Results 1,641-1,660 of 18,726 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I agree with Senators Ardagh and Boyhan about what is happening in Dublin. Dublin City Council is now spending the bones of €1 billion. It has 6,000 employees and has outsourced most of its contractual activities. The circumstances in which the manager can effectively confront the elected representatives and dispute their budget on the basis that the Custom House has cut back the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Because it was too high to start with.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: It was 15% off last year also.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Your election manifesto said it would be abolished.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: We will mention it next Tuesday.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Last night on BBC Northern Ireland, the "Spotlight" programme detailed what has happened with Quinn Industrial Holdings and the campaign of intimidation, in particular the appalling things that were done to Kevin Lunney. I want to make a few points about these matters. First, there is no point in scoring cheap political points but there has clearly been an ongoing failure of policing in the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: There is only one standard of law and it should apply everywhere on this island. The second point I want to make is that the leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Micheál Martin, has advanced a view, with which I agree, that there must be a multi-agency approach to the Border situation and to what is and what is not happening there. The Revenue Commissioners, Army intelligence, Garda...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I cannot recollect whether I was in office at the time.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I meant to say one other thing. The two State authorities on this island must make it clear that Quinn Industrial Holdings is never going back to its original ownership on foot of this campaign and this must stop.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I think it was a clerical error and that they were talking about pine needles, not trees.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I too welcome Senator Hackett and acknowledge the presence until a moment ago of the leader of her party, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I am glad that she is already showing independence of mind and is against car-pooling. I anticipate that she will not be in favour of rewilding to the extent of the reintroduction of wolves.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: Leinster House has already been rewilded. There are quite a few wolves prowling its corridors and many of them are in sheep's clothing.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I wish to address the issue of direct provision centres. This House needs to have a serious debate on this issue. It is very easy to virtue signal on this issue and state that one is against a particular thing. A woman stated on the radio on Sunday that she disapproves of the centres. When asked by Brendan O'Connor for an alternative to them, she said, "Well, that is the difficulty."...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: I will make my remarks though the Chair to be orderly. Of course, every person is entitled to seek refugee status if he or she is a genuine refugee. There are safe countries and presumptions. There must be some realism on this matter. Senator Higgins should know that many people posing as refugee applicants are, in fact, migrants. They are escaping poverty. I have no difficulty with...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Senator's heart may be in the right place.I have seen the files, however, and I know what I am talking about. We need a genuine debate in this House about the difference between migrancy and refugee status. We need a real debate about where and how we will accommodate asylum seekers. In what locations, in what buildings, in what facilities and with what supports will we accommodate...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: I echo Senator Swanick's points about the flu inoculation. On my way to the House, I picked up my form and will follow his advice, which is always very careful, to get the jab.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Land Development Agency Bill has not yet been seen in these Houses. It is a matter of considerable worry to many that this body is claimed to have been established even though the legislation for its existence has not yet been passed. As I travel through this city every day, I see student residence buildings running up rapidly all around. I see hotels being built everywhere. I have no...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: It has never worked in building any city anywhere in the world. The market has never worked.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Custom House should be aware that one cannot rely on the market. No great city was ever built by market forces alone and no housing crisis of the kind we have will be dealt with by the market alone. That is a different matter. I refer to Senator Swanick's remarks on the EU and where it is going. There is very little the Irish Government can be seen to do at this stage without opening...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: A Leas-Chathaoirligh, I want to identify immediately with the heartfelt and emotional words you have spoken about our late colleague, Feargal Quinn. His loss to his family is immense. His loss to Irish democracy is also immense. His loss to Irish society, the economy and the wider Republic in which he lived is immense. I first came into touch with Feargal Quinn when he was simply a...