Results 6,701-6,720 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Order of Business (3 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: I am here to defend the rights of the people and will do so.

Order of Business (3 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: The Tánaiste has not clarified the position. I seek a final clarification from her. Did I hear of and read yesterday a statement from the Department of Finance? Did the Minister for Finance tell us on television that there was a €1.5 billion deficit in Government income at this point in the year? Did I hear that this would require adjustments, savings, cutbacks or whatever one may wish...

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the names, titles and duties of the programme managers and advisers appointed by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17125/08]

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Did the Taoiseach say that there are five interns from UCC working in his Department? I did not hear him clearly. Is there a specific reason the students are from UCC, as distinct from other colleges, or is there some kind of rota?

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: It does not apply to other universities.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: I understand that. Can the Taoiseach confirm that there is now a freeze in the appointment of further political advisers? I know that the Taoiseach has taken on an eminent professor of economics who deals with emissions. Does this mean that he is now effectively removing control of the climate change area from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government? He never...

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: I recognise that it is a challenge and I am aware of his expertise. I just assumed that the Taoiseach felt he needed to get a hold of the issue in his own Department, which would explain the professor's appointment. Is there now a freeze on the appointment of political advisers?

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: If the Minister sitting beside the Taoiseach, Deputy Hanafin, states that her Department is becoming more important as a safety net for the quarter of a million people who will be on the dole by Christmas and decides she needs another political adviser, when the Taoiseach says such an appointment is not contemplated, does this mean it is not ruled out? With reference to what Deputy Gilmore...

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: The history lecture is not necessary.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Does this refer to the further recruitment of consultants? Are we to be faced with a raft of consultants doing work on an hourly basis for Ministers and the Government over the next 12 months? Has the Taoiseach decided to use the resources of the public service and the expertise within it? Does the Taoiseach's reply allow him to employ a raft of consultants between now and next year? The...

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: The Taoiseach has referred to this several times already.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: It refers to public service numbers, the recruitment of political advisers and consultants.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: When Deputy Martin was Minister for Health and Children, he had 20 advisers.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: How can we be sure the decisions the Cabinet has made this morning will actually be implemented? The Taoiseach has just said the Government will employ whatever expertise it believes is necessary in order to make the best decisions for the country. I respect that, as I do the Taoiseach's willingness to have a debate in the House, which is only right and proper as this is the forum of the...

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: The questions are also about consultants, which I asked about, and——

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: ——the Ceann Comhairle always had a big thing about consultants and knows I should ask these questions. He often encouraged me to ask questions about that in a previous existence.

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Will a minimum number of consultants be employed by Government from here on, if they have to be employed at all?

Departmental Staff. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: The Government is facing the inevitable.

Cabinet Committees. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach when the cross-departmental team on infrastructure and public private partnerships last met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17134/08]

Cabinet Committees. (8 Jul 2008)

Enda Kenny: Will the Taoiseach take back his statement of 10 April that he was not concerned about the downturn in the construction sector? Has the cross-departmental team on housing met and reviewed the position whereby the Government was very ill-prepared for the sudden downturn in the construction industry with devastating consequences for 100,000 young couples who now face negative equity and so on?...