Results 2,381-2,400 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: No.

Order of Business (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: As we have not had the institutions for a number of years, we have a large number of issues to discuss. I do not want to pre-empt legislative measures or other actions that might be necessary and I will listen to the First Minister elect before I come to conclusions about that matter. We would like to proceed with the commencement of the institutions as quickly as we can.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I will try to explain the issue briefly. The current dispute has nothing to do with the benchmarking process whatever. Effectively, the dispute is about two issues, namely the agreement on a 35-hour week from an early date and the elimination of a pay anomaly as a result of a series of pay adjustments for nurses and midwives who are paid less that assistant house parents despite having...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That is a very fair question. I will try to keep the issues simple and to the point. Agreement on a 35-hour working week at an early date is what the nurses are seeking. Management is prepared to concede that in principle and to start the first round at a relatively early date. That was discussed at the negotiations but I do not want to breach on something where they had their own walls...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: That would be claimed straight away by the entire 320,000 public servants who have signed up to the agreement. That end of the argument must go into the benchmarking process. The other two or three are possibilities, although I do not know whether that has to continue in NIB or some other one. That aspect of it, however, must go into the benchmarking process because that is what everybody...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I promise the Deputy that is wishful thinking.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: On the Deputy's first question, I understand that 90% of the documentation to enable bidders to tender has gone out to the individuals. The formal quest for tender is on the HSE board's agenda for Friday week, 13 April. The formal bid for tender would not issue until after that meeting, so that is the formal position. I agree with the Deputy that acute hospitals have their difficulties, in...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Regarding the process, 90% of the documentation to enable bidders to tender has been sent and the formal request for tender is on the HSE board agenda for Friday week. Formal tender bids have not been issued and will not be issued until after that meeting. I wish to reiterate two points I have made on many occasions. I have seen letters on the argument relating to accident and emergency...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It is not true. There will be one entrance to the accident and emergency service on one campus and there will be joint clinical governance.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The accident and emergency consultants' point does not hold up in this regard. This is what currently happens in co-located hospitals and there are no accident and emergency services in these hospitals at present. This has worked in many hospitals, such as the Mater Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital and in Cork, for many years. The aim of the initiative, to transfer private activity from...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: We are speeding it up. We are allowing the private sector to build in these locations. Several other hospitals were cleared some years ago and jumping through all of the hoops creates much of the difficulty, alongside a rising population.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I have made this admission several times. There has been a substantial increase in the number of beds, it is in the region of 1,482, but it is not enough. This provides a quick way to build and to move private patients from public hospitals to private hospitals on co-located sites with joint clinical governance. If I thought this process would bring about a two tier health system or create...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I will not argue with Deputy Rabbitte.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I will not. I do not see how private patients in public beds help public hospitals.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It is preferable that a private patient be treated in a private hospital on a co-located site. I do not see how this can damage the health service

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: This system has existed for some 100 years on a number of sites of co-located hospitals in the country.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I will not go through the entire document as Deputy Sargent is reading it but it sets out in a detailed way the comprehensive measures we have put in place to enable us to meet the target set under the Kyoto Protocol. All of the preparatory work in this respect sought to set out how this could be achieved. The national climate change strategy requires co-ordination throughout the Government...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The strategy addresses measures across all sectors of the economy and encompasses energy, agriculture, transport, the residential sector and the commercial sector. It includes measures that have been enacted through the national development plan, Transport 21, the White Paper on energy and the bio-energy action plan, in addition to a series of measures to put Ireland on a path to a low...

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It is not just one issue; they all have to be looked at collectively. I assume the Green Party welcomes the fact that we have put all these updated documents into the strategy.

Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2007)

Bertie Ahern: In light of the recent agreements of EU leaders to reduce emissions to at least 20% below the 1990 levels by 2020, the strategy looks beyond Kyoto. Deputy Sargent is right that this is a challenging task and we must take a longer term view. This was done, particularly in relation to renewable energy targets and investment in public transport to ensure the country is better positioned to...