Results 4,261-4,280 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Appointments to State Boards. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If someone was disqualified or knocked off a register, it is unlikely the person would come through the process. The Deputy obviously has a particular case in mind.

Appointments to State Boards. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will look at the case. In the normal position I would not appoint someone who was disqualified.

Appointments to State Boards. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They cannot be blamed for causing any of the arguments if there is none of them on the board.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 9, inclusive, together. The total costs incurred by my Department in respect of the Moriarty tribunal from 1997 to 31 January 2006 is €22,587,982. This includes fees paid to counsel for the tribunal and administration costs incurred since its establishment. The total payment made to the legal team was €17,134,415 up to 31 January 2006. The total cost...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I understand it, the Moriarty tribunal was due to end its public hearings and the report was to be written and delivered in or around the end of the year. I think that is what I told the House on a previous occasion. I do not have any information other than that. As Deputy Kenny has correctly said, the Moriarty tribunal was given an extension at the higher fee rates up to 30 June next. I...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: In July 2004 the Government decided to apply a new scale of legal fees payable in respect of any new tribunals and inquiries established on or after 1 September 2004. The effect of the scale was to reduce substantially the costs of legal representation at new tribunals and inquiries. In September of 2004, the Government decided that the new scale would also be applied to existing tribunals...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The figure the Deputy mentioned is correct. He will appreciate I can only outline to him the assessment given to me. I am not responsible for the tribunal and can only give the date I am given, but I do not know how firm that date will be.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The costs to date amount to €22.5 million. The tribunal received an extension, which was deemed reasonable based on work it had to do in addition to that on its existing schedule. A case was made to the relevant Department and the Attorney General in this regard and thus the timeframe was extended to the end of June. If the work is not completed at the end of June, the tribunal legislation...

Decentralisation Programme. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 14, inclusive, together. Forty-five staff currently serving in my Department have applied through the central applications facility to relocate under the decentralisation programme. The breakdown by grade is as follows: assistant principal, nine; higher executive officer, four; administrative officer, ten; executive officer, ten; staff officer, two; and...

Decentralisation Programme. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I said, 22% of the staff of the Department of the Taoiseach have opted to relocate outside Dublin. It is obvious that no section of that Department is to be decentralised. It is a question of what individuals across all Departments are doing within the system. Some 10,600 people, or 100 a month, are hoping to transfer to the Departments which are to be decentralised. That is what is going...

Decentralisation Programme. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: That information is available. I do not have information on what individuals are doing. The Deputy can take it that the officials who wish to be transferred have applied to be located in sections which are to be transferred to locations outside Dublin. People in the Department of the Taoiseach are aware that they will not get out over——

Decentralisation Programme. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: That is what will happen. Officials in the Department of the Taoiseach are transferring to other Departments, in Dublin or elsewhere, which are to be decentralised. They are doing that because it is the only way they can position themselves for decentralisation, and that is fair enough. The percentage of staff at each grade in the Department of the Taoiseach to have applied is as follows....

Decentralisation Programme. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is ongoing training for staff members who come into the Department or who move from one Department to another. There are now around 10,500 people on the list. What happens before the next general election is relevant to the decentralisation process. The public service is non-political. I was Minister for Finance in the early 1990s when the Government last implemented a decentralisation...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I said outside the House, I wholeheartedly condemn the disgraceful scenes of naked violence visited on the people of Dublin and on the Garda by a very unrepresentative minority last Saturday. It is already clear this was an attempt by a small sectarian minority to deny others the right to express their views freely and in a peaceful manner. Let us be clear, these were the motivations of a...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There are always lessons learned from everything. The kind of thuggery we saw on Saturday last, and the gathering of what probably were different groups, did us harm and shamed the city and the country. There is no doubt about that. With every march the Garda, when it receives a plan, must look at all the aspects to it and the Minister will point out later the extent to which it did that. The...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte has given a factual account of what happened and when the Nally report was published. The Omagh bomb case is before the courts and any new evidence will be examined. However, it has been the view all the way through that any information given to the Garda by the security forces was acted on long before the explosions. I cannot be certain of the facts but the relevant security...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government will, obviously, consider all these issues. The Deputy is right that we have not got to the end of this matter. The end will come only when we get successful prosecutions against the people who perpetrated the bombing in Omagh and killed, injured and maimed so many people, affecting many families for the rest of their lives. The issue continues. I have dealt with this matter...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I express my deep regret to the women affected by the trauma and suffering as a result of the events of recent years. Since these issues came to light in 1998, they have been acted upon and have been thoroughly investigated and the Cabinet approved publication of the reports of today. I commend the work that has gone into the preparation of this report. It is a good job and an excellent...

Leaders' Questions. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I said, the Tánaiste has already made a statement today. I repeat, on behalf of the Government, that we are all very sorry. We deeply regret and are equally appalled at the contents of this report. Let us be very clear about that. We have promised throughout, over the last seven or eight years, that as soon as the report was available the Minister of the day, in this case the Tánaiste,...

Order of Business. (28 Feb 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is proposed to take No. 8, motion re ministerial rota for parliamentary questions; No. 9, Registration of Deeds and Title Bill 2004 [Seanad]— Financial Resolution; No. 10, Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004 — Financial Resolution; No. 11, Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004 — Instruction to Committee; No. 20, statements on public disorder in Dublin city...