Results 3,021-3,040 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: How can the Taoiseach explain why this house is not sitting next week? It is a disgrace. It ought to sit. In circumstances where we are confronted with this kind of crisis, to think that this House can be shut down so that the Government can escape accountability is a profound and fundamental mistake.

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: There is no point in trying to confuse the issue about the seven prisoners. I know the position of the six remaining prisoners.

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I would be more interested if the Taoiseach told me if it was the intention of the DPP to charge them again under the other legislation he is talking about. I know the position — that, unfortunately, has happened and is in the past. They are the historical cases.

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I want to know about the future. Can the Taoiseach give an assurance to parents that from this weekend their children are safe? That is the issue. All the Taoiseach is saying is that we will have a wide-ranging debate about the age of consent, equality of gender etc. That is an interesting debate that we should have in the future. In the interim we need this loophole shut off.

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I am offering one way of doing this. If the Minister believes he has superior advice to bring to bear, let him bring it.

Leaders' Questions. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This House should sit until we enact interim legislation that protects our children until we have the wider debate.

Order of Business. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Given that the Cabinet was unable to agree this morning and there are no heads of a Bill prepared, will the House sit next week on the matter which has arisen as a result of the Supreme Court case?

Order of Business. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: In time honoured tradition I am entitled, on the basis of convention, to ask if the House is scheduled to sit next week.

Order of Business. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Why does the Ceann Comhairle not allow the Taoiseach to answer for himself for a change? As he is aware, the decision on whether the House sits is a matter for the Government and he should not engage in games as though it is for the House to decide.

Order of Business. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: It is a matter for the Government. Whether we sit or not is decided by the Government, not by the House.

Order of Business. (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Let us not play games. I am merely asking the Taoiseach, having regard to the gravity of the situation that has arisen concerning the protection of our children, whether it is proposed by the Government that we sit next week.

Written Answers — Electricity Generation: Electricity Generation (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 121: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on whether the carbon emissions system will significantly impact on the future price levels of electricity; his further views on proposals to restructure the electricity market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20633/06]

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (30 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 456: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if, in view of the decision of Pobal to advise the board of the area partnerships of additional allocations which will be made from existing resources to help offset the cost of benchmarking adjustments for 2006 (details supplied), similar arrangements will be applied in the case of the Clondalkin drugs task force;...

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I am immensely disappointed by what the Tánaiste has just said. She seemed to assert that it would be unreasonable for Government to have anticipated the striking down of this particular section. How in heaven's name can she say that? Twice in May 2005, as I said in the House last week, legislation was rushed through in one day. That legislation was ready to go. To say that, on something as...

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: It was considered inappropriate at the time to debate these matters in public and that is what we get from this kind of legislation. We do not want to be presented with legislation that we are supposed to enact when there is no room or tolerance of amendments. I ask the Tánaiste if the Opposition will be consulted before the weekend. What day will this House reconvene to enact this...

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Does she think in any other democratic assembly the Minister for justice would be still in office——

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: ——as a result of something of the gravity of a 12 year old girl being fed drink and then subjected to sexual relations by an adult male? What about the horror cases coming down the line?

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is there any accountability in this Government for any of the errors it makes?

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: That last point is another correction of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Minister plainly said yesterday evening that the carriage of this case was the responsibility of the DPP. He said he knew nothing about it, that the Attorney General personally knew nothing about it and that he could not say if people in the Attorney General's office knew about it. It is about time...

Leaders' Questions. (31 May 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Law Reform Commission said the existing law was too harsh. A number of legal experts, including Tom O'Malley, had adverted to this issue in public.