Results 5,001-5,020 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Written Answers — Audit Committees: Audit Committees (9 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: My Department's Internal Audit Committee comprises four members, of whom two are external members. The members are appointed by the Secretary General of my Department in his capacity as Accounting Officer. The Committee is as follows: Mr John Malone, former Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture and Food (Chairman / external member); Ms Sylda Langford, Director General of the...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Yesterday's annual report to which Deputy Kenny refers sets out the statistics confirming the provisional headline crime figures which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform released in January. It shows an increase in headline crime of 2.7% last year compared with 2004. The statistics also include non-headline crime — for the first time in the annual report — which increased...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——there has been a substantial increase in the detection of crime in this area. That is to be welcomed by all of us who wish to see an end to the carnage on the roads, whether caused by drink driving offences, insurance offences or vehicles having difficulties. Detection in all these categories has substantially increased. The figures differ very little. The Department of Justice,...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It stated it would continue to keep taxes down, build up infrastructure——

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We promised to put more gardaí on the street and give them more resources to deal with crime. We certainly are doing that.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny asked me whether we are giving the Garda Síochána the resources and the facilities, and the answer is that we are. This year we will have 14,000 gardaí. The Deputy raised the issue of the new digital phone system. I am unable to explain the reason that, when the Government granted approval for the system in 2002, a series of people within the Garda Síochána and various...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not go into the detail of the technology or how the system is operated, I provide the resources.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Four years after the Government approved the system, it is now operational, but it should not have taken so long. We provided the resources and following a tendering process the system is now in place and available to the Garda Síochána, which is as good as any system in use anywhere in the world. That issue has been dealt with, but it should not have taken so long. The Deputy referred to...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The budget has been increased from €600 million to €1.3 billion and we have provided for almost 3 million hours of Garda overtime. Deputy Kenny will agree that our population has increased from 3.5 million to 4.1 million. Every examination of the figures has shown that crime per thousand of the population is down. If the Deputy asks me whether I am happy that we are delivering on our...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Please, Deputy, I am answering your leader. I am not happy with the current figures but I am happy that we have dedicated gardaí who are out every day doing their best. I always resent that in this country we always seem to speak against ourselves. Our crime figures are lower now, pro rata, than ten years ago and lower than practically any other city in Europe. We have more gardaí than the...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I want to help the gardaí to beat the criminals, talk up their role, implement the legislation passed by this House and try to beat the remaining crime.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I reiterate to Deputy Rabbitte and to the House that decentralisation is a voluntary process and programme.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: From the outset guarantees have been given by the Government that all employees not wishing to transfer out of Dublin will be facilitated with an alternative post in Dublin, if the situation arises.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I readily agree with what Deputy Rabbitte has asked. We will negotiate and deal with the Civil Service unions and work with them as we did on the programme that I launched over ten years ago when there was successful decentralisation to Letterkenny, Sligo——

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——Ballina, Ennis, Tullamore and several other centres. It takes an increasing amount of time to effect decentralisation. The OPW and the committee dealing with decentralisation have sourced a number of sites and buildings and are dealing with the operational arrangements. Several thousands of civil servants want to move while others do not want to move. I understand for people who have...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Daily, people commute great distances to this city. It would be far better if we were to relocate people to offices in the regions where they could successfully provide services to the public. The Government is working with the public service unions and is determined to try as best it can to facilitate, on a voluntary basis, those who want to move and equally those who want to stay.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government will continue to work with the Civil Service unions to relocate a substantial number of public servants. Deputy Rabbitte is aware that all these arguments were used previously. I remember dealing with sections of various Departments that did not want to move ten years ago. However, many of the Departments that did not relocate ten years ago are sorry they did not. They did not...

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A civil servant cannot do that. If a civil servant does not want to leave this city, he or she must transfer to another Department and follow a career path there. A civil servant cannot hold up the relocation of a Department.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is arising day by day.

Leaders' Questions. (10 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government will continue to manage this programme as we have done successfully. When I was Minister for Finance more than ten years ago, I listened to arguments about how it would be impossible for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to be relocated outside Dublin and for services to be provided from Sligo. It was said at the time that people would not be able to get through by...