Results 20,921-20,940 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy does not want people to be in a home that is not designated as fit and up to safety standards-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: -----and where there clearly is waste in the system.

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Minister has met with a number of communities already to discuss how some of these homes might be kept open. The Deputy asked me for lists, names and locations of homes that may close. That is an issue that was debated in the Chamber. I do not have a list in front of me of homes designated for closure-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: -----simply because the Minister is involved with the communities to discover the situation in the homes in question and to discuss their future. Communities are focused on wanting to retain these homes and are prepared to back it up. They are giving much more co-operation than are many Members of this House.

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Minister, Deputy Reilly, faces the reality in which we live in this country in 2012. He is not one to shirk his responsibility, being both a medical practitioner and Minister for Health. He wants to see that the very best level of health service is provided for all our people. That will not happen-----

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: -----unless there are serious changes made to the structure and the way in which the health service is run and provided for. I do not accept that elderly people will be compromised nor do I accept many of the assertions the Deputy made. The HSE plan has been published and approved by the Minister. Details of it need to be examined and teased out. The Minister has identified areas where...

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: Deputy Finian McGrath is aware the Health Service Executive, HSE, national service plan, published yesterday and authorised by the Minister for Health, has a budget of €13.317 billion for 2012. As outlined in the plan, a minimum number of 555 nursing home residential beds may close in 2012 — 111 in HSE Dublin mid-Leinster, 105 in HSE north east, 180 in HSE south and 159 in HSE west....

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: Consequently, it is anticipated there will be 23,611 people availing of the scheme this year, an increase of 1,200 from 2011. The figures in the HSE service plan have been set out by the Minister for Health. I do not accept Deputy Finian McGrath's assertions that elderly people will be left aside and neglected or there will be a disruption of the magnitude as described by him in many services.

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: I cannot give Deputy Finian McGrath a definitive answer on the cystic fibrosis services at St. Vincent's. The Minister for Health will respond to him on that.

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. Five special advisers are employed by my Department, four of whom are my special advisers and one of whom is special adviser to the Chief Whip. Under the supervision of my chief of staff, the special advisers employed by my Department provide briefings and advice on a wide range of policy matters, as well as performing such other...

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: I do not interfere or intervene in that process. Part of my responsibility is to sanction the appointments. Decisions on salaries for special advisers are a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The employment history of any person appointed to a job as a special adviser is immaterial. It is not required under the Ethics in Public Office Act. Ministers decide on the...

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: He points out he wants a real republic, answers and information, yet the party which he leads in Northern Ireland has a very different structure. Change is indicative here by the fact the chief of staff appointed to the Taoiseach is on a salary of €168,000. In 2009, the special adviser to the then Taoiseach was on €221,929. The total cost in 2011 of the special advisers to whom I have...

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: I do not set the salaries-----

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy talked about intervening or interfering.

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: Part of my responsibility-----

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: -----is to sanction the appointments. The questions refers to "the occasions on which he has intervened to secure the employment of special advisers in his or other Departments on salaries in excess of the salary range guidelines for special advisors introduced by the Department of Finance and the reasons in each case he intervened". The e-mail that has been bandied about and referred to was...

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: The individual involved had worked in the Department without pay for quite a number of months. I felt it time that a decision should be made about his position being sanctioned.

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: That is quite immaterial. For instance, the Deputy's party made a controversial appointment to the culture Minister in Northern Ireland. Was that person a member of Sinn Féin? The answer is "Yes".

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: Was the special adviser I referred to a member of Fine Gael previously? The answer is "Yes". He worked in a diligent fashion for Fine Gael in an important position for eight to nine years.

Ministerial Staff (17 Jan 2012)

Enda Kenny: No, it is not a public relations exercise. The Deputy was either the victim or the beneficiary over the years of having specialist advice made available to him in the many Ministries in which he served.