Results 761-780 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: To the best of my knowledge, that Bill is not proceeding at present. The Supreme Court decision may have implications in this regard.

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: We are awaiting the Supreme Court's decision.

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Is the Deputy referring to the ground rent Bill?

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The legislation is listed for 2005. I do not have information on the heads of the Bill. Perhaps the Deputy would raise this matter with the Minister responsible.

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The electronic communications (miscellaneous provisions) Bill is due for 2005. It is to provide access to broadcasting networks and to deliver content.

Order of Business. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The cross-departmental working group reports to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on the proposals for reform of the vetting of employees by the Garda Síochána. The Minister has now appointed an implementation group to advise on the implementation and the necessity for the legislation. While I do not have a date for this, that work is continuing.

Tsunami Disaster: Statements. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I welcome this opportunity to make a statement to the House. Words cannot adequately describe the tragic events that unfolded one month ago on the morning of 26 December last. I, for one, cannot think of an occurrence in living memory that has touched the lives of so many people in so many countries and regions throughout the world. That morning and in the hours that followed the sheer power...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The issue of the decommissioning of weapons and explosive materials held by all paramilitary organisations has been the subject of discussions with all of the political parties, including the DUP and Sinn Féin, in the talks process.

Written Answers — International Trade: International Trade (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 143 together. Tables 1, exports, and 3, imports, respectively, compare Ireland's main trading partners for the nine month period January to September 2004 with the corresponding period for 2003 — September 2004 is the latest month for which data are available. Tables 2, exports, and 4, imports, similarly compare the full year 2003 to 2002. In all...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The Chief Constable Hugh Orde's comments on 7 January regarding the Northern Bank robbery are a matter of deep concern. While recognising that the investigation is ongoing and arrests have yet to be made, irrespective of the final outcome of the investigation, the attribution of the Northern Bank robbery to the Provisional IRA represents a serious set-back for the political process in...

Written Answers — Official Travel: Official Travel (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: From 17 to 23 January, I made an official visit to China and Hong Kong. The purpose of the visit was to further enhance Ireland's strong economic and trade links with China. I was accompanied on the trip by my colleagues, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Health and Children, the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the Minister for Communications, Marine...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The only State, semi-State, State-sponsored or statutory body under the aegis of my Department that is not subject to the Freedom of Information, FOI, Acts is the Law Reform Commission. Proposals for extending FOI are being developed at present in the Department of Finance in the context of plans to extend FOI to other appropriate bodies by the end of 2005. The question of extending FOI to...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: My Department has not made any public appointments since the Cabinet reshuffle on 29 September 2004. In relation to the bodies under the aegis of my Department, Patricia T. Rickard-Clarke and Marian Shanley were re-appointed to the Law Reform Commission in September and November 2004, respectively, and Dr. Seán Barrett, economist, Trinity College, was appointed to the National Economic and...

Written Answers — Credit Cards: Credit Cards (1 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: In addition to my departmental credit card, there are currently 21 credit cards issued for this Department. Details of authorised users are as follows: Name Position Tom Kitt Minister of State Dermot McCarthy Secretary General Michael Collins Second Secretary David Feeney Private Secretary to the Taoiseach Una Claffey Special Adviser Gerry Howlin Special Adviser Joe...

Written Answers — Departmental Appointments: Departmental Appointments (1 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: My Department has not made any public appointments since August 2004. In relation to the bodies under the aegis of my Department, Professor Finbarr McAuley and Patricia T. Rickard-Clarke were re-appointed to the Law Reform Commission in September 2004 and Marian Shanley in November 2004. Dr. Sean Barrett, economist, Trinity College, was appointed to the National Economic and Social Council,...

Leaders' Questions. (2 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I will report briefly on yesterday's meeting. The meeting was divided into two sections. One was a briefing by Commissioner Conroy on his assessment, with Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of the PSNI. Both confirmed their positions, that is, Hugh Orde's public statement and the advice given to us by Commissioner Conroy. They believe that a number of operations which took place during 2004, not just...

Leaders' Questions. (2 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The position is clear. Collectively, the two Governments and all the parties did an enormous amount of work last year and the previous year. That is set out in the joint declaration and in the working documents that were presented on 8 December in a complete position. If we get a definitive answer from Sinn Féin, for which both of us have asked, about how to deal with decommissioning and, as...

Leaders' Questions. (2 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The overall objective is full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Unless we get clear understandings and a definitive position on what is classified as paragraph 13, which spells out in detail what we are talking about, we cannot make progress. Secretary of State, Mr. Paul Murphy, has a meeting today with Sinn Féin and a British-Irish intergovernmental conference has been set up....

Leaders' Questions. (2 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: There are a number of matters to address in the context of the M50. I will deal with the tolling issue, the widening of the lanes, interchanges and the upgrading of the road. As Deputy Rabbitte knows, a contract is being prepared by the NRA on widening and improvements which will constitute a costly operation. I understand the NRA hopes the works will commence later this year. A buy out of...

Leaders' Questions. (2 Feb 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The increase reflects a catching up on the indexation in the agreement between the NRA and NTR. In reply to Deputy Rabbitte, I accept that during peak hours the M50 is, at times, like a car park and one could not argue against that but the solution to peak hour congestion on the route in the view of traffic engineers is the implementation of the M50 upgrade and barrier free tolling. The...