Results 2,301-2,320 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That is being worked on. We are aware of all the issues surrounding that too. The installation of a water treatment package plant at Terryland will provide 18 million litres per day and should come on stream towards the end of the year. We can fast-track on two issues. These are the new treatment plant in Galway, which will now cost €21 million — that money has been allocated for a...

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy is right. I felt embarrassed a few evenings ago when I watched a country with a population of more than 60 million people receive the results of its highest poll ever — 85% of the population — within two hours.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That was only a few hours behind the timeframe in India with its population of 1.2 million.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I had to apologise to the people of Meath a few days ago that, despite this being a modern technologically driven country, with one of the biggest exporters of software in the world, we are reverting to the peann luaidhe.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: With a bit of luck our election results will be available within about five days——

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: ——as we count and check the bins and buckets to see if a vote blew off the file. It is an embarrassment. I hope that in the next Dáil we will be able to rid ourselves of the horrendous difficulties we experience in trying to be a modern country.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: He might be.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I am getting confused——

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: ——with Deputy Rabbitte who said this morning that he would like the election to be held on 17 May, but I note all his constituency offices have issued letters stating they are reliably informed that the election will be held on 24 May. I will have a word with him later to find out on which date he would like it, but we can work that out.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: On a serious note, we are spending more than €50 billion. I genuinely believe that, in terms of staff, health, education and infrastructure, this money is spent as efficiently as possible. There is always room for improvement, as is often highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General and internal audit departments.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: There has been an enormous increase in spending on essential services in recent years, be it in respect of the elderly, health, education or improved infrastructure.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte knows the answer to that question. A comprehensive report produced by an independent group highlights what needs to be done to make the machines workable. We can do that only through agreement in this House.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: If the House did not want to play politics with it, we would not be the laughing stock of Europe and have 2 million people vote in an election using pencils.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That is ridiculous. As I stated, I was embarrassed the other night when I watched how the French——

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It was the Opposition's fault because it objected to using it.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Opposition should have taken a mature attitude to a voting system that worked particularly well in the last two elections. The voting worked perfectly. All the analysis showed the voting system worked perfectly, but politically the Opposition would not agree to it and it took off on a political exercise engaging people from around the world to find flaws with it. That is a disgrace....

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: We have spent vast amounts of money on improving our road and rail network and on the Luas.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Let us be honest, Deputy Rabbitte and a group of his party members protested in Merrion Square a few years ago when we put the Luas on show.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy said then that we would never see Luas on the streets of this city.

Leaders' Questions (25 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That was his campaign. Some 26 million people have travelled on Luas. I predicted in this House that as soon as Luas was introduced everyone would stop giving out about it and ask for more lines and so on, and that is precisely what has happened.