Results 3,821-3,840 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (31 Jan 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government continues to support a full independent public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane. We have made clear that we want to see the standard agreed at Weston Park and set by Judge Cory adhered to. We continue to share the concern of the Finucane family that the new Inquiries Act, under which the British Government intends to have the Finucane case investigated, will not meet...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (31 Jan 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government remains fully committed to the peace process and the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. I met Prime Minister Blair in Farmleigh on 26 January. Our main topic of discussion was the way ahead in Northern Ireland. As was stated after my meeting with Prime Minister Blair, the early restoration of the devolved institutions is in the best interests of everyone in...

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I made the point several times last year that the HSE already has a large number of staff involved in the supervision and examination of standards in our nursing homes and we stated at the time that we would put that on a statutory basis and would enter a period of consultation on how it can best be done. That did not take from the HSE's move, immediately after the events of last summer, to...

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We all agree, and that is why the Government has invested enormous resources. I do not have to go through the details, including those in the recent budget, but I do not think the Deputy is correct that we wasted any of those resources. We have invested significantly in the care of our older people, as well as looking after them in terms of welfare payments. We invested an additional €110...

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The sources of Deputy Rabbitte's information are two newspapers and what civil servants have said. If he gives me a minute or two, I will inform him of the Government's position. We began this week to spend an additional €1 billion on the M50, to increase capacity by 50% over the next number of years.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: This, coupled with the completion of the Naas Road project, will significantly help the flow of traffic.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government is anxious to remove the toll plaza.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputies do not really want to know what I think, they want to use their sources. The Government is anxious to remove the toll plaza as soon as possible. We will not get rid of tolling, but will move to electronic, free flow tolling on the motorway.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We cannot just walk away from the contract with NTR, which runs until 2020 and not pay the company. Legally, we cannot do that. We are advised it will take about a year to go through the procurement process and then to go through all of the technical arrangements. I personally believe that is an extremely long period of time, but I am advised that is the position. It should be possible to...

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: At the end of or during that the Government will decide how to move on. People in the NRA have views about how we best do that, but the Government will make the decision. There are views about many things in the NRA the Government disagrees with. We went along with some of them and got ourselves into plenty of hot water in the process.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We will listen to its views, but the Government will make the decision. I cannot answer for what was stated last week or what people might have thought, I am stating the position of the Minister, my position and the position of the Government.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: To make a number of points in correction of Deputy Rabbitte, who is unusually poorly informed on this issue, the reason for the demand management upgrade is that the council, on which the Labour Party has a majority, made a condition that a demand management flow study be done as part of the upgrade.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It was a condition recently of the Labour-led council to have a demand management process. That is the reason.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government wants to get rid of the present barrier plaza system and to replace it with an electronic system that will be far more efficient. More and more traffic is more efficiently using the M50, despite all its problems, all the time. Deputy Rabbitte asked what has been going on for the past nine years. I am sure he has travelled the road to see that the M50 has been going through its...

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A million fewer people were working when we started the plans for this road; the population has increased by 1 million and will increase by a further million. Things change and we have been all the time upgrading, planning and moving ahead.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Unfortunately when there is a contractual arrangement until 2020 we must negotiate ourselves out of it.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: This is not a banana republic where we can tell NTR to move on.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We are endeavouring and have started to put €1 billion into the upgrade, finish the tunnel this year, finish the Naas Road and find a new electronic way of letting traffic through quickly. If that is not good for the motorist, I do not know what is.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I have no problem working with the Deputy to examine future energy supplies because that is what the Minister has been actively doing. He has received a range of proposals from many organisations and their input is to be welcomed by everybody. The reason I support the orbital route is that the city boundary continues to move outwards as the population increases.

Leaders' Questions. (1 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: No.