Results 1,881-1,900 of 18,726 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is clear what was agreed on the Order of Business. The debate on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017 should follow this business and conclude after two hours.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: There is no starting time.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am sorry. I did not know that.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is not agreed but there we are.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: It was not agreed.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: Yes.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: When the clock stops ticking.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am sorry but I did not hear that.

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: The debate goes on for two hours-----

Seanad: Gnó an tSeanaid - Business of Seanad (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----and starts at 6.15 p.m.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 97db:In page 34, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:“53.Any statement made or published under this Part shall state that no applicant for judicial office may be questioned, interviewed or required in any way so as to express any opinion as to how any particular issue of law or matter of legal controversy (including matters of constitutional...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I was saying that nothing could be more subversive of the independence of the serving Judiciary than to have them interviewed by people on matters of legal controversy in the context of making a recommendation to the Government as to their appointment. No such thing happens now.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I can only speak from personal experience but I have never heard it suggested that anybody was appointed to the Bench on foot of any discussion with the Executive as to how they would decide any particular case. If that is the case for the Executive, it must be doubly so for a group which is not the Executive and is not politically accountable for the appointments that are made. This...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: It is none of the commission's business whether a candidate is conservative or liberal.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: First, what Senator Boyhan has said is of some tangential relevance to the amendment. A total of 45 appointments have been made, many of them to the superior courts, and none of those applicants, to my knowledge, has ever been asked a question by a member of the Executive as to their attitude to a particular issue, how they would decide it, or what they make of a particular decision made by...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I really believe that this is a point of central importance. If there is one thing we can do to improve this Bill, it is to make absolutely clear that the function of looking at the philosophical outlook of the applicant, in terms of liberal-conservative and the rest of it, is exclusively a matter for the Executive and cannot be delegated to a group of judges, practising barristers and...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I am grateful to the Minister for clearing that up because when I discovered that Deputy Clare Daly had tabled the amendments requiring the commission to express its views on the shortlist submitted by means of ranking candidates in order of the commission's preference, it occurred to me that this was designed to put pressure on the Government to follow the views of the commission. One of...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: There must be such an acknowledgement first because it is only honest - under the Constitution it cannot be otherwise - and, second, because it will strip away the false impression that has been created by the champion of this legislation, the Minister, Deputy Ross, that he is somehow taking these decisions away from elected politicians and handing them to an expert commission. He cannot do...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----and many of them without any controversy while nobody has accused him of cronyism-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: I meant nobody has accused him in respect of these appointments. Nobody has accused any member of the Government of cronyism in this regard. Let us be very clear. If one looks at the people involved, who are fine men and women - and I will not trespass on their dignity or on parliamentary practice by adverting to any of their names - some 45 people have been appointed to the Bench and to...