Results 1-20 of 343 for likes to work speaker:Michael McDowell

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Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Michael McDowell: The first amendment proposed by Senator Boyhan and me reflects his reasonable nature. I would be more radical than that. I do not believe in ten-year plans. I do not believe in ten-year plans that can be extended to 12 years. In particular, I do not believe in plans of this kind which are effectively pre-cooked by the Office of the Planning Regulator and, in effect, preordained in large...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Jul 2024)

Michael McDowell: I am very glad that we have got to this point of the debate on this legislation. It is time to reflect for a little bit on what is involved in this Bill. This Bill's origins, as I see it, are a project spearheaded in a big way by my successor as Attorney General, Mr. Paul Gallagher, to restate and consolidate the planning law of the country. His office, in fact, took over in large measure...

Seanad: Migration: Statements (10 Jul 2024)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister to the House today. At the heart of this, we do have to call a spade a spade, as Senator Garvey said. There is an essential difference between migration and seeking international protection. They are not the same thing. Just as there are nasty people on the right in Ireland who are stoking up false fears abouts migration, the general replacement of the Irish and the...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions (25 Jun 2024)

Michael McDowell: I support the two resolutions and it would be a mistake at this time to allow either set of legislative provisions to lapse. The Minister of State's speech makes reference to the attempted murder of an RUC officer and the finding of improvised explosives devices in Ravensdale, County Louth, in recent times. There is in our society a movement that still believes it is somehow part of the...

Seanad: Charities (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (25 Jun 2024)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State. I am glad the law in respect of charities is the subject of updating legislation. I have a couple of problems I would ask the Minister of State to consider. On the provisions of sections 3 and 4, as I see it, the effect of these sections is to establish new definitions of charitable purposes for the purposes of the Charities Act. The introduction of the...

Seanad: International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (19 Jun 2024)

Michael McDowell: I do not suffer from xenophobia, racist thoughts or racist impulses of any kind whatsoever. However, I am opposed to our ratification of this pact for a number of rational reasons that depend, at the outset, on an examination of how we got here. If we go back to the end of 1999, at Tampere in Finland, conclusions of an EU Council meeting included a commitment by member states to a number of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulatory Authority: Discussion (18 Jun 2024)

Michael McDowell: I welcome Dr. Doherty and Ms McIntyre. I declare an interest on this occasion since I am a practising barrister. In general terms, I want to compliment the regulatory authority because I have heard no adverse complaints about it since it assumed full control of its functions. It has worked smoothly. One hears on the grapevine of frivolous and vexatious cases brought by people who did not...

Seanad: Waste Management: Statements (22 May 2024)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Labour Party for introducing this motion. I support what Senator Boyhan said. I believe in competition. It works better than the municipalised system used to work. Nobody has talked about the economics of what is proposed in the motion. Nobody has said it will be cheaper for householders if the system is municipalised. Nobody has put forward any quantification of the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Mar 2024)

Michael McDowell: On the day that is in it, I will commence by expressing my own personal thanks to the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, for all of the work he has done for Ireland during his period as Minister, Tánaiste and Taoiseach. They have been stressful and hard years and I fully understand the toll that such service can take on people who have dedicated themselves to public elected office. I want...

Seanad: Special Measures in the Public Interest (Derrybrien Wind Farm) Bill 2023: Second Stage (20 Feb 2024)

Michael McDowell: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This is a special and unusual Bill. It arises in the circumstances that ESB, through a subsidiary company called Gort Windfarms Limited., took a lease of property in the mountains between counties Clare and Galway. It built a wind farm on the land it leased, with a considerable number of wind turbines and enough capacity to power 30,000...

Seanad: Special Measures in the Public Interest (Derrybrien Wind Farm) Bill 2023: Second Stage (20 Feb 2024)

Michael McDowell: I will surprise and shock Senator Boylan by saying virtually everything she said I agree with, except for one bit, which is that she wants this place torn down and €200 million worth of investment to be smashed up. There is potential for huge environmental damage from the remedial works she wants undertaken to make an environmental point. That is a big mistake. I invite the Senator...

Seanad: An Bille um an Daicheadú Leasú ar an mBunreacht (Cúram), 2023: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (23 Jan 2024)

Michael McDowell: Where is the State's obligation in this? Where is the community's obligation in all of this? Where is the social responsibility for people who have disability, to vindicate their rights? Senator Clonan talked about people with disability, and for him, this will be the only constitutional provision for people with disability. It is being sold on that basis. It is a kind of a mishmash that...

Seanad: An Bille um an Daicheadú Leasú ar an mBunreacht (Cúram), 2023: Céim an Choiste (Atógáil) agus na Céimeanna a bheidh Fágtha - Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (23 Jan 2024)

Michael McDowell: I am saying that anybody who says that the Constitution did not want women to work or to have occupations or to be able to earn their livelihoods is wrong.It never said anything of the sort. People quote selectively from this document but it has to be read as a whole. It was not the case that Ireland said women should not work. Having said that, I take Senator Higgins's point that there...

Seanad: Human Rights in China: Motion (23 Jan 2024)

Michael McDowell: ...come here and I wish him well in the Dáil. I also thank my Fianna Fáil colleagues for tabling this important motion for discussion this evening. It is remarkably courageous of you, a Chathaoirligh, to stay in the Chair following the recent torpedo you received from the Chinese Embassy in Dublin for congratulating the people of Taiwan on their election, but these things happen....

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Second Stage (28 Nov 2023)

Michael McDowell: I wish to make a few points about the general tenor of the finance Bill this year. First, it seems that the Government has realised that some of the measures it has taken in respect of rented properties in the private rented sector have been counterproductive and have encouraged landlords to leave the sector. It seems that the Government has finally realised that something needs to be done...

Seanad: Vacant and Derelict Buildings: Motion [Private Members] (15 Nov 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As a preliminary point, this problem has been here for a long time. I have been writing about it in various newspapers for ten years. I am glad to hear what was said by Senator Cummins about Waterford and I am glad that Senator Fitzpatrick is so upbeat about the improvements she sees there. However, the simple fact is we are not doing enough....

Seanad: Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Statements (19 Oct 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Tánaiste here today. In respect of what he has said, not one word could I disagree with. I endorse everything he has said 100%. What has been said by other speakers is equally true. Hamas is an extremist Islamist terrorist organisation. It is not the Palestinian people. It is dedicated to the destruction of Israel. It is dedicated to the reversal of the 1948...

Seanad: Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Motion (18 Oct 2023)

Michael McDowell: I just want to say a few words about the implications what is about to happen in Gaza, by all appearances. It appears the Israeli Defense Forces are about to invade Gaza. They have laid down a sort of zone for clearance by at least half of the people of Gaza, which has 2.2 million people, and they want them to move south. What happens when they move into that area? Will the Israeli...

Seanad: Crime and Policing: Motion (27 Sep 2023)

Michael McDowell: I entirely support everything that is in the motion tabled by the Fianna Fáil Senators here today. I want to say at the outset, however, that I have full confidence in the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána. This House should respect him and support him because he is bringing about effective change in a force which I, as a former Minister for Justice, know needs reform and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Jul 2023)

Michael McDowell: I identify with the remarks of Senator Gallagher about the Leas-Cathaoirleach, Cathaoirleach, Clerk and Clerk Assistant, and all members of staff. I wish them a happy holiday and thank them for all the work they have done. In the autumn, we fully expect to see the Taoiseach here to deal with the question of Seanad reform. I note the Supreme Court has yet to adjudicate on the application...