Results 1-20 of 336 for likes to work speaker:Michael McDowell

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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...

Seanad: Broadcasting (Restriction of Salaries) Bill 2023: Second Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Michael McDowell: -----which I find difficult to absorb. Everybody has feet of clay, to some extent, and no class of the community is above reproach. One thing that RTÉ might now consider is that when politicians go on RTÉ to be interviewed, they are treated as second-class citizens. If someone comes in from an NGO like the Rape Crisis Centre, he or she is thanked for coming along, and he or she...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2023)

Michael McDowell: Again, the purpose of this amendment is to rescue the Bill from nonsense. It was pointed out to the then Minister, Deputy Flanagan, that the previous Bill contained the same mistake. If the Government appoints a member of the Court of Appeal or an ordinary member of the Supreme Court to be Chief Justice, a string of vacancies can arise as a result. At present, it is perfectly open to the...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Mr. Bertie Ahern, Former Taoiseach (23 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: In some institutions on an occasion like this, two motions are proposed. One is motion of thanks to the speaker for his address and the second is that the paper should be printed and circulated. I theoretically propose both of those motions. The account you have given is one that I have not heard in detail before. I am very glad that you have had the opportunity to put on the record the...

Seanad: Civil Defence Bill 2023: Second Stage (18 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: Welcome the students from St. Pius X Boys’ National School as well. I share what Senator O'Reilly said about the great work done by the Civil Defence. I also share his sense of pride in the record of the Civil Defence over the years as a vital part of our social fabric, but I am alarmed by one thing. In 2015, the Department of Defence published a White Paper on Defence, which stated...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (17 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: No, for the very reason I will outline. The huge pretence in this legislation, which I believe is politically dishonest, is that we are going to have politically neutral appointments made in the future. What we are doing here is vesting in the Minister the right to produce four people, chosen by him or her, to be on the commission to mark the judicial members, so to speak. Let me address...

Seanad: Courts Bill 2023: Second Stage (10 May 2023)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State to the House, and I echo the sentiments expressed by Senator Ward. I have a number of things to say to the Minister of State. There is a scandal going on now in the central office of the High Court. One cannot go in there and get a summons issued unless one makes an appointment in advance. The system used to be that one went to a counter, and presented the...

Seanad: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2023: Motion (27 Apr 2023)

Michael McDowell: When this matter was originally being considered for approval in this House, it was to be discussed without debate. I apologise because I was partly responsible for asking for the matter to be debated. The reason was that I believe there are wider issues at stake. I agree completely with Senator Ahearn in that the rates in question are not surprising and probably below the market level in...