Results 17,841-17,860 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Leaders' Questions (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: The position in so far as increments are concerned is that 70% of those in the public service who receive increments are in the middle to lower end of the public service. The Deputy did not compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, on ensuring that Westport became the number one-----

Leaders' Questions (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: -----town in the country in which to live which he brought about single handedly because of his efforts.

Leaders' Questions (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy referred to reports from the Cabinet. I never comment on what happened at Cabinet meetings but there are reports that the Deputy is considering the position in so far as his new constituency is concerned. The Croke Park agreement runs until 2013. Independent analysis of that showed up favourably in respect of it being implemented as far as roster changes, redeployment and...

Leaders' Questions (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: I will bear the Deputy's comments in mind but as I understand this those at the very top do not get increments. There may well be those who are in line for promotion instead of long service increments in some sectors but I will take note of what the Deputy said in respect of the issues we will discuss when we meet with the implementation group.

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 23, inclusive, together. The Government established the following Cabinet committees, all of which I chair: economic recovery and jobs; social policy; climate change and the green economy; European affairs; economic infrastructure; Irish and the Gaeltacht; public service reform; health; and mortgage arrears. Since January I have chaired 26 committee...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: There is no specific Cabinet sub-committee on the area of justice. However, the Minister for Justice and Equality reports to Cabinet on a regular basis. He is in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner and with the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. I deplore any attack, provoked or unprovoked, on anybody in the country, and we have seen too many of these attacks over the years. In...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: I completely disagree with Deputy Martin. The Cabinet sub-committee system is working very effectively. It brings about a focus on objectives set by the Government. Ministers, agencies and organisations are given a high level of response. For example, in the health area the programme for Government sets out the overall objective of the Government and what it wishes to achieve. The work...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Deputy Martin will be aware that the Cabinet has a constitutional responsibility to draft a budget and, as I have already stated, that budget will be presented in December. We have made it clear that we are not going to speculate on the contents of the budget until the Cabinet makes its decisions on a range of activities. Everybody in the country can have different views about these things...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Given the structure we have had in the public service for so many years, the activity is genuinely ground breaking. There is a more streamlined and efficient public service for the people who pay their taxes and the people of our country. Over the coming period I hope the impact of public service reform will be seen in the way services are accessed and provided and the way people are dealt...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: I thank Deputy Adams for the constructiveness of his comments. The role of the Cabinet committee on health is to provide a basis for political oversight of the development and delivery of key health service reforms in line with the commitments set out in the programme for Government and to drive improvements in selected areas of priority. It is not the way that it should be at this moment...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Deputy Adams looks fine and I am sorry he fell off the bicycle. If he feels up to it, he can join me and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, for a charity cycle on the Ring of Kerry. There is no disagreement about the stress, tension and imposition on people who must lie on trolleys. I have had it in my family, like everyone else. Deputy Adams points out...

Cabinet Committees (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy's question refers to the relationship between individual Ministers, Cabinet sub-committees and the Cabinet itself. The programme for Government is the agreed programme between the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party in government. It is the programme that Ministers work towards implementing. There are more than 500 commitments in the programme for Government and it is our intention...

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 to 35, inclusive, together. The Government published its proposals for the constitutional convention on 28 February and, on 7 June, we published our response to Opposition parties' views on those proposals. We will shortly move resolutions in both Houses of the Oireachtas approving establishment of the convention. The Government intends that the...

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: To answer Deputy Martin, what I said originally was that from the date of setting up the convention, my intention would be to have a Constitution day.

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Yes, I did. I said that from the date of setting up the convention, within 12 months one would have a Constitution day.

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Obviously, one has to set up the convention which has to do its work. It is not from the date of the election.

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: Yes, but clearly one has to set up the convention and let it do its work. It has taken some time to get to that point. I recall Deputy Martin speaking about French ministers having no further contact with the people at all, and that Irish Ministers could become full-time operators in this House and lose sight of the people, as the Deputy did when he was in government.

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: It is clear that the questions of the Seanad and child protection are outside the scope of the convention. This is because the two parties in Government, in respect of the programme for Government, stipulated that the question of the abolition of the Seanad being put to the people would not be a matter for the constitutional convention, but would be put to them in any event. I notice the...

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: That is being held outside the convention.

Constitutional Convention (26 Jun 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy raised the question of Amnesty International and human rights. The very reason for choosing the questions of reducing the voting age to 17 and reducing the presidential term is to see how the convention is actually going to work. We will select 66 people from the register of electors, representative of gender, location, regional spread, age and so on. I want to see how it is...