Results 2,661-2,680 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: There is no Supplementary Estimate.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Yes. I hope both Houses will debate it.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Legislation is not required to increase the schedule. That can been done a few times.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I do not know. The fees issue is a separate matter.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: They should not be charging.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Legislation is being prepared for the register of persons who are considered unsafe to work with children. I do not have a date for the legislation yet because the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Health and Children are discussing the establishment of a pre-employment consultancy service.

Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The nursing home Bill will be brought before the House in this session.

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Details of all contracts awarded to outside consultants by my Department in respect of each year since 2000 are listed in table 1. Details in respect of bodies under the aegis of my Department are listed in table 2. Table 1: Department of the Taoiseach Year of Contract Supplier Description Estimated Cost Total Expenditure â'¬ â'¬ 2000-2002 PricewaterhouseCoopers eCabinet...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Civil Service posts at the levels of assistant secretary and deputy secretary are covered by a scheme of performance related awards. The operation of the scheme is overseen by the committee for performance awards. The funding for awards is based on 10% of the payroll for the posts covered by the scheme. Within this overall limit, payments of up to 20% can be made to individuals. Details of...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (12 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Details of consultancies awarded by my Department to Deloitte & Touche since 1 July 1997 are given in the following table. Description of consultancy Overall cost Date Business analysis and review of financial management function â'¬46,691 1999-2000 Value for money audit of mobile phones â'¬7,618 2001

Seanad: European Union: Statements. (13 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I welcome this opportunity to address the Seanad on European issues. The European Union is currently going through a period of uncertainty. The rejection of the draft EU constitution in the French and Dutch referenda marked a setback for the process of European integration. This was compounded by the failure in June of the European Council to agree on the future financial perspectives of the...

Departmental Bodies. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. The total projected cost of the communications unit to date in 2005 is €239,951. The sum of €96,938 is a direct cost to my Department, with on average €32,475 being borne by the five other Departments with staff seconded to the unit. The total projected cost of the unit for 2005 is €319,934, with €129,250 being a direct...

Departmental Bodies. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I am always happy to show Deputies the good services provided by my Department. If other Departments are using transcripts for programmes available from the communications unit, they should not be. I am not certain that none of them is but there is no reason they should, although the unit does not cover local programmes. Of the staff in the unit, 90% are from other Departments so they know...

Departmental Bodies. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy knows the unit deals with issues of the day that are in the public domain. It cannot do any more than that. It is not a political unit and cannot forewarn or advise Ministers or their officials in advance.

Departmental Bodies. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Data prepared by civil servants in their normal course of work are not made available to Members of the House and this case is no different. The information provide by the communications unit is a summary of daily news bulletins. Members may access this information themselves. The advantage of this is that transcripts and other information are available; that is the service that is provided...

Departmental Bodies. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: If the Deputy is suggesting that a summary of what is contained in the morning newspapers and on radio equates to propaganda, I am not sure who benefits from this propaganda. That is a point of view worth debating. This unit points out what is in the newspaper and radio headlines.

Ministerial Staff. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 8, inclusive, together. There are six special advisers appointed by me and there has been no increase in their number since I took office. Under the direction of the programme manager, the primary function of the advisers is to monitor, facilitate and help secure the achievement of Government objectives and to ensure effective co-ordination in the...

Ministerial Staff. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The advisers are governed by the Public Services Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. They are governed by ethics legislation from 1995 and 2004 and they also have written contracts. Difficulties occurred some years ago and procedure was tightened as a result. Advisers in other Departments are also governed by these measures. Each year these people must fill in a full range of...

Ministerial Staff. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The advisers are focused on individual areas. They do not duplicate effort and are designated to individual Departments because that is the sensible way to do things. Some work on foreign affairs issues, on Northern Ireland issues or on health or education issues and they liaise with people in those Departments. The Deputy's view is that some of these areas are not well run. I am glad to see,...

Ministerial Staff. (18 Oct 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I listed the individuals and their salary scales in the answer to the original question. The special advisers are linked to Civil Service grades. The Department of Finance set these scales when the advisers are taken on. My programme manager is allowed a top-up, but all the salaries are linked to Civil Service or Department of Finance scales, such as assistant principal and principal officer.