Results 1,621-1,640 of 18,746 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Not to the Bill.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1:In page 7, line 10, after “of” where it firstly occurs to insert “advisory”. Amendment No. 1 is in the names of myself, Senators Boyhan, Craughwell and Marie-Louise O'Donnell.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The purpose of this amendment is to insert into the Long Title of the Bill the word "advisory". In general terms, not too much attention is paid to the close test of the Long Title of a Bill. On this occasion, it is important because claims have been made for this legislation by one Member of Government that this will take the appointment of judges out of the hands of politicians and hand...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: If the Chair is ruling that they be taken together-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----the same logic applies to the amendment No. 3 in my name.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is not the same thing but it is similar.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I did say that amendments Nos. 1 and 3 were similar. They are, of course, slightly different in that amendment No. 3 refers to line 13 of the administrative reprint on page 7, "To enable, through other procedures, the making of recommendations in respect of appointments to senior judicial offices that do not fall within the remit of the foregoing body". The amendment is to insert the word...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Senator will be able to make his point.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 2:In page 7, line 12, after “be” to insert “a minority of the”.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am glad to see that.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I would say my colleague, Senator O'Sullivan, is now under observation to see how he is going to deal with this.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The purpose of amendment No. 2 is to make it clear in the Long Title to the Bill that the lay members should be a minority of the commission as constituted. At the moment Members will be aware that the Bill envisages at section 10 that it should consist of 17 members. In my view that is an unwieldy and unnecessarily large group of people and if the number of lay persons appointed under...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: To take the Minister's last point first, when we are tendering amendments to this legislation, they have to be coherent. If one is going to propose a minority of lay persons at a later point, and if one is going to propose amendment of the Bill by assiduously removing all the lay majority provisions in it, there is nothing incongruous about having the Long Title of the Bill reflect that...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Exactly.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The case for a large judicial appointments commission of the kind proposed, or as the text now stands, has not been made. It is excessively large and unwieldy. No good case has been made for having seven lay people and a chairperson, as envisaged by section 10(1)(j) and (k), constitute a majority of the board, and the number seven is clearly designed simply to outweigh numerically the ex...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: We will come to it. I am just saying that Senator Bacik mentioned that the Minister has come up with an amendment, but the purpose of the amendment is to say that under no circumstances will a retired foreign judge ever serve on the Irish judicial appointments commission. We will come to it in the fullness of time, and we will debate it thoroughly at that time, but I am just saying that it...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I do not want to get into the detail of it. I want to reserve my right to come back in detail about it. I will not push the matter any further except to say that-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I will leave it at that. I signal in advance my opposition to it.