Results 14,761-14,780 of 18,734 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Yes, but nothing has been done since then.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Labour Party has been in office since then, but it has not attempted to establish a Garda authority again. The Labour Party was in office with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the 1990s, as Deputy Rabbitte will recall, but it did not attempt to resurrect this discredited idea before now. The establishment of an independent police authority would damage seriously the right of the Dáil to...

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——for the manner in which the Garda Síochána conducts its business.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: That is what I am remedying now.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: What chance would I have of getting a report if an independent authority was in place?

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am now prescribing it in law. I am not waiting for Deputy Rabbitte or his commission to tell me to do that.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I have not waited for years.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I initiated this process of reform as soon as I was appointed as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I published consultation papers and engaged in consultation with the representative associations. I sent the heads of the Bill to the Irish Human Rights Commission, whose criticisms I later took on board. The process that has led us to where we are today is not as it was described...

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——when I remind the House that the first set of events with which the Morris tribunal dealt took place between 1992 and 1995.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: If there was a failure——

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy keeps shouting me down. If a systems failure permitted certain events to happen, that failure was present throughout that period. Political accountability, which I hold for the period in which I hold office——

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: ——also attaches to those who held office between 1992 and 1995. It is a simple matter.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: It is not a fantastic proposition. Deputy Rabbitte took a different view of the proposition when his pals, including Kevin Murphy, launched a report about political accountability yesterday. The Deputy wholly endorsed the notion of political accountability that was indicated on that occasion.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Indeed.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Labour Party, which promised an independent police authority but then abandoned that proposal during its five years in Government between 1982 and 1987 and never attempted to resurrect it during its further five years in Government between 1992 and 1997, is now criticising me for standing by that party's mature consideration that the idea was a bad one in the first place.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I am glad that Deputy Rabbitte has said that my reforms are feeble. They are a hell of a lot better, if I may use that colloquialism, than nothing, which is what the Labour Party has ever done.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: I wish to inform the House that some amendments will be introduced on Report Stage in response to the reflective debates the House and the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights have had about the second Morris report. There will be a new statutory duty for members of the Garda to account for the manner in which they carry out their duties.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy may think it is a big deal.

Morris Tribunal: Motion. (21 Jun 2005)

Michael McDowell: Mr. Justice Morris also thought it was a big deal, because he remarked on its absence.