Results 17,561-17,580 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: To shorten the matter, if Senator O'Meara were to move an amendment to her amendment and substitute "21 days" for "7 days", I would be disposed towards accepting it.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: This is a technical amendment.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I can assure the Senator that while in the RDS I did nothing other than spend my time studying this amendment. The matter is already covered and it is not necessary to provide for it twice in the same section.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Regarding amendment No. 25, I do not imagine that many plaintiffs who are not obliged to lodge an affidavit at present would decide to do so and I am not clear why the proposed amendment should apply to plaintiffs. Why should defendants not be able to lodge voluntary affidavits? The wording is not consistent with the rest of the section, which refers to "swearing" rather than "filing" an...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: It still seems it is implicit that the records of the mediation conference would be as confidential as the conference itself. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Amendment No. 31 addresses the point raised in the Senator's amendment.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: On Committee Stage, I said I was not attracted by the amendment and remained unconvinced of its necessity. If I were to accept the amendment it would mean that a party failing to attend a conference as directed by a court could escape the consequence if their failure was reasonable. This implies that the court in giving the direction to attend would be acting in a manner requiring them to do...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The situation remains the same. This is a matter on which I would like the Minister to have the capacity to initiate change and prescribe the period. If I simply left it to rules of court it would mean that unless the committee made a proposal to me, nothing could ever happen in these circumstances. On balance, I would prefer to have the right of initiative in this area. It does not mean that...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The amendment seeks to include the Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991 among the list of relevant enactments coming within the terms of section 31(1) of the Bill. The term "relevant enactments" means those provisions for the hearing of family law matters other than in public. Section 1(2) of the 1991 Act provides that the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Acts 1961 to...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I regard the current state of the Bill to be slightly unsatisfactory in this area. As I indicated in the House previously, it was my plan to bring forward a revised proposal. Due to the time constraints on me, I have not been in a position to put my formulation into exact and proper terminology. I intend to move an amendment when the Bill comes before the Dáil. When it returns here, we will...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I prefer not to accept them as I do not regard them to be satisfactory. I must do a little more homework on the matter.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: While I have not completed my homework, I will accept the amendments for the time being as a gesture. I may have to tidy them up later. While reporters from the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland are among the type of people I have in mind, I will not tie myself to the particular phraseology of the amendment in the last analysis.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I have received representations seeking the inclusion of an amendment similar to the one tabled by the Senator. I intend to review section 31 further and I am consulting with the Courts Service. I will return to this matter at a later stage of debate on the legislation. I accept the objective of the amendment and I will do my best to address it then. I wish to consult before I accept it.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: That is possible but I do not want to commit myself to it.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I do not know if the procedure of the House will permit it but it might be wiser for me to accept amendment No. 45 if it were moved again. Can it be done on Report Stage?

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: If Senator Henry's amendment is moved on Report Stage, I will accept it with a view to seeing if I need to refine it further thereafter.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Amendments Nos. 47 and 48 represent retrograde steps. Amendment No. 47 would have reversed a change brought about by the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002. We would revert to the pre-2002 position in which interest on costs awarded to a party in court proceedings would run from the date of the judgment at 8%. That would mean that the losing party in an action would be obliged to pay this...

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: No, I do not agree.

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The reason I do not agree is that the right to interest is not a constitutional right. In these circumstances, the obligation to pay interest on an unascertained sum of costs is penal. The defendant does not know how much he or she owes until the proceedings are over and he or she is then asked to pay a sum of money on the basis of a judgment that is given at a later stage. That is not fair....

Seanad: Civil Liability and Courts Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages. (15 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Amendment No. 47 is the exact opposite. It represents a major incentive for the solicitor for the plaintiff to delay the taxation process. The result of this amendment would be that the defendant could not pay until the taxation process was complete and the resulting sum of money would carry interest of 8% per annum, which is a nice little earner in this day and age. I do not agree with the...