so that there are members of the broader force in every community. For the information...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage. (30 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: If there were a system whereby everybody could serve until they were 60 or 65 it would only be for members who were still firing on all cylinders from a fitness point of view so that they could take on the onerous duties of gardaí. If a selection system were introduced it would give rise to significant industrial relations problems because the process would be open to charges of favouritism,...