Results 6,361-6,380 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will address both issues. Obviously, I cannot comment on the circumstances of a case that is before the Supreme Court but, when the case concluded in the High Court last March, I made it clear that the Government had asked the State Claims Agency — the statutory body which deals with legal fees — to approach the issue of costs in a measured and sensitive way. The woman lost her case...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They are two separate cases, as the Deputy knows. I am not responsible for the lady pursuing the case to the Supreme Court — that is her right, so I have no comment to make about that. However, when the issue arose following her High Court case I made it very clear on the record of this House that we had asked the State Claims Agency, the statutory body that deals with these cases, to...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am answering the Deputy's question. I was not going to get into a position of saying we would put a cap on the number of people who could enter the redress system or a cap on the money going out. We did not do that. These were people we were entitled to look after. We have all heard horror stories about these people and we need to be sincere about what we did.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If I did not honour those commitments, I would have been in here week after week saying why I did not. The fact is I honoured the commitments and we will finish that process. The State is not liable for abuse by teachers or others — they are not State employees. In one case the State was liable jointly for children it took into care and in the other case it was not.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If Deputy Rabbitte is stating the State should have no responsibility to fight cases where it knows it has a strong defence, that would be an extraordinary thing for any state to do.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I have made clear what we would try to do for this lady after the High Court case and I am not in a position to make any further comment on the matter until after the Supreme Court case.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Our overall strategy is to increase housing supply to meet demand and to improve affordability, particularly for first-time buyers.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We are investing heavily in infrastructure to deliver high levels of housing. One third of all the houses in the country have been built in the past nine years. We are putting greater focus on building active and successful communities through quality housing.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy is six weeks too early for the financial statement for 2007.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It will be released on this day in six weeks. On the stamp duty issue, I appreciate the constructive comments made by Deputy Boyle and others and I am sure all of them will be considered. Stamp duty applies to a range of property and other transactions, as Deputy Sargent knows. These include residential and commercial transactions and also share dealings and bank levies. The yield from...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am just trying to be helpful to Deputy Sargent. It is estimated that, in the current year, only €70 million of stamp duty, out of a total yield of €2.7 billion, will be from first-time buyers. The Government is always prepared to listen to arguments and debates but one should note that over one third of stamp duty on houses is derived from the more expensive upper end of the market. I...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The point is that, of the €2.7 billion received from stamp duty, only €70 million relates to first-time buyers. The case is not as it is sometimes presented.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A number of points arise and there is no point in my going back over the stamp duty issues. On the Deputy's point that we are accruing far more than expected from stamp duty, I was pointing out where it comes from. It is not simply derived from residential property but from a range of sources. The resources that accrue from stamp duty are used. Every year, we invest approximately €1...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I said at the outset, our policy has been to increase supply — we have done so. We used to build approximately 25,000 houses per year and we now build 80,000 per year. Affordability is a key issue for the Government. In fairness to the Government, it amended Part V of the Planning and Development Act and also launched the affordable housing initiative.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: All of these measures were designed to increase supply.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The latest programme, which pertains to the period 2007 to 2009, involves 27,000 affordable houses. Overall, the programme will meet the needs of 60,000 households in the various schemes in the social housing category. We are proceeding with the proposed legislation concerning zoned land which developers hold for a period before selling. It is the key part of the Kenny inquiry and we are...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. Thirty-nine staff serving in my Department have applied through the central applications facility to relocate under the decentralisation programme. The breakdown by grade is: assistant principal officer, seven; higher executive officer, three; administrative officer, seven; executive officer, nine; staff officer, two; and clerical...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Of the 213 staff in my Department, 39 have applied to decentralise. They include seven assistant principal officers, three higher executive officers, nine executive officers, two staff officers and 11 clerical officers. Ten former members of staff have already been assigned to decentralised posts. The total number of officials is 49 — ten officials have already moved and a further 39...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The staff numbers will be the same, although we have to achieve a small reduction every year. Under the Department of Finance's guidelines, we have to try to achieve a 3% reduction every year over a three-year period. I am sure that approach will continue into the future. For the past two years, departmental officials who want to participate in the decentralisation programme have been...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I said on a previous occasion that 45 officials in my Department had applied for decentralisation — that figure has since increased to 49. Ten members of staff have moved on and the others are in the system. The restructuring process under the central applications facility is ongoing. I assure the Deputy that civil servants are not worried about the election because they will still be...