Results 1-20 of 18,741 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2025)

Michael McDowell: Now.

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2025)

Michael McDowell: I understand it is customary to allow a few words to be spoken on the decision that this House has unanimously taken to pass this legislation. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and thank her for her interest and co-operation in the whole process. As I indicated on the first day when this Bill was tendered for Second Stage consideration by the House, I am not here to score...

Seanad: Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2025)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Minister. I note what she says about the apparent concentration of some surgical procedures in Blackrock. I ask her, the Department and the HSE to ask why that is happening and whether there is a differential between patients who have insurance and patients who do not in being seen in that context.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (26 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I agree completely with what Senator Fitzpatrick said about what is happening in Gaza. In the past 24 hours, the Palestinian town of Kafr Malik in the West Bank was attacked by illegal Israeli settlers, who burned property. The Israeli army intervened, arrested five of the settlers and killed three Palestinians who were defending their own property. In the past fortnight, while the Iran...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (24 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, here today and indicate that I, in general, support the two motions which are being brought before the House today. The Offences Against the State Act is a far-reaching Act and the powers conferred by it on An Garda Síochána are far-reaching, including detention and the routing of cases investigated under it to the Special Criminal...

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I thank the two associations and their representatives for coming. I take what has been said about morale very seriously. By the way, I regard the present Commissioner as an Irishman, just in case the record suggests otherwise. I know it was not meant-----

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Policing Matters: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I take what has been said about morale very seriously. I see all the ingredients that have been mentioned as accumulating one after another. There is a sense of impunity. Three or four teenagers will go into a shop at night and create havoc. There is no sense that there is likely to be any reaction. Even if it is all on camera, it will not go anywhere. That is also connected, and I...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I raise the important matter brought to public attention by Deputy Allan Kelly at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration yesterday. As court proceedings are still in train in respect of some aspects of the matters raised, I have to be careful in what I say and I will be. However, it appears that three persons, described by the court as "young and naive", were...

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Policing Matters: An Garda Síochána (10 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Commissioner and his colleagues. I thank him for his service to the State since 2018. It is very much appreciated by those who have experience of these matters for a long time. I compliment him on his dedication to law enforcement north and south of the Border for so long. We live in a strange world when in 2007, the same year the people of Dublin South-East dispensed with...

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Policing Matters: An Garda Síochána (10 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I have no problem with the idea.

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Policing Matters: An Garda Síochána (10 Jun 2025)

Michael McDowell: I can imagine that.

Seanad: Situation in Gaza: Statements (29 May 2025)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Tánaiste, and the substance, tone and inclusivity of his remarks, his identification with the occupied territories Bill and his indication of co-operation with those of us who support it. Senator Frances Black introduced the Bill, which was passed by a majority of the House in 2017. That happened in circumstances where the Israeli Government accused those of us, including...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 May 2025)

Michael McDowell: I identify with the calls that have been made for a proper debate on what is happening in Gaza. It is not unforeseeable. A number of us actually foresaw, almost to the detail, what is happening now in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-inspired atrocity against Israeli citizens. It was shocking that, when we supported the occupied territories Bill, the Irish ambassador was called in in...

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Business of Joint Committee (20 May 2025)

Michael McDowell: I join the congratulations to the Cathaoirleach on his appointment and welcome his introductory remarks. Deputy Gannon referred to the imprisonment crisis, which is not going away, cannot go away and must be addressed. It may not be a great vote-getter but unless something is done about it, we are sitting on a powder keg. It is not just a matter of numbers. It is also about any prospect...

Seanad: Public Health (Restriction on Sale of Stimulant Drinks to Children) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 May 2025)

Michael McDowell: I now regret that I did not add my name to the supporters of this legislation because the case that has been made by Senator Keogan and other supporters of the Bill seems to me to be a very strong one. Furthermore, I am of the view that given it is Government policy to go down this road, the question we really face this afternoon is one of timing. I fully accept the Government is entitled...

Seanad: Parole (Special Advocates) Bill 2024: Second Stage (13 May 2025)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister. I congratulate Senator Ruane on her initiative in tabling this legislation. The Minister's request for more time to consider what is involved is sensible and reasonable in all the circumstances. The whole idea of a special advocate is novel in Irish law. A series of issues arise in respect of restricted evidence confined to legal practitioners who are not in a...

Seanad Select Committee on Subsidiarity (European Union Legislative Scrutiny): Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (3 Apr 2025)

Michael McDowell: It is not agreed, Chair.

Seanad Select Committee on Subsidiarity (European Union Legislative Scrutiny): Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (3 Apr 2025)

Michael McDowell: Just before the committee goes into private session, I want to put on the public record my deeply held conviction that the Oireachtas, and the two Houses of the Oireachtas, are not fulfilling their function in relation to subsidiarity issues or examinations. I also want to put on the public record my view that the sectoral committees, the formation of which at the moment is now delayed, are...

Seanad: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (26 Mar 2025)

Michael McDowell: Agreed.