Results 10,081-10,100 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The first one was whether we would have non-jury courts.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I do not believe that will be available before the Easter break.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Bill is the foreshore amendment Bill. I do not have a date.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: It is still listed for this session.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: That brings us up to 1 April. So it is still listed for that period.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Bill is due, but I do not have a date for it. There is a detailed discussion paper on this and the Bill has been prepared in the Department and forwarded to the HSE and HIQA for their comments. That is awaited.

Order of Business. (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The foreshore amendment Bill, which is under the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, is in preparation. I think some designation of functions issues have to be resolved in that area, but the legislation is due.

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Taskforce on Active Citizenship completed its work in March 2007 and presented a set of recommendations to Government on measures that could be taken to increase active citizenship and civic participation. The Government agreed in principle to the recommendations and is proceeding to implement them. To achieve this, an Office of Active Citizenship has been established in my Department...

Written Answers — Enterprise Audits: Enterprise Audits (4 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: In line with the commitment we have made in the Programme for Government, we are currently finalising arrangements for an enterprise audit to review the use of existing and redundant agricultural buildings and manufacturing plants in rural areas. As the Deputy will appreciate, this is a comprehensive undertaking involving a number of state agencies and Government Departments. Final...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The end of February Exchequer returns were published yesterday, as Deputy Kenny noted, and the overall position is that the Exchequer deficit is €125 million at the end of February. The forecast for the Exchequer deficit for the year is €4.866 billion and a general Government deficit of 0.9% of GDP is forecast. The general debt level is projected to be around 26%. Trying to place it in...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I wish to confirm that the budget day forecasts, both economic and fiscal, have not been changed. The Tánaiste at budget time noted the internal and external risks to economic forecasts. Some of those identified risks are now emerging. I do not think the House can ignore the fact of what is happening internationally. We must at least look at what has happened in the stock markets since...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I have said and I repeat it again that the budget day forecasts, both economic and fiscal, have not been changed. The expenditure figures were very generous in the budget. Overall current spending is budgeted to increase by approximately €4 billion — that is all for the services area — which is 8% in a difficult year. Capital spending will increase by approximately €1 billion,...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Burton is nodding her head against it so I assume that is her policy.

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On the construction side, it is always interesting to listen to the inconsistencies. When we were building 80,000 houses and everybody in construction was getting enormous salaries — the highest in Europe — the developers and construction people were all bad news around here. Now when it tightens up a bit everybody looks to the construction industry to pick it up. The Government has...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: It was for that reason that we decided to up the capital programme last year so that other construction projects away from the residential market would have the fiscal impetus, which was putting vast amounts of resources into other areas to keep it strong. The other areas are holding up very well, whether it is retail, commercial or infrastructural development. The one that is down is the...

Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: We are going to get unemployment. FÁS and the other agencies have already put in place integrated support services for those made redundant and those who might lose their jobs in the construction sector. When we saw this coming a year ago we moved on that. It involves information sessions, skills analysis, training, retraining and courses in job replacement. In delivering those services,...

Northern Ireland Issues. (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 15, inclusive, together. Before dealing with the detailed questions that Deputies have put down on Northern Ireland, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Dr. Ian Paisley, following his announcement that he will step down from his post in May. I said yesterday that he was a giant in the history of...

Northern Ireland Issues. (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I assure the House that there is an ongoing assessment of the activities of all paramilitary groupings. There is a number of fringe groupings, most of which are quite small, but an ongoing security assessment is undertaken by the Garda Síochána. Obviously, there is very close co-operation with the PSNI on these matters. Over the last six months or so there have been ongoing reports of...

Northern Ireland Issues. (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On the Quinn murder, investigations are ongoing into this serious crime. It undoubtedly has the trappings of paramilitary involvement, although republicans have condemned it and denied any involvement. The reports will be out shortly and we will deal with the views and assessments. Ultimately, any type of organisation or structure that engages in such activity or any groupings that might...

Northern Ireland Issues. (5 Mar 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On the security position — not to go back over it again — I should have said something when replying to Deputy Kenny and will say it in reply to Deputies Kenny and Gilmore now. Deputy Gilmore mentioned the Garda and its activity. As one would expect in these cases, there is always the attempt by dissidents to bring in arms. I want to record my acknowledgment of the good work done by...