Results 4,721-4,740 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions. (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will give Deputy Kenny the facts at my disposal. First, this callous murder is a brutal reminder of Northern Ireland's tortured and tragic past and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. At approximately 5 p.m. yesterday, a 999 call was made to ambulance control by a member of the public requesting medical assistance at a house in Clogher Cor, Glenties, County Donegal. The body of...

Leaders' Questions. (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I thank Deputy Kenny for his support for the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which is our sole aim. Deputy Kenny is right in saying that whoever is behind this murder, whether an individual, an organisation or a group within an organisation — I hope they are remnants of the past — must be identified. It is important for many reasons that every effort is made to find the...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not think either of those are the basis of the debate. Whatever about earlier arguments, I have been engaged and involved with Aer Lingus for a long time. I was the last Minister for Finance to invest substantial resources in Aer Lingus to keep it flying at the time and to allow it to buy the Airbuses which was a big modernisation issue. As Taoiseach I was involved in the effort...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If I was to do that I would be open to far more questions.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The next steps are that the Ministers for Finance and Transport will mandate the company to negotiate with the trade unions on the package of measures to address the concerns that have been identified. I have already said they are job security, pensions and possible dilution of ESOT shareholdings, following the issue of additional shares in the company. These and others are the issues the...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The issue is to try to allow Aer Lingus to grow, expand and prosper. The best way of ensuring the company does not go the road of other airlines, including very strong companies such as Swissair and some of the biggest government-owned airlines in the world, is to try to allow it to grow and prosper.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Thankfully, the number of people using our aviation industry, the strength of our tourism base and investment in the economy mean it is sensible to do this. With continued State involvement in Aer Lingus, this option will be good for the airline, staff and customers. The transaction will give the company access to the broadest range of funding available on the financial markets, enhance its...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If one wants Aer Lingus to survive, it must be allowed to trade and deal on the same terms as others.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The only way the airline will thrive is to allow it to implement its own business plan, which will result in the long-haul fleet doubling in the short term and growing by more than 55% over the next five years, with the positive implications this will have for employment. This is the right way to proceed.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: One of the great features of parliamentary democracy is that people are entitled to hold opinions. The Deputy is entitled to his opinion but I disagree with practically everything he says and does on every issue and this one is no exception. His theory would have resulted in Aer Lingus's closure. The company still employs 3,600 people. It employed 3,000 more when it was in State ownership and...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy's small band of merry men and women in the company would always argue that Aer Lingus should be restricted, kept in State hands and not allowed to develop. They take pride in the fact that Aer Lingus, as our national airline——

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I listened to the Deputy. Democracy works both ways and, like him, I am entitled to speak.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy would prefer Aer Lingus, when the European open skies policy comes into force, to continue to be able to fly into just five airports in the United States and have no opportunity to develop and grow and no chance of enhancing its status. Rather than unions and workers owning some of the shares, he would prefer them to be the slaves of what he sees as the capitalist class. He opposes...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Obviously the Deputy and I disagree on this and we will continue to disagree. I remind the Deputy that, before it was liberalised, the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs was in place when I was first elected to the House. One of the biggest issues for constituents was having to wait four or five years to get a telephone. There were no telephones.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: People could not make telephone calls. Now one can walk into any office or premises and get a telephone on the same day.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is huge competition now.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They would make an excellent Government by renationalising the telephone system to bring us back to the dark past. I suppose they would ban mobile telephones as well.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will say two things because obviously I will not be allowed to speak. Deputy Joe Higgins argued for years — I admire him for this — about how great the countries of eastern Europe were and how we should be the same.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy argued for that.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed). (5 Apr 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The truth is always slanderous.