Results 16,481-16,500 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Of course Deputy is McGrath is elected by the people the same as everyone else and he is entitled to be here as a democratically elected representative. This does not mean he can attack people like Michael O'Brien, an abused victim who made his case clearly to the nation. The Deputy should reflect on his words in that regard.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Far from hiding and denying the truth, the Government has exposed the truth and has now set about a process of dealing with that truth. I expect the Deputy will agree that the Government commissioned the report and received and published it yesterday. It is 1,000 pages long. I think the Deputy said it was 1,400 pages long. We are at the start of a process. If Deputy McGrath wants to...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: The report is 1,000 pages long and not 1,400. When Deputy McGrath speaks of hope, I trust he acknowledges that the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, with the authority of the Government, commissioned the report. It was published yesterday.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Now we know the truth, and we believe the stories of the women from the Magdalen laundries who spoke to the McAleese committee. Deputy McGrath himself has given some ideas without having read the report. As a democratically elected represented, he has a duty to contribute to the debate when it happens, in the context of reconciliation and closure, in which the Government is interested.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: We have the report and I accept it and believe in it. The stories in it are true.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: I have expressed my sorrow, as Taoiseach on behalf of the Government and the people, to all of the women who went through that environment.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Deputy McGrath, being a reasonable man, will appreciate that this is not an easy matter and cannot be dealt with in a simplistic fashion. There are individual stories of young girls and women who were-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: -----in many cases emotionally challenged, offended, hurt and damaged, with a negative impact for the rest of their lives. Many of them are no longer alive to see the report about them produced. The Government will now deal with this. We need a little time to reflect on how best to do that. This is all I ask. Deputy McGrath will be welcome to take part in the debate, when it happens, and...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Sometimes in this world, people find it very hard to say, "I am sorry". I said this yesterday and I repeat it again today on behalf of the State: I am sorry that so many women worked and were resident in Magdalen laundries in a very harsh, authoritarian environment.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: It is not difficult to say that. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, when in opposition, was proven to be correct because the report points out the involvement of the State in the placing of 25% of those women, through one route or another, in Magdalen laundries. I do believe the stories of the women. I do believe that this is the truth about what happened to them, about their lives and their...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: I am certainly not going to rise to the bait of political opportunism.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: Deputy McDonald, above all people, and the party she represents-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: -----have a lot to answer for in terms of cruelty-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: -----in terms of truth and in terms of reconciliation. I am not going there.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: I have said, in answer to the leader of the Fianna Fáil Party-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: I assure Deputy Ferris that I see him.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: We have had some discussions about his activities in the past day or two.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: In answer to Deputies McDonald and Martin, I have said that the Government made a decision to set up a committee and have a report produced. Former Senator McAleese has produced that. It is the first time that the truth of the scale of what happened in the Magdalen laundries, told by the women who were there, has actually been made public. I genuinely believe-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: -----that it is the responsibility of the Government not to react the day after a 1,000 page report is produced-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2013)
Enda Kenny: -----but to have the evidence and the considered opinions of the Government and the Oireachtas brought into the House and then to decide what is the best thing to do. Deputy McDonald does not agree with that because she always wants to have her political opportunistic jibe. I am not interested in that.