Results 201-220 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He provides no advice and is not involved in the preparation of any such advice. He, perhaps, would gather some information but he would have no role in the preparation of advice.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As far as I can recall, Mr. Deegan is the third appointment to this position. There may have been more appointments but Mr. Deegan is the third appointment I know of in this regard. Deputy Rabbitte makes the point that there is a necessity to appoint a liaison officer. Whether everything works perfectly at the end of the day is another matter. It is essential there is a person available to...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The reality is that management structures within the Attorney General's office, which brought together all sections of that office, have only been in place since Mr. Gleeson's time in office. That office was not technologically driven and the current form of legislation committee did not exist, nor did the link-back structures with the Departments. This House processes 50% more legislation...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He reports only to the Attorney General. He is responsible to him, and any work he does is on behalf of the Attorney General. As part of the Government legislation committee, he reports to the Attorney General on any liaising he does.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Not normally.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He will have contact, but he does not have any involvement with the advice, and therefore legal agents would not——

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: They have all those responsibilities, but with regard to the responsibilities in preparing legislation and dealing with advice they would not deal on legal matters other than with some of the legal officers and the Parliamentary Counsel people although they might deal with the individual concerned on administrative matters.

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As a result of an examination by the Attorney General of recent court judgments on the delegation of legislative power, the Government has directed that each Department undertake an audit of the part of the Statute Book for which it has responsibility regarding delegations of legislative powers which may be affected by the decision of the Supreme Court of 27 January 2004, and the decision of...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: On the timing, the Departments were made aware that this was a matter of urgency. I hope their report to the Attorney General will be completed promptly. The Attorney General will then have to consider the extent to which changes will have to be made. It is his view that it is the prerogative of the legislature to solve any problem that currently exists by way of primary legislation. In other...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: We do not yet have the list of curative measures. Obviously, when the report is completed there will be a list of the curative measures required. It will mean, if the scheme of the legislation provides for two or more Ministers or agencies as participants in the decision making process, that this can only be altered through primary legislation. It has been the practice in this House for...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy has a point regarding such processing. That is now being done in the European legislation committee.

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: It is, and I agree with it. I have no argument against the principles outlined in the judgment. Primary legislation should basically be quite broad. Legislation coming before the House should relate to principles which one should not be able to oppose. The courts tell us that, in secondary legislation, we should not amend an Act so as to make it contrary to the primary legislation. That is...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I do not want to go into individual Acts. However, whether legislation concerns social welfare, tax or pensions, so long as the basis and the principles of it are established, then as time progresses and matters move on, a Minister should be entitled to change it by order. This process should be protected so long as the principles and the basis of the legislation are not changed. Time moves...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: This will be for new admissions to the public service and not for existing public servants. These arguments go back to the introduction of the 65 years of age retirement provision and the reason for it. However, a Minister can make orders for new cases in legislation, so long as it does not change the principles. The principle behind this legislation is that people are entitled to...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: It is subject to people changing too.

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I do not want to comment specifically on Henry VIII provisions but there are approximately 500 Acts on the Statute Book that predate 1922. I gave a detailed response to this some months ago. Many of these Acts go back several hundred years. The statute law revision unit is examining whether these will be re-enacted or deleted. I do not know how many go back to the reign of Henry VIII but all...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The smoke-free environment will help. I do not have the specific notes on the statute law revision unit's work. The unit is trying to categorise the legislation in different areas. It hopes to re-enact what it requires to put as much as possible of the re-enacted legislation into a number of Acts and to clear the Statute Book for other areas. While many of the Acts are still law, in effect,...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The judgment in the case under discussion must be taken into account. As I said earlier, curative measures will have to come before the House. Under the Constitution, it is open to individuals to challenge legislative matters before the courts. Individuals have that right. The eminent members of the Judiciary are able to hand down judgments that we are honour-bound to take into account in...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As I have said, 500 pre-1922 Acts are being examined. The statute law revision unit is examining such legislation as part of a project that is examining all Acts. As I have said, the unit will probably give advice on how to deal with such legislation. I hope that re-enactment can be taken collectively in many of the cases and that many of the other cases can be cleared. Our intention is to...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy is asking whether there will be just one Act to deal with all these judgments. I am not certain yet, but I imagine there would need to be primary legislation in different areas, particularly where decisions have been made over the years. The note I read out was from the Office of the Attorney General stating that these matters could be corrected by primary legislation. Whether an...