Results 441-460 of 18,463 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: This section requires that: "The Commission shall, in respect of each person whom it recommends to tell the Minister", for justice in most cases, what is set out in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c). I am a bit mystified as to why paragraph (c) is there. It refers to, "the results of the interview of the person conducted, in accordance with section 46(2), by a panel of the Commission,". There...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: The interview is conducted by a panel. I do not know how it has a result. Presumably the panel reports to the commission what it thought or if it came to any conclusions that there was nothing much one way or the other about this person and that he or she is what he or she appears to be on paper. I am wondering what the "result" of a panel would be.This goes back to a point we have just...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: Now we are getting to the nub of the issue. It is going to be an interview of a person, providing some kind of description of the person based on the interview so that the Government can take that into account. That seems to be the only purpose it serves. At interview, Mr. Justice McDowell impressed us in the following four ways-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: -----or did not impress us in the following four ways, or was whatever. If it is to be of any assistance to the Government, it would have to be some kind of a description of the interview process and the kind of impression the candidate made on the panel, which is a subset of the commission. It would have to be reduced to writing, in some respect, and sent to the Government so that it could...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: The result of the interview is that the person is recommended.

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: With respect, that is not what the section states. Clearly, if the person is recommended, he or she is on the short-list of three. The section states that the Government is to be told the result of the interview with each of the three people. If the Minister of State is going to say that this just means they are on the list in the first place, what is the purpose of the paragraph at all?...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: I do not take that at all and I do not think that is what this section means. If we look at paragraph (a), it states "a statement setting out the reasons it is of the opinion that the person is suitable for appointment". That is one thing the commission has to tell the Government. Paragraph (c) states it has to give the results of an interview, and the Minister of State will not tell us...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: Hold on a second, we are making it a legal requirement for this commission to set out the results of an interview, in addition to the reasons it thinks the person is qualified. That is a legal requirement we are imposing on the commission. It is not good enough to say it is the choice of the commission. If there is a statutory interview process which, due to the withdrawal of Senator...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: This section is definitely not agreed. In my view, this is a non-constitutional section that has no merit whatsoever. Section 51 purports that: "In advising the President in relation to the appointment of a person to a judicial office in the State, the Government shall only consider for appointment those persons who have been recommended by the Commission to the Minister under section 47."...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: Yes. If the Chief Justice's position is vacant-----

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: There would be four judges in this group, two of whom have been elected by the majority of the judiciary and two of whom hold office as presidents of two courts. They would decide whether a judge is eligible for promotion from now on. As I said in the case of the Supreme Court, we are now faced with a situation whereby, if this becomes law and has the meaning the Minister of State said it...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: Former Deputy Shane Ross argued for a version of this reform on the basis of transparency and openness.Nothing will be clearer from this as to why anybody became a judge. The unsuccessful candidates will be secret. The one thing we will know is that the Judiciary selected them, and that there were four people there as spectators, watching the process. That is what we will know from now on...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: I report progress.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rental Sector (24 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The topic I have tabled for consideration as a Commencement matter is a matter of huge importance and grave urgency. A recent report in The Irish Timesconfirmed my own impression of the private rented-dwelling market, which is that landlords are selling up. Some 40% of houses now on the market are as a result of landlords selling. The reason...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rental Sector (24 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: I appreciate that this does not fall within the Minister of State's area of responsibility, and I take that into account. However, what she said reflects a litany of confessions of failure. The reality is that there has been a mass exodus of landlords from the market. They are not being attracted back by tax concessions of the kind that have been announced. Telling a landlord that he or...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rental Sector (24 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: Yes, or they may have married or whatever.

Seanad: National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (24 Jan 2023)

Michael McDowell: I want to say a couple of things about the Bill. It does make sense for RTÉ to be divested of responsibility for the National Symphony Orchestra because I think RTÉ has to concentrate on the day job, so to speak, of getting its own finances in order and seeing its role as a broadcaster. I am strongly in favour of public sector broadcasting. I regard one of the frightening things...

Seanad: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach (16 Dec 2022)

Michael McDowell: I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election. Many nice things have been said about him today and I will not add to them, save to say I agree with all of them. I second this motion enthusiastically. Senator Mark Daly is somebody who has devoted himself to the furtherance of the status and purpose of this House ever since he was elected to it. As Senator Doherty has just said, he has...

Seanad: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach (16 Dec 2022)

Michael McDowell: The Senator would probably have stormed ahead and got a very good vote on that basis. Nonetheless, it is the Members' decision. It is not a decision for the Whips or the Cabinet. It is the decision of Members in Dáil Éireann and it should be the Members' decision in this House. When I say this, I do not in any sense want to take away from what has happened today. I endorse...

Seanad: Election of Leas-Chathaoirleach (16 Dec 2022)

Michael McDowell: I really do value his friendship, impartiality, decency and gentlemanship throughout all his dealings with us. Senator Mark Daly's enthusiasm is extremely important. I have no doubt that he and the Cathaoirleach will work together as a team to ensure that this House is run in a friendly, co-operative and decent spirt. It is a great pleasure on my part, and on behalf of several colleagues,...