Results 81-100 of 343 for likes to work speaker:Michael McDowell

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Seanad: Ireland-China Relations: Motion (8 Oct 2020)

Michael McDowell: I second the motion put forward by Senator Mullen. I agree with everything he said. Earlier this year, I was privileged to be invited by the Government of Taipei to witness the elections in that country, which were conducted in January. I visited Taipei for the first time then, even though I have always supported the people of Taiwan in their desire to be free and to be free from communist...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Sep 2020)

Michael McDowell: I did not have an opportunity due to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges meeting to participate in the debate earlier today. I do not want to make a Second Stage speech, but I am concerned that this measure is, in fact, overly complex to deal with a reaction to the Berlin D2 bar incident in Dublin and is not as necessary as might be thought.It certainly is not as urgent as might be...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Jul 2020)

Michael McDowell: Yesterday, I mentioned a request made to the Deputy Leader to have the Minister with responsibility for culture come here to address the subject of the removal of statues from outside the Shelbourne Hotel. I was slightly disturbed to see the ambivalent remarks made by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who is in the same party as the Minister, about the statues. There is no slavery at all suggested...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Jul 2020)

Michael McDowell: I thank the authorities in Leinster House for enabling us to meet in this place. On the question of education, I strongly support the requests made not only today but on a previous occasion for a serious set of debates on education. Both Ministers with responsibility for education, Deputies Foley and Harris, should be asked in here, not to announce final decisions, because there are...

Seanad: Civil Law (Costs in Probate Matters) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: "(2) A court's jurisdiction shall for the purposes of subsection (1) include jurisdiction to make an order in respect of costs that does not follow the event for special cause to be mentioned in its order.". I will give the House some background to this amendment. In anticipation of Committee Stage, my...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Light Rail Projects (27 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, which includes Dublin, has made proposals on the regional spatial and economic strategy for 2019 to 2031, which is a 12-year strategy to consider and make provision for the extension of the MetroLink south to the Rathfarnham, Churchtown and Knocklyon direction on one arm and the UCD and Stillorgan direction on the other. I echo what Senator Boyhan...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (26 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: -----has no qualifications or experience of how the legal profession or the legal system works of a hands-on type. It can be argued that the Bill envisages that, among the laypeople, people with knowledge of how the courts impact society will be included and that includes perhaps people from the insurance area, people concerned with family law and the like. We are still stuck with the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: That is the point that I was coming to. The National Transport Authority spent an awful lot of money on planning various projects without the authority of either the Houses of the Oireachtas or a clear mandate from the public. The Department in which Deputy Ross is Minister has overall charge of transport policy. However, it seems that the National Transport Authority has developed into an...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Report Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: The proposal here is to insert a new subsection (3) into the commencement section, that is, section 1, on page 7. The purpose of this amendment is to give this House and the other House a second chance after the next election when, it is hoped, the Government will be free of some of its present influences and when the majority of Members of the Houses will be free to express their real views...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Nov 2019)

Michael McDowell: There is only one standard of law and it should apply everywhere on this island. The second point I want to make is that the leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Micheál Martin, has advanced a view, with which I agree, that there must be a multi-agency approach to the Border situation and to what is and what is not happening there. The Revenue Commissioners, Army intelligence, Garda...

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (23 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: A Leas-Chathaoirligh, I want to identify immediately with the heartfelt and emotional words you have spoken about our late colleague, Feargal Quinn. His loss to his family is immense. His loss to Irish democracy is also immense. His loss to Irish society, the economy and the wider Republic in which he lived is immense. I first came into touch with Feargal Quinn when he was simply a...

Seanad: Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union: Statements (1 Oct 2019)

Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, and echo the comments that have been made about her and her Department's sterling work on behalf of this country. I am not as optimistic as others here for the following reason. I listened carefully to the entirety of what Prime Minister Johnson said on BBC Radio Four this morning. People have spoken here about incredulity, and I did not...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: Senator Conway should be aware that we are discussing an amendment which would prevent the commission from inquiring into the political, ideological, philosophical or religious views, or the sexual orientation, of candidates. Of course the charge of political cronyism is relevant in that context. Those issues could well inform a Government in its choice of an appointee. Cabinet members...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: No. Senator Norris might reflect on the following point. Anybody who knew about him knew that the views that he laterally expressed, which led to controversy as regards his presidency of the Law Reform Commission and the like, were views that developed after his appointment because he had a particular path of personal development in regard to religious matters and religious organisations,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (18 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: First, what Senator Boyhan has said is of some tangential relevance to the amendment. A total of 45 appointments have been made, many of them to the superior courts, and none of those applicants, to my knowledge, has ever been asked a question by a member of the Executive as to their attitude to a particular issue, how they would decide it, or what they make of a particular decision made by...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill 2017: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2019)

Michael McDowell: That is compounded by the fact that people who receive gratuities are usually working at the coalface in various service industries like hospitality, where wages have consistently been low. It is about time this legislation was passed. If the Government has its own legislation in mind, what is wrong with letting this Bill pass this House, bringing it to the floor of Dáil Éireann,...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2019)

Michael McDowell: Subsection (2) states: "The Commission shall have regard to any direction made by the Minister under this section in discharging its functions in respect of any appointment in respect of which the direction applies." Subsection (3) states: "The Minister may from time to time consult with the Presidents of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court in...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2019)

Michael McDowell: Ignoring that for a second, who reasonably anticipates this? How are the appointees for that job going to know when they apply for a vacancy in the High Court, say, that it is looking for an intellectual property lawyer rather than somebody to preside over murder trials in the Central Criminal Court? How is this to be determined? This is a genuine lacuna. It is a mistake in the Bill that...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2019)

Michael McDowell: If there is provision in this legislation for separate selection procedure statements of requisite skills and attributes to be proposed by the commission and published, which there is because that is what section 50 states, and if that is to be done on the basis that "it is reasonably anticipated a particular appointee" will deal with this kind of business, which the Bill acknowledges, surely...

Seanad: Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed) (28 May 2019)

Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 97cb:In page 33, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"51. (1) The Commission shall, before publishing any statement under this Part, submit to the Minister a draft of such statement for consideration and approval by the Government. (2) The Government shall consider any draft statement submitted to the Minister under this section and may approve of such...