Results 15,141-15,160 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: It has just been published and is awaiting Second Stage. It is matter for the Whips, but it may be the week after next.

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: I apologise to the Deputy. The Tánaiste did arrange for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to communicate with Deputy Higgins in this regard, but unfortunately the Minister has been elsewhere in the past week.

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: I will ask that the communication be forwarded to the Deputy.

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: It is something towards which we should be positively disposed. The accusative case in Latin suggests motion towards without actually getting there.

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy obviously wants to maintain that high rate.

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: We must respect the decisions of governments in times of difficulty in public finances, when they must make decisions they would not normally contemplate. Our own Government has had to do likewise and we must recognise that good bilateral relations between Sweden and Ireland will continue. While one regrets that an embassy is closing, it does not take away from the good and friendly...

Order of Business (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: I cannot be that specific. The heads of the Bill are being prepared at the moment.

Written Answers — Social Partnership Agreements: Social Partnership Agreements (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The national wage agreements which have been negotiated centrally between employers and trade unions under the framework of social partnership have been voluntary agreements, in line with Ireland's voluntarist tradition of industrial relations. Accordingly, such agreements do not have a legally binding status – there is no legal obligation on individual employers and trade unions to...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The information requested by the Deputy for 2009 is contained in the table below: Union Amountâ'¬ Association of Assistant Secretaries and Higher Grades 1,581.92 AHCPS 17,389.29 PSEU 16,721.54 CPSU 16,793.35 IMPACT 5,435.20

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The table below provides details of the number of days taken off for trade union leave by civil servants in my Department in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Year Number of Days 2007 16.5 2008 15.5 2009 21

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (2 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The Department of the Taoiseach has no EU Directives awaiting transposition.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: The January live register will show an increase, as it has done every year for the past ten years. The headline total will be 436,900, reflecting five weeks activity. The month on month increase will be 13,300 or 3.1% and the year on year increase will be 110,600 or 33.9%. The year on year increase has fallen again in January, having declined from the peak of 194,700 reported in June 2009....

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: Deputy Kenny's accounts of despair are not where the people are at. They recognise that the country is being led in the right direction by taking the necessary——

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: Regaining our competitive edge is essential to protect jobs and to grow jobs in the future. Driving forward with enterprise, exports and employment is the only way forward, but the stabilisation of the public finances is an absolute prerequisite for that. This country is doing that. It is being referred to both at home and abroad as the right way forward to deal with the situation we are...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: People are referred to the FÁS employment action plan and 60% of them leave the live register. Of 70,000 referrals, 50,000 came off the register. We have to continue with the increased training and supports we are providing. More than 128,000 people received them in 2009 and will do so again in 2010. The bottom line is the Government wants to make sure we regain competitiveness in this...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: I refute the point made by the Labour Party leader that no stimulus is being provided by Government. A total of €6.5 billion is being provided in our capital programme this year. With regard to road works, €1.5 billion will be spent on road construction this year.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: I am giving the facts. If the Deputies do not want to hear them, that is their problem. With regard to higher education, more than €2 billion will be invested this year. That is the sort of investment we are putting in at a time we have a record high deficit of 11% to contend with and we have maintained a 5% capital investment programme. That work is maintaining 80,000 jobs in the...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: With regard to where we are now, the idea that the Government is not involved in seeking to protect jobs is a nonsense. By taking the decisions we have taken and by improving competitiveness in the economy by 7% per unit labour cost compared to our competitors, we are seeking to protect the 1.85 million jobs in the economy. Were we to pursue the policies promulgated by the Labour Party over...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: Jobs can be created in recession by spending. It is not possible in the context of the public finances to go beyond——

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2010)

Brian Cowen: Shouting me down will not win the Deputies' argument.