Results 2,481-2,500 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Northern Ireland Issues. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: As Deputy Allen said, that is an issue. We have not been debating it because we are debating the other issues. However, the aforementioned is the position of the authorities. I do not believe they intend changing it in the short term. I will ask the Minister to make the point when he is communicating with them again.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I will just touch on some of the issues. The PPARS system started off first in the mid 1990s when the health boards decided they needed a better payroll system because they did not even know how many people were working for them at the time. They looked at setting up a payroll system for a number of the health boards at the time and the estimated cost was €9 million or €10 million. Early...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The Hay organisation estimated that it would cost €95 million to do the job.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: We are talking about a payroll of €7 billion and a total number of staff of approximately 140,000.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The Hay organisation said that a reduction in absenteeism would lead to savings of €56 million per annum. After two or three years, therefore, the savings would be worth more than the entire cost of the system.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The organisation also suggested that the system would lead to a reduction in staff turnover and would facilitate cost avoidance systems. The health boards tried to pull all of this together. An international IT consultancy group, Gardner, was commissioned in July 2004 to examine where the project was then. The group's report indicated that although spending was in line with the level outlined...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: ——but it was never intended that the system would cost €10 million.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The cost of the system, as envisaged by the Hay organisation in 2001, was €95 million. Some €116 million was spent up to the end of last year. It would cost another €55 million, more than €20 million of which would be a staff cost, to finish the system in its entirety. Unfortunately, if 100 people work on a system, one must pay them. That might be a difficulty for Fine Gael, but on...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The system is not finished adequately. Deputy Kenny finished by asking me to state who I feel is responsible for this difficulty. The 11 health boards found that they could not put a payroll system together.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Thankfully, the Government established the HSE.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: It is obvious that a single organisation is responsible for ruling the 140,000 staff. A review of the matter is under way in the HSE——

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: ——which has a good executive, chairman and chief executive. We have confidence in the HSE.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I would like to make a final point.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny tried to say that it is an IT system. It is not an IT system.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: It is a human resource system being developed for the entire HSE into the future. A large part of it is working.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The firm in question,Deloitte & Touche, did not get the money just for consultancy. It implemented the system, trained 140,000 staff and tried to put the entire system together. That is what the money was paid for. We should have more honesty. There are difficulties with the system, but we should not have presentations, either here or elsewhere, which are totally dishonest.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy does not like the truth.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I have not blamed anyone.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny started his contribution by saying that the Government is totally responsible, but he then said we are trying to pass the buck totally. He cannot have it both ways.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The HSE is conducting a review of the system, as planned and put together over the past seven or eight years, to see whether it is capable within a reasonable cost of providing a modern management system for the health service's 140,000 staff and its annual payroll of €7 billion. The details of just 40,000 staff have been placed on the system to date. It has been estimated that a further...