Results 2,061-2,080 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Some 9% of inpatients and 13% of outpatients said their experience was poor. It will be a challenge to get it perfect. That is why we are providing €15 billion and 120,000 people to improve it. That is what the Government is committed to. The HSE, it is hoped, will be able to get back within its figures in the remainder of the year and move on with the large increase it will again...

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party I extend my sympathy to Deputy Eamon Gilmore, Deputy Seán Sherlock and the Labour Party on the death of Joe Sherlock. A proud Cork man, Joe was a long-serving Member of the House. He was born in Kildorrery in north Cork seven decades ago. From a young age he showed great commitment to the people of north Cork and to improving the lives of those in the...

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. Under the direction of the programme manager, the primary function of the special advisers is to monitor, facilitate and help secure the achievement of Government objectives and to ensure effective co-ordination in the implementation of the programme for Government. They are also tasked with giving me advice and keeping me...

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I do not have an overall figure for the Government. The cost of my own staff is approximately €600,000. The overall cost is far less than under previous Governments when there were well over 50 or 60 advisers. While it is not a direct parallel, when former Deputy McCreevy was Minister for Finance, substantial increases were made in the resources given to parties.

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I am not opposed to that suggestion. We set up and resourced the Oireachtas commission a few years ago. The sum total of funds allocated was way over what it used to be in previous times. Every Member now has a second member of staff. The Government Whip supports the continuing expansion of research facilities which help Members to contribute to debates by facilitating them in researching...

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy appears in An Phoblacht every week.

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Cabinet committee on health meets monthly. There are weekly or even more frequent meetings at official level on health reform, ongoing negotiations and so on, depending on what issues arise. There is weekly contact between senior officials from my Department, not necessarily advisers, and officials from the Department of Health and Children and the Heath Service Executive. The...

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: While one of my advisers attends the meeting, co-ordination in respect of health matters is driven by an Assistant Secretary.

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Effectively, there are three advisers employed by my Department. A fourth person acts as a co-ordinator between all Ministers of State as they do not have advisers. Yes, is the answer to the Deputy's next question; a programme manager chairs a weekly meeting, the agenda of which usually relates to the Government's programme for that week and any other outstanding issues, perhaps, from the...

Departmental Appointments. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Yes. There is a long-standing precedent that, where a number of parties are in Government, each party has a deputy press secretary. The current position is that Fianna Fáil has appointed a press secretary and one has been appointed by the Progressive Democrats and one by the Green Party.

Cross-Departmental Teams. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together. The cross-departmental team has met on six occasions to date this year, most recently this morning. Its role is to identify and assist in progressing and resolving issues related to infrastructure planning and delivery, ensuring that they are adequately prepared for consideration by the Cabinet Committee on Housing, Infrastructure...

Cross-Departmental Teams. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The cross-departmental team on housing, infrastructure and public private partnership is not involved in discussions on the Shannon to Heathrow connection. A separate group of officials has met with a large number of the interest groups for the Shannon area, both in Dublin and in Shannon. It has engaged with State agencies in assessing the consequences of the loss of the route by analysing...

Cross-Departmental Teams. (2 Oct 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has a detailed assessment of the numbers of migrant workers in each area. If there are redundancies in the building sector that will have an effect. Other sectors will take up a significant amount of these, for example, there is an increase in the home improvements area, and in offices and shopping centres and other developments under the...

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: My independent expert, Mr. Stronge, having analysed the documentation with the branch and from the remit room in AIB headquarters, has concluded that the evidence does not substantiate a lodgment of US$45,000. There has been much confusion about the basis for the opinion of Mr. Stronge. He prepared his preliminary report that was submitted to the tribunal having heard all the evidence. That...

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Everyone in the Chamber has experience of forgetting matters or of having only partial recollection of important events in their lives. Through the process of discussion and the revelation of other facts, new memories and recollections come to the fore. To err in one's recollection is normal and honest. The essential facts of the transactions which have been the subject of the tribunal...

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I have not come to expect consistency from the Opposition. One day it wants to leave my affairs to the decision of the tribunal and the next it wants to pre-empt its work.

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I suppose I should not be surprised. In Fine Gael we have a party which deliberately suppressed and concealed a document from the Moriarty tribunal. What lapse of recollection resulted in that?

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Fine Gael is also a party that conveniently destroyed its financial records. Its members preach integrity in public office, a standard they do not match in their conduct. I was interested to read last Sunday that a Fine Gael public representative arranged for a complaint to be made about me to the Standards in Public Office Commission but melted like the snow when the complaint went nowhere.

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: They spin and leak to the newspapers and deny their involvement. For Fine Gael, integrity is a tactic not a principle.

Confidence in Taoiseach: Motion (26 Sep 2007)

Bertie Ahern: A brief review of the transcripts of the cross-examination of Tom Gilmartin show his evidence is crumbling. I can only assume that Fine Gael is aware of this. One day, it wants due process, the next it wants accountability. The House established the tribunal and Members should let it get on with its work. It is the judges who will assess the shift in detail and make an objective...