Results 6,281-6,300 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the arrangements in place in his Department for providing assistance to certain Independent Members of Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3564/08]

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: It was not a very exhaustive reply. I note the Taoiseach now refers to the previous Taoiseach as his predecessor.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: I understand that. Those elected to the House will make a case for their constituencies. The agreements reached with the former Taoiseach, as leader of Fianna Fáil, amounted to millions for Kerry and international agreements with Deputy Finian McGrath range from Cuba to Burma, although I am not sure as they have not been published.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Another Deputy said she had an arrangement with the former Taoiseach which was good for everybody but he confirmed there was no such agreement. The Taoiseach said it would not cost anything to keep the service between the Independent Members and the Government alive which is fair enough because there is a person liaising on that basis. However, does it mean that if an issue arises in the...

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: I suppose the Taoiseach will not tell me what is in these deals, if anything. Is it a case of what Deputy Bertie Ahern said in that they are references to the programme for Government but that they apply to the individual constituencies? That is drawing a very fine line between saying they are not going to get anything very much and that there is a reference to the programme for Government....

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Perhaps the Taoiseach, in his new-found openness and directness will tell us the story.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: The nearest I got to finding out what was in the south Kerry deal was the picture at the top of the page, but I understand from what Deputy Healy-Rae said that it included millions of euro. A Deputy from my constituency had some kind of arrangement as an Independent Deputy, but is no longer independent. What is the status of that arrangement? Has it been subsumed back into the normal...

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: I hope the Taoiseach will apply that when it happens.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: We shall see about that shortly. That was not her line last year.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Like Guantanamo, Cuba and all those places.

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Every Deputy is elected by the people through the ballot box and they all have the same status when they sign the register. These deals were private deals done with the leader of Fianna Fáil as distinct from the Taoiseach. Did the Taoiseach see them? When he assumed the high office of Taoiseach did the Secretary General come in to him gingerly with a bundle of files from the safe, like...

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: ——and tell him these were the secret deals done with the leader of Fianna Fáil and give them to him so he could peruse them carefully to see if there is anything in them that is not in public policy? If they were private deals done with the leader of Fianna Fáil, has the Taoiseach seen them as leader of the party while he happens to be Taoiseach?

Independent Members. (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Riveting stuff.

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: The Taoiseach appointed a new Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and I wish him well in his duties. His predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, intended to bring in a short Bill dealing with the sale of liquor. We have not yet seen that Bill. Is that likely to be delayed in view of the fact that Deputy Ahern might have a different view than Deputy...

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Just a second, if I may, a Cheann Comhairle, I promise you I will not be long. These are separate matters entirely from the Lisbon treaty question. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that at the conclusion of the world trade talks the Government, and particularly the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, at the General Affairs and External Relations Council, will have the right of veto...

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: I appreciate that.

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: The question is——

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: ——whether the Taoiseach will just confirm that he has the right of veto if he wants to use it.

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: That is all I want to know.

Order of Business (14 May 2008)

Enda Kenny: Agreed.