Results 3,681-3,700 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I have a transcript of the press conference given by the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for housing and urban renewal, Deputy Noel Ahern, on 30 August. He said that property speculators "should be taxed out of existence" and that they should play the commodities market on the London stock exchange in oil,...

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: While I am dealing with the populist wing of Fianna Fáil, may I ask the Tánaiste about the announcement made to Ursula Halligan last Sunday by the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, that he had discovered money lenders were operating in our society and that he would introduce legislation to cap interest rates?

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I had the opportunity in Kenmare to clarify that the Tánaiste's press clipping service is not always reliable. Will the Government advance legislation to cap interest rates applied by money lenders?

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I heard the statement with my own ears and saw it with my own eyes.

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: There is no point equivocating at this point. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Brennan, is very adept at releasing statements every weekend and he is rarely pursued in this regard. We can exchange banter all day. Is legislation to cap money lending rates on the way?

Order of Business (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: What of the Good Friday Agreement?

Written Answers — Arts Funding: Arts Funding (26 Oct 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 46: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the reason he did not use the offices of the Arts Council in relation to deciding on the allocation of the recently announced €16.4 million in arts grants from surplus money in his Department's budget; the efforts he made to ensure this money was spread evenly throughout the country and that smaller projects in one particular...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Minister for Social and Family Affairs recently said he was alarmed to find that so many poor people are in the grip of money lenders. He went on to say that the scale of the problem was alarming, given that the clients of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service are in debt this year to the tune of €65 million. The Minister said this was outrageous. In case the Taoiseach missed the...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Every time the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform gives an interview, the dog barks uncontrollably.

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Even the dogs on the street support the Minister for Social and Family Affairs when he puts on his sincere face. During this very sincere period, he promised legislation to curb and ban interest rates. When will the legislation be introduced and will it ban interest rates? Since the interview, the Minister was corrected by his officials and told that he could not do what he proposed. The...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This Bill was published in March 2002, re-entered on the current Government's schedule and has remained there for the past four years without ever having been brought before this House. However, in his weekend round of interviews the Minister told Ursula Halligan that he has instructed his officials to the effect that poor people are in debt and that he would introduce new legislation to...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I agree with the Taoiseach that a poverty problem exists and that some people are in the grip of moneylenders and pay high interest rates. In a society based on credit, some people cannot get access to credit from conventional institutions and therefore resort to moneylenders, for which there is a premium to be paid. I do not dispute any of that. However, I asked the Taoiseach about the...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I find this lacks credibility. Although the Taoiseach stated that advice has been received over the years to the effect that one cannot legislate for this issue, why has the Minister claimed he can do so? For example, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service could set up a scheme to extend the facilities of the credit union movement——

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: ——to have targeted and tailored loans available to those people who find themselves in a hole regarding money to pay for rent, for Christmas, for first Holy Communion or whatever.

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Forgive me for being somewhat sceptical that if the Minister has not done it in four and a half years, he will do so in four and a half months.

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 1: To ask the Taoiseach if he will make a statement in regard to the Sullivan report on events in the Office of the Attorney General leading up to the A case. [28238/06]

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach the progress made to date with regard to the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Sullivan report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28239/06]

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach when he expects to receive the first report of the three-person panel of experts to advise upon and review, twice yearly, risk management procedures within the Office of Attorney General; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28372/06]

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I thank the Taoiseach for an unusually comprehensive reply. It will bear reading. As he is aware, the Sullivan report listed seven different stages at which the Attorney General himself ought to have been briefed on the statutory rape issue. It only happened at one stage, namely, the initial stage of briefing counsel. We know the issues that derived from that. It is not a question of...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I wish to ask the Taoiseach about a different aspect of this. He may recall the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, recently explaining on a public television programme the collapse of Dáil business on three occasions this term. He linked it to a logjam in the drafting section of the Parliamentary Counsel's section of the Attorney General's...