Results 5,201-5,220 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy has made a number of points about what the Green Party of Australia would like to say to its own Prime Minister.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I stated yesterday that in 2003 we shared the concerns of others about the Iraq regime and its programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Government decided it could not consider participating in military action against Iraq without a further explicit UN resolution to that effect. Other Governments, including Australia, interpreted the legal position differently and Australia decided it would take part.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I also said the presence of Australian troops in Iraq now is on a different basis. Since then, it has been sanctioned by UN resolutions and requested by Iraq's elected Government, which has made it clear that the assistance of international forces remains essential. I wish the new Iraqi Government of national unity well into the future. The Deputy raised another issue on behalf of the...

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I did not but, perhaps, if I get a chance, I will tell the Prime Minster to watch "Oireachtas Report" tonight.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Shannon Airport had nothing to do with the initiation of the war.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I was quoted correctly yesterday and I have outlined what I said.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: What I stated is not in line with what Deputy Sargent said and he knows that well. The Government's position was that we could not consider participation in military action against Iraq without a further explicit UN resolution to that effect.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We went to great lengths to achieve that when we were members of the UN Security Council. We were useful in trying to maintain that position but when Ireland left the council, the situation moved in a different way. Other governments took a different position and they are entitled in a democracy to other positions.

Leaders' Questions. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I did not discuss all the issues raised by the Deputy. I do not know what the Green Party does in Iraq but it should raise those issues with its own Prime Minister. I will not act as a messenger boy for the Green Party of Australia.

Order of Business. (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Order of Business is No. 1,address by the Honourable John Howard MP, Prime Minister of Australia. Private Members' business will be No. 54, motion re drug abuse.

Written Answers — Ministerial Responsibilities: Ministerial Responsibilities (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: My statutory functions, in so far as they relate to the Central Statistics Office, are currently delegated to Deputy Kitt, Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach. The Statistics (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 2004 was made by Government on 19 October, 2004. No other statutory functions have been delegated to any of the Ministers of State in my Department.

Written Answers — Official Hospitality: Official Hospitality (23 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Department of the Taoiseach does not maintain a wine cellar for functions. Wine is purchased as required from the caterer who is appointed to do the relevant function.

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: This is an urgent and important matter, and in the absence of clear law, we must deal with it as speedily as possible. The Attorney General and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform have been working on that last night and this morning. We must examine all aspects of it, including previous discussions on this, the 1990 Law Reform Commission report and the 1997 report. The...

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I appreciate the support of Deputy Kenny and the Fine Gael Party in this matter. Like many laws, this law has been in place for three quarters of a century. Looking over the sections last night and this morning, I saw that it was framed for a very different society and age when people did not consider issues that we would all consider the norm today. While the point is very clear, the one...

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte's question concerns the Comptroller and Auditor General's value for money examination, which was undertaken to determine the factors that gave rise to the rapid increase in expenditure on rent supplement between 2000 and 2005, to establish whether the Department had managed the scheme with due regard to economy during that period and to review the roles of the Department of...

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has set out those issues, although Deputy Rabbitte might not like some of them. Substantial measures have already been taken to improve possible disincentives to allow people who want to work and are in receipt of rent supplements to do so. The Minister has improved income disregards. One cannot simply ignore them and have a situation where a person...

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The reason we were doing so was that people were not working and were living in poverty, which they are not living in today. We are now building four times more houses than in the 1970s. Through a range of schemes, including social and affordable housing schemes, the shared ownership scheme and the Part V scheme, people are able to purchase their own homes even when they are on lower incomes....

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: All these cases were part of, or were associated with, the Troubles and they are all sad. In the time available, I will not be able to go through each one. In regard to the central point about the Finucane case, Mr. Barrett was released yesterday after serving less than four years, under the terms of the early release scheme under the 1998 Agreement for all prisoners who had been involved in...

Leaders' Questions. (24 May 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been in correspondence regarding the late Eddie Fullerton, a councillor in Donegal, whom I knew. It is correct to say Geraldine Finucane and the family accept the release of prisoners, as does every other family. We support the Finucane family's call for a full inquiry. The family does not lack international or Government support....