Results 27,741-27,760 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Leaders' Questions (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: -----and do what he must do, or else tell his Deputy First Minister, "Martin, you have responsibility for this". He wants to do a deal, but the Deputy will not let him. It is a major sign of what might happen down here if the people were ever to give the Deputy that type of responsibility in this country.

Leaders' Questions (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: It is a good question, in which the Deputy has had an interest for some time. The matter of prisoners' rights was not discussed, either in the plenary sessions or the discussions with the individual parties on Thursday and Friday. This is not to say it has not been discussed in the past ten weeks with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan; the Minister of...

Leaders' Questions (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade answered the Deputy's question in November confirming that justice and policing powers had been devolved to the Northern Ireland institutions following the Hillsborough Castle Agreement in 2010. Mr. David Ford, MLA, has since been Northern Ireland Minister for Justice, while an executive agency of his Department, the Northern Ireland Prison Service,...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. All records held in my Department are kept in compliance with the provisions of the Data Protection Acts, the Freedom of Information Act and the National Archives Act. Minutes are taken of meetings held in my Department, where judged appropriate. My Department has a designated member of staff who is responsible for managing the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy received a letter in November 2013 from the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach confirming to him that there was documentation relating to the bank guarantee held in the Department and listing the issues, the things the Deputy has received. I recognise this and stated in June 2014, "There is a faxed cover sheet regarding an Iris Oifigiúilnotice, No. 87; an...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: If I said that-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I might have made a comparison with what had happened or references in other cases-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: -----where papers had slipped down behind boxes and radiators. I withdraw it. Obviously, the banking inquiry is now starting and it is very limited in the range of questions it can ask about how all of this occurred, it was dealt with and so on. It is completely independent in the manner in which it will do its business, as I have confirmed to members from my own party. Consequently, I...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I dealt with that issue in response to the question from Deputy Micheál Martin. I am withdrawing my remarks that these things were deliberately or otherwise not made available. In respect of record-keeping, staff are trained and upgraded in that regard. They work with staff from the National Archives in order that records are kept to the highest standards. There has been a change...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Records (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I am not sure when the records will be released to Deputy Martin but I will have a note sent to him this afternoon.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 22, inclusive, together. I attended the special European Council meeting in Brussels on 30 August. At that meeting, Donald Tusk was elected as the new President of the European Council and Federica Mogherini was appointed High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The European Council also discussed the situation in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: If the Deputy wants a facility for a priority system for Taoiseach’s questions, I am happy to accommodate that.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: If I made my answers shorter, we might get through them more quickly. Before he became President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker was a strong supporter of Ireland in respect of the European Council's 2012 decision on the question of bank recapitalisation and naming Ireland in that regard, a decision to which the now President of the European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk, was...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: The objective is to get the best result for the Irish taxpayer.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: The state of the Irish banks back in 2012 was very different from what it is now. Obviously, with the decisions made by the Government and the return of confidence, the banks are worth a lot more than they were then. The Government has these two options. The Minister for Finance has made it perfectly clear that he does not propose to dispose of the shareholding that we have in Bank of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: There are reports of a possible siege of Aleppo and attacks by ISIS on the Kurdish population of Kobanê. Some reports indicate a beating back of ISIS in Kobanê. If this is true, it might deal with its perception of invincibility.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: I understand that. The question of the de-listing of the PKK and the opposition to the Assad regime generally is one that has occupied a good deal of discussion at the various European Council meetings, and I imagine it will be at the centre of discussion again this week. I will refer to the point Deputy Boyd Barrett raised. We do not have any idea of the scale or the reality of what is...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: Let me go back. Our country went over the cliff in terms of the economy. We had a €64 billion borrowing requirement, which put pressure on every person in the country. We have seen mass emigration and unemployment, negative equity and so on. The moneys put into Anglo Irish Bank are gone and cannot be recovered. However, the moneys put up for other banks were the subject of long...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: To break from that, the European Council decided that if issues like this arose in the future - it is hoped they will not – there would be a break between bank debt and sovereign debt. That was the effect of the decision. However, the consequence was that it allowed for potential recapitalisation where applications were merited and where applications would be received. As far as I...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (16 Dec 2014)

Enda Kenny: The objective was twofold. One element was making the decision that what occurred could never happen again in terms of breaking the link between bank and sovereign debt. As Ireland was the first and main negotiator of the arrangement, it is now a case of determining the best option for the Irish taxpayer. In other words, the Government has to make the decision in the best interest of the...