Results 541-560 of 18,463 for speaker:Michael McDowell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Inspection of Places of Detention Bill 2022: Discussion (18 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I agree.

Seanad: Report of Commission of Investigation (IBRC) into Siteserv Transaction: Statements (12 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. The report of the Cregan commission of investigation into the sale of Siteserv Limited to a company beneficially owned in the majority by Mr. Denis O'Brien is a matter of public interest. Siteserv was indebted to the State-owned IBRC to the amount of €156 million arising from its debts to Anglo Irish Bank. Accordingly, the terms on which...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister and her officials to the House today. I welcome that this legislation is being put before the House. It is a huge improvement on the Bill which was debated at great length in this House before. I should acknowledge that fact. There are a number of issues, though, that I do want to raise. One has been raised by Senator Ward, namely, that in effect, section 52 now...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House. I wish to make a few observations. The Government's response document and high-level action plan to the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces commits the Government, over the years 2022 to 2028, to increase the expenditure on defence to €1.5 billion. Currently, it is €1.107 billion.We are, in effect, dealing with a commitment to...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I heard what the Minister said; I listened in my room and looked at these figures. I looked today at the budget Estimates for next year and noticed that the increase is in fact in the order of approximately 6%. That would be fine, if we were not in a situation where inflation is now running at between 6% and 8%. I want to impress upon the Minister that it is all very well to come to the...

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: What is wrong with Bullock Harbour?

Seanad: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am glad to hear that.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I thank everybody for what has been very interesting up to this point. I hope I do not change it. A number of things struck me. Mr. Millar took an agnostic attitude to constitutional change. He has different priorities. Ms Clyde concentrated on the bread and butter of apprenticeships. At the same time, we are having a discussion here about identity and constitutional change. There are a...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: The elephant in the room that has not been discussed yet as far as I can see is denominational education. I am taking the point from all the Foróige people and everything else that youth work is hugely important because it allows people to break out of the channels into which denominational education puts them. However, it is both North and South, by the way. This is not a Northern...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Young Voices on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: It was his clothes.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am not a member of the committee, so I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to participate.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I am honoured to be allowed to participate. I listened very carefully to the remarks of Mr. Swaine. He asked what is a unionist in a united Ireland. It is arguable unionism is extinct in terms of the view of a unitary Irish State. Therefore, when you ask the unionist community and middle ground in Northern Ireland to opt for a new constitutional order on this island, you are asking a...

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I will be brief.

Seanad Public Consultation Committee: Voices of All Communities on the Constitutional Future of the Island of Ireland: Discussion (30 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Regarding Northern representation in the House, what the parties to the Belfast Agreement agreed to was that: ... whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland, the power of the sovereign government with jurisdiction there shall be exercised with rigorous impartiality on behalf of all the people in the diversity of their identities and traditions and...

Seanad: Impact of Cost of Living Issues on Young People in Ireland: Motion (28 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion. I am reluctant to intervene in such a contribution because it is not merely passionate but also educational to hear a first-hand account of some of the realities for young people in Ireland, in particular disabled young people. Senator Clonan's commitment to those with disability is not simply personal; it is ideological. I admire him greatly for what he has done, the...

Seanad: Impact of Cost of Living Issues on Young People in Ireland: Motion (28 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Well done.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: I will reserve what I have to say about the budget until later. In the past couple of weeks, I was honoured to have been invited to go to County Sligo to commemorate the six men who were executed on top of Benbulben by the Free State Army on 20 September 1922, one of whom was my uncle Brian. While I was looking at all the documentation that surrounds the event, I was conscious of one thing,...

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: In difficult circumstances, the Government has, on balance, done a good job with the resources it has. It is not simply a matter of a little for everyone; rather it is a matter of taking a look at the crisis we are in and making sure it does not derail the economy and plunge households and enterprises into a catastrophic crisis from which they may never recover. I agree with the point made...

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: He has gone very yellow.

Seanad: Budget 2023 (Finance): Statements (27 Sep 2022)

Michael McDowell: Hear, hear.