Results 61-80 of 725 for long speaker:Michael McDowell

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Departmental Buildings (14 Jun 2021)

Michael McDowell: I thank the Cathaoirleach for facilitating this Commencement debate and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for attending. The building belonging to the Technological University, TU, of Dublin on the Lower Rathmines Road has been vacated because of the university's relocation to the Grangegorman campus. Space is now available to the Department of Education in the substantial buildings...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jun 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...their particular experiences without any obligation to be cross-examined or challenged or to stand up their events. Their version was taken as it was given. That, as a matter of law, is fine as long as a commission hearing does not proceed to say there was no other side to this matter, there was no other case to be made, there was no cross-examination to take place and the commission is...

Seanad: Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (24 May 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...and courteously. I fully endorse what has been said by virtually every speaker in this House. This should not be coming before the House in these circumstances. This day has been clear for a long time. It is not a mystery that the sunset clause was coming today. This amendment is not just to bring things out to next November. As Senator Higgins said, it is to put in place the power to...

Seanad: Business and Covid-19: Statements (30 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Tánaiste to the House, and I agree with him on congratulating Senators Maria Byrne and Horkan on their election. As the Tánaiste said, it is a long time since he has been in this Chamber physically and in the Seanad. There is unfinished business regarding Seanad reform, which we will return to another today. The roadmap outlined yesterday by the Taoiseach, and which...

Seanad: Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage (26 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...at, say, 10.30 a.m. and deliver its verdict at, say, 7.30 p.m. that evening, very frequently in some cases. That was the way the world worked. Perhaps they would go to two or three cases. This is not so long ago. I am not speaking about the 18th century or something like that. I remember looking at the memoirs or a unionist judge called Day in the 18th century. He kept a diary of his...

Seanad: Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (23 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: .... I fully accept that. The introduction in 2015 of a court review, where creditors had failed to honour a personal insolvency arrangement proposal, further strengthened the regime by incentivising banks and other creditors to agree sustainable long-term solutions to mortgage arrears cases that would enable borrowers to stay in their own homes. All regimes that offer to write off a...

Seanad: Children Amendment Bill 2020: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (19 Apr 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...in any circumstance be inhibited from saying that my child was murdered if that is the case, which is an important point, nor, on the face of it, does it prevent me from ever saying who did it as long as I am not purporting to report a court case. I am just making the point that people interpret our law in a way that is perhaps slightly overly strict. The James Bulger case in England...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: ..., it became apparent to the Irish State that a process was in being in England which later became known as the Chen case. The substance of it was that a well-to-do Chinese couple wanted to secure their long-term residence in the United Kingdom. They were legally advised that if they went to Northern Ireland and had the child they were expecting delivered in Belfast, that child would, by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Victims' Testimony in Cases of Rape and Sexual Assault: Discussion. (23 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: My comments arise out of the topic under discussion with Men's Aid Ireland. Last night I watched an hour-long documentary on BBC about sexual abuse of young boys and men in football. We heard of the extraordinary obstacles they had when it came of making any disclosures at all. This was partially based on their gender and the social attitude towards male victims of sexual assault. It was...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (1 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...some degree of flexibility in this matter. We cannot have unintended consequences flowing from our legislation simply because we are in a rush. The Children Bill was originally in gestation for a long time and what turned out to be a mistake was made. We are now trying to remedy that mistake but we are being invited to make another mistake on the basis that it is urgent for us to deal...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (1 Mar 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...the proceedings referred to in that subsection were commenced before that date". I presume the Minister agrees that it does not matter whether the proceedings were completed before that date as long as this provision is retrospective in its entirety to anything that happened before the Bill is passed. Therefore, in previous cases of child homicides where there have been convictions and...

Seanad: Children (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (15 Feb 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...in this House, whose support I am grateful for. Paragraph 14 states: I appreciate the media may find the ruling surprising and that they may say that it involves a radical departure from what had been a long-established practice. They may say that the outcome is an undesirable one and may be in a position to make that argument with some force. Nonetheless, the language of the statute...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...fee of my mortgage because it was interpreting the law in that respect. However, it did not merely want audited accounts, as Senator Ward said. It wanted copies of wills under which I had inherited anything. My parents are long since dead. What possible interest was it to it to ascertain what I had inherited 18 years ago? This was how it interpreted the Central Bank guidelines. The...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (1 Feb 2021)

Michael McDowell: ...the pipeline, which is unfortunate. On the other hand, as the Bill is before us now, we must deal with it on its merits. I wish to indicate at this stage that I have no major problems with the Bill as long as its provisions will be reasonably enforced. The problem with money laundering legislation to date is that it is not being reasonably enforced in some respects. Senator Buttimer...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (Resumed) (3 Dec 2020)

Michael McDowell: I wish to make one brief comment on the Long Title, which will not delay us. The United Kingdom leaving the European Union is a real tragedy. Whatever the views other member states may have of this, Ireland should adopt the position henceforth that the United Kingdom would be very welcome back into the European Union as soon as the people of the United Kingdom so wish and that no obstacle...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2020)

Michael McDowell: ...work in that context. Very elaborate displays and videos formed part of the MetroLink public consultation process, but when it came to the nitty-gritty and someone asked a question, for example, how long the green Luas line would be out of action if the project went ahead, that person was looked at as if he or she had asked how long was a piece of string.Basic “question and...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2020: Committee Stage (30 Nov 2020)

Michael McDowell: Let us go back to basics here. Currently, it is mandatory to have a public meeting. That is the law. This Bill is changing the law and saying it is no longer to be mandatory to hold a public meeting. That is the purpose of the Bill. The explanatory memorandum makes it clear that it is not intended as a pandemic measure. It is intended to be a permanent part of our law from now on that...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2020)

Michael McDowell: ...in a shambles and arrived up in the Seanad. It was called by a certain person a "dog's dinner" of a Bill. As a result of that it was debated at great length, as the Minister of State will recall, over a long period of time. The reason was, there was a flaw in the Bill at the beginning. I have no doubt that the then Minister, former Deputy Ross, would have pushed it through against the...

Seanad: Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related Matters) Records, and another Matter, Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2020)

Michael McDowell: ...of commission of investigation to look into all of the issues in Article 1 of the terms of reference. However, this was a separate process by which people would not be swept into that, brought along as witnesses and rights to cross-examine and so forth conferred on people. Instead a separate confidential committee was put in place, the purpose of which was to allow people who were in the...

Seanad: HSE Winter Plan: Statements (7 Oct 2020)

Michael McDowell: ...of 300 when it will be 299 or 300. It is not good enough to speak about 17 beds as being sufficient in the current circumstances. I do not want to be critical of any individuals but I took an opportunity today, because a long-standing friend of mine asked me to do so, to look at the structure of NPHET. The relevant information is available on the Government website. The simple fact is...