Results 17,201-17,220 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: That matter can be addressed and I will consider it at a later stage. The Bill, as drafted, encapsulates the notion of human rights. Each member of the Garda Síochána will be required to make before a peace commissioner a declaration under section 15, which includes the paragraph: "I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the Garda Síochána with fairness, integrity, regard...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The amendments were obviously inspired to some extent by the observations of the Human Rights Commission. The real question, a fairly narrow one, is whether protection of human rights should be one of the statutory functions of the Garda Síochána. To make it such a function would require one to define the human rights one is talking about. One cannot, for example, require the Garda to...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: It is a drafting point and the Parliamentary Counsel prefers his own wording. I prefer to stick with what is already drafted. However, I will look at it again and if I am persuaded that the Senator's proposed language is better, I might revisit the matter on Report Stage.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The first paragraph of the solemn declaration which members of the Garda Síochána are obliged to take under section 15 of the Bill reads: "I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the Garda Síochána with fairness, integrity, regard for human rights, diligence and impartiality, upholding the Constitution and the laws and according equal respect to all people." That provision...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The purpose of subsection (6) is to protect the Garda Síochána from civil actions with regard to it having failed in carrying out its functions. When I was a student at University College, Dublin, at the time of Bloody Sunday, I saw a mob burn down the British Embassy. One could argue that the gardaí, who had a cordon around the embassy, carried out their function to the best of their...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I agree with the points made by Senators Maurice Hayes and Walsh. The removal of subsection (6) would mean that a court could suggest it was deliberately removed by the Houses of the Oireachtas and that the protection afforded by it was expressly removed from the Garda Síochána. It would not simply be a drafting error. A court could suggest that the Minister on introducing the Bill proposed...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The provision reflects the current position in this area. The Garda Síochána as a matter of practice no longer institutes proceedings in its own name as common informers. Though that is the current position it used not to be so. The prosecutions commenced by it are generally founded on a direction or authorisation of the Director of Public Prosecutions. It is important to note that section...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Following consultation with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of amendments Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, we believe they would not improve the text from the director's viewpoint.

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: There are good grounds that reasons for not prosecuting cases are not given. For example, the Garda could believe that an individual, making an allegation of, say, assault, rape or robbery, is being untruthful. The Garda could argue that, in the past, the individual had a reputation for fantasising. A reporter could then ask the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions why a case was not...

Seanad: Garda Síochána Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (7 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I appreciate the intention behind the amendment but I cannot accept it. The Parliamentary Counsel advises that while a collective citation and construction section could be included in the Bill, the recommendation was that it should not be because it could give rise to conflicts in interpretation between definitions in this Bill and those under previous Acts. This Bill effectively supersedes...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Unlike some states, Ireland does not have a general power as part of some kind of quasi-punitive process to strip a native-born Irish person of his or her citizenship. There are places in the world where a person can not only be imprisoned and so on, but also stripped of citizenship as a punishment. We do not allow for that. There is an exception to the general rule in the case of...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: They are not applying for anything. If they came back and lived in Ranelagh, they could vote in the next general election. I cannot telephone the registrar or the man in charge of the voter register in Dublin City Council and say those people should not be on the register because they should not have been Irish citizens in the first place. I am not in a position to say they should be denied a...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I agree with that proposition.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Of the five grounds, one does not apply to Irish associations citizenship. The second ground is that the certificate is procured by fraud, misrepresentation, whether innocent or fraudulent, or the concealment of material facts or circumstances. I will not speculate as to whether there was fraud in this case. The question arises — again, it is an argument to be made and perhaps I should not...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I ask the Senator to be careful in this matter and not to fall into the error, which somebody did in the Lower House, of confusing a certificate of naturalisation with a certificate of nationality. A certificate of nationality is a document which provides evidence that a person is an Irish citizen. Section 28 of the 1956 Act states that any person who claims to be an Irish citizen, other than...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: Even if they already had a passport, yes. For instance, supposing an American arrived here tomorrow and somehow got himself or herself a birth certificate on the model of——

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Day of the Jackal, exactly. If such a person presents himself at an office and gets an Irish passport by pretending to be an Irish citizen, he is not an Irish citizen and I have no doubt that the Department of Foreign Affairs would revoke his passport as soon as it discovered that the trick had been perpetrated. However, revoking the passport would not decide whether the person was or was...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: It is not a power of revocation. If someone went to Iveagh House and said they were the parent of a child who was born in Ireland, and said they had been in Ireland for four years at the time that child was born, and by doing so procured a passport for that child, the person would not be conferring citizenship on the child. On the day it was born the child either was or was not an Irish...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: I intend to commence the Act as soon as I have put in place the regulations, which we are now working on, concerning the formalities of proving residence in Northern Ireland. Once the President has signed the Bill and I have the regulatory machinery in place, I will commence the Act, sooner rather than later. I commend the Senator for his wisdom and circumspection in withdrawing this...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (3 Dec 2004)

Michael McDowell: The legitimate expectation of people procreating in a certain period of time was a novel proposition.