Results 17,741-17,760 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Prisons Building Programme. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I am sorry. However, I wish to point out that there are questions surrounding the improvement of ancillary medical services.

Prisons Building Programme. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Prison Service will continue to run the facility as long as that is economically possible.

Prisons Building Programme. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The execution shed at Mountjoy is a place where people sacrificed their lives for this country and where many brave people died for the creation of an independent Ireland. The Deputy has suggested one possible location for it. Another possibility would be to relocate it to Kilmainham. Deputy Ó Snodaigh's question trenches on the next question, which I do not want to anticipate. It would be...

Prisons Building Programme. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: There will be some form of transport.

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Garda Síochána possesses 408 laser speed detection units which were purchased between 1 December 1995 and 8 January 2002. All of these laser speed detection units were purchased strictly in accordance with national and EU public procurement guidelines. In all cases sanction was received from the Government contracts committee and the...

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I am not responsible for the legislation to which the Deputy referred. As he rightly pointed out, that legislation was enacted after the equipment had been purchased. I am not conceding the point because I do not wish to throw away the Minister for Transport's legal case in this matter. As regards the Deputy's point that the Act does not reflect the nature of the equipment, I must point out...

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I do not wish at this stage to concede the point that the Act has the meaning suggested by the Deputy.

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: It may be but I am not here to——

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy spoke of hospital passes. It would be a large hospital pass for me to concede the correctness or incorrectness of any case which the Minister may be advised to bring to court. I assume Deputy O'Keeffe would agree it would be unfortunate if I were to do so. I am not side-stepping the issue. The Garda Síochána has certain functions under the Road Traffic Act. This is not the first...

Garda Equipment. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I agree with the Deputy that if it turns out in court that the position is as suggested by him then, unfortunately, the equipment in use by the Garda at the time the law was changed was not comprehended by the terminology of the statute.

Presidential Visit. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: For obvious reasons, I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for me to go into the details of the security measures being put in place in respect of President Bush's visit later this month. The Deputy will appreciate the visit is one of the aspects of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. It is customary that a meeting between the President of the United...

Presidential Visit. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: It would be invidious of me to vary the extent of security by reference to the perceived popularity or unpopularity of any foreign visitor or Head of State. As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I have a duty to uphold the rights of not just the individual concerned but the Irish people to conduct their international relations in an appropriate manner. As I stated in my reply, the...

Presidential Visit. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Given the circumstances of the operation being put in place by members of the Garda Síochána, it is a gesture of courtesy and politeness on its part to do some homework so the tactics used to uphold security on the ground will not be unnecessarily heavy-handed or unmindful of the wishes of the inhabitants of the area in question. There is nothing sinister about the operation and the Garda...

Citizenship Referendum. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The Irish Human Rights Commission produced a 32-page document of observations on which it would not be possible for me in the limited time available for parliamentary questions to give a detailed response. I propose to concentrate on the principal points made in those observations. In summary, the commission asserts that being an Irish citizen makes the enjoyment of human rights in the State...

Citizenship Referendum. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: Implicit in the Deputy's line of argument is that a child who came into this country with his non-national parents and who is in a playground standing beside a young Irish child born to Irish parents has different fundamental protections under our Constitution than the other child. I reject that suggestion. Despite the 32-page document and the conclusions of the Children's Rights Alliance,...

Freedom of Information. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: The procedures followed by my Department in the processing of Freedom of Information requests are as governed by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003. When a freedom of information request is received by the Department, the request is acknowledged in writing not later than ten working days after receipt of the request. The letter of acknowledgement also notifies the...

Freedom of Information. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: On the contrary, a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act does not bind the Minister not to release that information to any other person before the request is dealt with. There is no monopoly on information under the Freedom of Information Act. I know some Ministers have made a habit of releasing such information to everybody if one person asks for it except in the case...

Freedom of Information. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I accept none of those propositions. It is perfectly reasonable to put important information, which is about to be released, into the hands of somebody who will be objective about it rather than put it in the hands of somebody who will make political use of it. Far from politicising the process, by handing it to an independent journalist rather than to a political opponent, the public is much...

Freedom of Information. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: There is a misconception, particularly among Opposition Deputies, that if they make a freedom of information request they will be the first to receive the information and that nobody else will receive the information, so that they can put the first spin on it and hunt through it for the bits of it they want to release to put the worst possible complexion on any matter.

Freedom of Information. (1 Jun 2004)

Michael McDowell: I am very sorry to say that I do not play a naïve game of politics like that. While I play a robust game in politics, I will not enable my opponents to spin against me without having at least the opportunity to put my side of the story into the public domain.