Results 2,641-2,660 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: That is the reason the Minister wants an Ombudsman commission for the Garda Síochána. We may argue about how it should happen but the Minister is open to suggestions in that regard.

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I answer on behalf of the Government and not on behalf of a particular party in it. I answer for the entire Government when I say it is taking on board the recommendations in the Morris tribunal report. There will be a debate in the House on Friday of this week and the Minister will clearly outline his proposals in regard to the Garda Síochána. As the Deputy knows, the Minister intends to...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: To be fair, Deputy McCormack, no Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in recent times has brought forward more reforming measures than the current Minister. That will continue to be the case.

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: We all have to abide by the decisions of the court. The High Court made a decision yesterday in regard to the inspectors' report on Gama, but the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment had already circulated that report to all the relevant authorities, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Revenue Commissioners and many others. As the Deputy is aware, labour law in Ireland...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I am a champion of the policies that create high quality employment. I am the Minister who brought in the minimum wage. It is the policies over the past few years that have delivered 500,000 people at work here. That is an incredible statistic not matched by any country in the developed world. That is what I champion. We have strong laws in regard to unfair dismissal and constructive...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: ——robust labour relations machinery in this State that acts very speedily and quickly. That is a fact. If the Deputy were to compare our labour relations infrastructure, the LRC, the rights commissioners and the Labour Court, it compares extraordinarily favourably with many other countries. The trade union movement has been the first to acknowledge that.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: It is proposed to take No. 20, Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2004 — Report Stage (resumed) and Final Stage; No. 22, Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005 — Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; and No. 1, Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004 — amendments from the Seanad. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the...

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: The Government is anxious to implement Dáil reform. Clearly it would not be desirable to do it on a unilateral basis and we would welcome the support of the Opposition. I understand the Chief Whip is to begin discussions with the Opposition in regard to specific proposals.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: In particular most Deputies would like an earlier discussion during the day of topical issues rather than post Private Members' time or late in the evening which is not satisfactory from anybody's point of view. Hopefully during the next couple of weeks agreement can be reached on that matter. Specifically on the Health Service Executive we do not have legislation promised. We have enacted...

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I have already answered the question on Standing Order 31 motions.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I saw the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, wearing a band on his arm. I will not speculate as to what that meant. I will leave that to others.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: As I told the Deputy previously the whistleblowers legislation that was proposed ran into serious constitutional and other issues. It was decided, I think, to pursue the matter by way of sectoral whistleblowing provisions. We did that in the Competition Act and it was followed in other legislation since. That is the most desirable way to pursue this issue.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I told the Deputy it ran into serious constitutional and legal difficulties which I think I have explained to him before.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: It was decided that it would be dealt with. For example, the Competition Act made provision for it and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill and the child abuse legislation made provision for it. Certainly I am looking at it in the context of the HIQA legislation but there are real issues when it comes to saying that somebody who works for a company in Ireland can report about matters...

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: Perhaps the line Minister — the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or his Minister of State in this case — can——

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: No, it is not.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: I dealt with this issue before and the reasons it was not pursued. Perhaps we can make that clear to Deputies. That is why we went for the sectoral approach.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: The Deputy is asking me about a Labour Party Bill, not a Government Bill.

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: There is no Government Bill coming that I am aware of, unless the law has changed since I——

Order of Business. (15 Jun 2005)

Mary Harney: Rather than have a row here, can we ask the line Minister to make the legal advice available.