Results 9,661-9,680 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. The total cost to date of the McCracken tribunal is €6.56 million. A token provision for 2008 was made to cover potential claims arising from the McCracken tribunal. Two of the parties who were granted representation before the tribunal have not yet claimed their costs. The Chief State Solicitor's Office has no method of...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The figure of €1 is present in the Estimates to keep the subhead open pending whatever might happen in respect of the two outstanding claims. Due to the passage of time, there is some thought that these may not be claimed although the two parties are entitled to claim them. A case arising from the beef tribunal is before the courts where the State is arguing that the Statute of...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The answer to that question is a simple "Yes". All fees have been negotiated and arranged by the Government. The point I was making related to when the former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, and the then Attorney General set about negotiating new fee structures with the tribunals. We had about eight tribunals in one form or another pursuing different investigations at that stage....

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Regarding the McCracken tribunal, the total cost is €6.56 million to the best of my knowledge. That is the gross cost, as far as I know none of the individuals involved has engaged in netting off any return figure. If that is incorrect I will advise Deputy Kenny.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I do not think it is because I have answered this question before. I will have that checked. To clarify the other issue again, it is possible that the Revenue Commissioners can resolve this ongoing matter at any time. If I stated that it would be resolved at the end, I should not have said that.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The new rates or set fees paid to a senior counsel will be based on the current annual salary of a High Court judge, plus 20% in respect of pension contributions. Related payments will be paid to other legal staff, including barristers and solicitors. The new measures will drastically reduce the legal costs of new tribunals or those existing tribunals that have already changed and where the...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: That is still my view.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On the general point, the Commissions of Investigation Act sets out clearly the best consideration of how we should deal with these issues in the future. With the new fee structure, that would make a dramatic change to the speed and type of investigation and how issues are dealt with. Personally and as Taoiseach, I have appeared before the children's abuse tribunal, the Moriarty and Mahon...

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Did the figure given by the Minister state the cost?

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Was he not including projections for third party costs?

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I am excluding third party costs.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: An awful lot.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: It is 40% of the costs.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: No, it will be 40% of the fees element.

Tribunals of Inquiry. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Two Bills on corruption are with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. One is nearly ready for publication but I am not sure of the status of the other. The Deputy will need to table a parliamentary question to the Department on that. It will be a matter, when the Bill is implemented, of what action will be taken on these matters. It was decided in 2006 to leave the present...

Public Service Pay. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 8, inclusive, together. The Government decided the increases for political officeholders will be implemented on an extended basis, with 4% in September 2008 and half the balance in both September 2009 and September 2010. The officeholders concerned are myself, the Government Chief Whip, Deputy Tom Kitt, the Minister of State at the Department of the...

Public Service Pay. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy made a number of points. I think I answered a lot of this in a Question Time back in November. I think Deputy Kenny knows most of the answers to the questions he has asked. There has been a review body for higher public servants, the Judiciary, the Garda Síochána and other senior positions, covering approximately 1,600 people, for the past 40 years. It used to report every...

Public Service Pay. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I would. It did not do that, thank God — and I would not have taken it. It related increases to private sector posts. In its only reference to my post, it stated that the Chief Justice should not be paid more so it put my salary at exactly the same as the Chief Justice. That was the comparable point — that the Chief Justice should not earn more or less that the Taoiseach. Whether it...

Public Service Pay. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I am not here to argue about the two systems. The review body dealing with pay for higher public servants and politicians, members of the Judiciary, those in local authorities and semi-state companies was established in 1969. No Government since then nor any of the affiliated groups has seen the need to change that. At the time people such as politicians, members of the Judiciary and...

Public Service Pay. (30 Jan 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I admire the Deputy's position and I could also make that argument but they were the rules——