Results 14,581-14,600 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: We cannot legislate for human nature. In so far as is humanly possible, the State will do what it can to put in place legislation and facilities to ensure this will not happen again. There have been eight deaths since March. There have been two cot deaths due to natural causes. There have been three suicides, the cause of one of which is as yet uncertain. There has been one death as a...

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I know the area he is talking about.

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I have matrimonial connections in Clontarf. I understand there may have been up to 10,000 people at the event on Sunday. I do not like the sea to be blocked off anywhere. The people of Ireland,a maritime country, like to be able to see the sea.

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: It is of particular importance to residents along the road that the view they have had for a long time should not be taken away from them. The problem for those of us who have been elected to this House is that permission has been granted for the construction of a barrier of the scale in question. It will be almost 3 m high. I am not sure how that slipped by all the vigilant councillors on...

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: He did.

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I do not want to pass the buck as I know it is an important issue. I take the points made by the Deputy. The point on the re-enactment of the Battle of Clontarf is realistic - we do not want Brudair to take out poor old Brian Boru again on this occasion. In response to concerns by residents and businesspeople in recent weeks, Dublin City Council made a presentation at a special meeting of...

Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: We do not want to see that on the Clontarf Road or anywhere else in this city. We realise that something needs to be done but perhaps not on the scale envisaged. If Dublin City Council, with its consultants, in talking to local businesspeople and residents decides to send in an alternative compromise to the OPW, the OPW is willing to consider that.

Departmental Offices (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I am advised by the Attorney General that there are currently 27 permanent and three contract staff in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel engaged in drafting legislation. I am sure the Deputy is aware that there is a large increase in the demand for legislation arising from the current Government legislation programme, including the significant work required on sensitive and urgent...

Departmental Offices (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: To be totally honest, I would prefer to have extra staff in the parliamentary draftsman section. The Deputy will be aware that in recent years, the average production from the section has been approximately 40 Bills per year, as it has produced approximately 40 Bills in each of the last three years. The A list of the current Government legislation programme gives a commitment to publish 30...

Departmental Offices (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I do. The contract drafters would be expert drafters, who would be given shorter-term contracts of approximately one year to assist with really complex issues in respect of legislation being drafted. The longer-term proposal is to have two further permanent drafters. I might add that the business case also includes an application for two legislative editor positions. A legislative editor...

Departmental Offices (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: The answer to the Deputy's first question is "No". Bills have been produced on time or very close to time, some of which have been quite extensive while others have been extremely complex. As I stated, the House owes great credit to the Attorney General and her staff for working weekend after weekend on Saturdays and Sundays to meet the conditions of timelined legislation that has been...

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, together. My advisers are not prevented from attending meetings of any interdepartmental groups. My special advisers may attend Cabinet committee meetings in an advisory capacity when required to do so and with my prior approval. Attendance by special advisers is kept to the minimum consistent with the efficient functioning of the...

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: The position is well known to the Deputy from his experience over the years. The confidentiality of discussions at Cabinet and Cabinet committees is protected by Article 20.4.3°. In light of that, those matters that are discussed there are subject to Cabinet confidentiality. In reality if decisions are taken by the economic management council, they go forward to Government and become...

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: As the Deputy is aware we introduced a change whereby before Council meetings and before Heads of Government meetings, there is a debate in the Dáil, giving people the opportunity, as they had last week, and again when the meetings are over. The co-ordination of European matters rests in the Department of the Taoiseach and is conducted by the recently appointed second Secretary General. The...

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I do not have any difficulty with having a discussion at the appropriate time here in the House.

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I do not mind. As business goes through, it may be Ireland's lot to have to decide finally on Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, reform, which will be of significant interest to the Irish agricultural sector and pose a range of difficulties in areas such as single farm payments, climate change, emissions etc. As the business moves through and as there is a failure to agree on serious business...

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy should put it down to me as Taoiseach.

Interdepartmental Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I have defined the responsibilities of the Tánaiste, the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and me, as Taoiseach, overseeing the overall co-ordination of European issues. I do that to have a tighter and more cohesive approach to European issues so that it is not scattered across Departments. They are all called together in the Department of the Taoiseach to give a...

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 7, inclusive, together. On foot of an official invitation by the President of the European Council, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, and by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Tusk, I attended the Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw on Thursday and Friday, 29 and 30 September. The Eastern Partnership initiative aims to enhance economic and political...

EU Summits (18 Oct 2011)

Enda Kenny: Yes, they did have questions for me. They were related to the reasons the reputation of the country had changed so radically in six months. The leaders of the eastern European states wanted to know how the Government could work with people in making difficult decisions that pointed in the right direction in getting the country back on a trajectory towards prosperity, where jobs could be...