Results 11,701-11,720 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: There has been comment in the media on the issue of compellability, an issue of interest and importance to people. If changes are to be made to compellability, they must be done carefully and subject to scrutiny. The Supreme Court has held that Oireachtas committees cannot use their compellability powers to make adverse findings of fact or opinion against a non-Member of the Oireachtas; it...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I noted the Deputy's comment last week. The question is whether there is an existing committee that could do that. I am not sure of the significance of the Deputy suggesting a commission as distinct from a committee of House. The Government sees the need to bring forward regulatory reform, to restore public confidence in banking supervision and regulation. The Minister for Finance is...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The legislation on the National Pensions Reserve Fund will be published by the end of the week. To answer Deputy Gilmore, I expect the pensions levy legislation to be published tomorrow. The Minister for Finance is working on the legislation on banking regulation. He will come to Cabinet with proposals and as soon as they are adopted, we will proceed as quickly as possible with a...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Minister for Finance will be introducing proposals soon on how to restore public confidence in the regulation and supervision of our banking system. That is a priority. The Director of Corporate Enforcement has two gardaí from the fraud squad working as investigators on the issues he is examining. In regard to the four main banks, three people have resigned, or have indicated their...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I understand it is intended that it will be published this year, possibly in this session.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I understand the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering) Bill will be taken in this session. The company law consolidation and reform Bill is a large one with, I understand, almost 1,000 sections. A lot of work has been done on it but it is not complete. I believe the Deputy has been advised in recent weeks that work is continuing on the multi-unit Bill.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: It will be brought in this week.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: l will have the Chief Whip follow up on that.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I outlined in a previous response our initial reaction to this question of compellability and how it might be approached. It is not without difficulty. I saw members of the particular committee raise this issue on television. The Chief Whip responded helpfully and suggested that if he received a request, we could sit down to see if there is a way through this. I am not sure there is. The...

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: It was not a Labour Party parliamentary party meeting.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy should not hold his breath.

Order of Business (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I understand that legislation is to come to the House as soon as possible.

Written Answers — National Flag: National Flag (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The National flag and the EU flag are both represented in the backdrop to the podium in the Government Press Centre. In addition, the National flag is present at all major press conferences held there. However, camera angles, interview positions etc. can mean that the National flag does not always come into view in newspaper photographs or in television coverage. While obviously my...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tables. Year: 2007 Month Rec'd Granted Part Granted Refused i.e. exempt from release No Records Withdrawn Jan 14 5 5 4 Feb 1 1 Mar 8 1 3 3 1 April 4 2 2 May 2 2 June 6 1 1 4 July 9 4 1 2 2 Aug 10 3 3 4 Sept 0 Oct 4 2 1 1 Nov 7 3 2 1 1 Dec 6 3 1 2 Total 71 23 17 11 17 3 Year: 2008...

Written Answers — Smarter Travel Policy: Smarter Travel Policy (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: My Department supports the Government's Smarter Travel Policy, launched by the Minister for Transport on 5 February 2009. This travel policy recognises the valuable role that workplace travel planning can play in making commuting travel patterns more sustainable. As announced in budget 2009, the provision of bicycles and associated safety equipment will be treated as a tax exemption...

Written Answers — National Flag: National Flag (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The National flag and the EU flag are both represented in the backdrop to the podium in the Government Press Centre. In addition, the National flag is present at all major press conferences held there. However, camera angles, interview positions etc can mean that the National flag does not always come into view in newspaper photographs or in television coverage. While obviously my...

Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (17 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: The official costs to my Department associated with St. Patrick's day 2008 are detailed in the following table: 2008 Costs € Foreign Travel 2,968 Accommodation 14,202 Official Costs (including Subsistence, Official gifts and Photography) 4,946 Total 22,116 I expect to visit New York and Washington during my official trip to the United States for St. Patrick's Day in March. The St....

Leaders' Questions (18 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: I reject the Deputy's contention. I also reject the idea that he does not wish to impugn my integrity when he has been putting out statements that impugn my integrity. I would rather Deputy Kenny desisted from that sort of hypocrisy.

Leaders' Questions (18 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: Deputy Kenny did it as recently as last night, never mind his 32 years in politics.

Leaders' Questions (18 Feb 2009)

Brian Cowen: He did it last night.