Results 4,921-4,940 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to replies to Questions Nos. 124 and 194 of 28 May 2008 and Question No. 2 of 17 April 2008, which set out the position in connection with this and related matters. The casino regulation committee completed its report in April 2007. It is a lengthy document that deals with a range of complex and inter-related public policy issues including Internet gambling. Neither the...

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: This report refers to an important policy area. The Oireachtas has not addressed it since 1956. There has been little legislative change in this area. The Oireachtas has passed it off. There were a number of reports during the time when Deputy Rabbitte was in government, including an unpublished task force report on the casino issue while Deputy Ruairí Quinn was Minister for Finance....

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I am not an expert in this area, as Deputy Rabbitte will understand, although he was not particularly sure about my history in respect of alcohol.

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I am not an expert on gaming, gambling and betting and I would defer to Members who are experts.

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: Perhaps that is a good thing, perhaps it is better that I am not an expert. Regarding fixed odds betting terminals, I am very concerned about their implementation based on what I have read about them. Looking at the experience in the UK, particularly the research on the effect on people, it would be a serious move to implement them in Ireland. By and large, the report comes down against the...

Casino Regulation. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I should think so, yes. I do not necessarily agree with my predecessor on bringing forward reports and us then dictating. It will depend on the circumstances. This area is complex and a great deal of analysis is required of the negative aspects of gaming and the proliferation of gaming and betting opportunities which exist. At the same time, we must understand this is a substantial...

National Drugs Strategy. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I commend An Garda Síochána for the seizure last night, as part of a planned operation, of what is estimated to be €4 million worth of heroin. My Department's remit in this area, as part of the Government's overall national drugs strategy, while not exclusively, is primarily in the area of drug supply reduction and drug law enforcement remains a key feature of the Government's drug policy...

National Drugs Strategy. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: Given the fact that we have a large coastline, most detection which takes place is intelligence based and comes through working with other law enforcement agencies. We have been successful in this respect and last night's seizure shows this is the case. In the context of working with our international partners, recently Ireland agreed to participate in the Maritime Analysis and Operation...

National Drugs Strategy. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: In this regard, for the most part, our law enforcement agencies, whether the customs service or the Garda Síochána, operate through good intelligence. To my knowledge, the customs service has visited as many aerodromes as necessary, given the type of intelligence it received. I expect it will continue to do so.

Garda Communications. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The provision of a secure digital radio service for the Garda is well under way. Following the completion of a pilot digital radio project by the Garda authorities, a decision was taken to procure a single nationwide digital radio service for use by the Garda authorities, other emergency services and non-commercial State bodies. This enables economies of scale as well as allowing for...

Garda Communications. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: There is a misapprehension regarding the signing of the contract and the application to ComReg. I could not apply for a licence until a contract was in place and, therefore, that was a prerequisite for the application to be made. We could not make the application until we knew who was the contractor. There is no delay in that respect.

Garda Communications. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: That is a matter for ComReg, which is an independent body.

Garda Communications. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: The sooner the decision is made, the better but ComReg is an independent agency. We would like it to make the call as quickly as possible but we could not make the application to the commission until the contractor was in place.

Garda Communications. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: As soon as the licence details have been agreed, we will introduce the requisite statutory instrument, which will be signed by my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I am aware of the views of the Director of Public Prosecutions. There is little point in going back over old ground on the reasons for the 2006 Act but, in light of the decision of the Supreme Court in the CC case, the Government had a choice of either introducing emergency legislation that fully complied with that decision or doing nothing in the short term, which would have meant no...

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: As I said when I attended a recent committee meeting, the Government's position is as it was prior to the establishment of the committee. I have attended committee meetings for only a number of weeks and the more I attend, the more I realise how complex are the issues, not only those of absolute and strict liability but also adoption and softer issues that are in the proposal to amend the...

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: We must achieve a strong balance between the maximum protection for children while providing people with fair trials.

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: Deputy Shatter stated that Fine Gael submitted——

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: I do not want to be——

Constitutional Amendments. (8 Jul 2008)

Dermot Ahern: This is an issue on which the House should not divide and for that reason, the Government has sought all-party agreement.