Results 3,181-3,200 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Sargent is correct in respect of one matter and wrong with regard to the others. If the 4,000 teachers had been put into normal classes——

Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Sargent should stop asking questions and then interrupting when I am trying to answer them.

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. The task force on active citizenship has held seven plenary meetings since its appointment. The last meeting took place on 30 January 2007. In addition, the task force has set up five subgroups which meet on a regular basis and have consulted with organisations in different sectors. The task force has also engaged in a major...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I hope the report will be finished by Easter. The task force has issued a very good document based on its travels throughout the country and, perhaps more importantly, on over 1,000 submissions. This has now gone into a format on the task force's website and also into wide circulation. In respect of the final draft, I presume it will depend on the type of feedback it gets. The task force...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: There are issues for everybody, including the Government. I do not accept services are poorer. When active citizenship was at its height, we had very few services. Class sizes in schools numbered over 50 in most parts of the country whereas now they are under 20. Parts of the country, mainly in Dublin and other cities, have bottlenecks but there are huge stretches of roads across the...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy knows what I mean. An analysis is needed. However, it is a pity that every organisation must have a full-time person. It should not be like that. I recall that in one part of my constituency, when unemployment was high in the 1980s, we surveyed more than 400 unemployed adult males to mentor football teams but we could not get anyone to look after them. I agree analysis needs...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: In terms of the allocation of grants, I stated account should be taken of those involved in administration in the community and local development programmes. I have been told it is currently the practice, and will continue to be so, to take account of this factor in the allocation of administrative grants for charitable organisations and voluntary or community groups. FÁS does this fairly...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy asked me about the recommendations of the White Paper.

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Regarding time, in my experience the busiest people are the best people to ask to do something. In the Deputies' areas, people are very active. They may spend a long time in their cars but they get involved. However, time is limited by the amount one spends travelling. That is obvious.

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The best way to address it is to invest money in transport and improve it, as we are doing. We are spending billions of euro on improving that aspect. That is the fastest way of moving people. We are also trying to provide incentives for people to locate outside the city areas. All grant schemes have a bias in favour of people outside city areas.

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: On behalf of the Government parties I wish the leader of Sinn Féin in the House, Deputy Ó Caoláin, a quick return to full health after his heart attack and operation last Friday. I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery. The suggestion of involving schools and young people in active local community programmes is a good one. The more young people are involved in such programmes, the...

Active Citizenship. (13 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It does not require a report to show that there has been significant investment in sporting and community facilities around the country in recent years. In towns and villages and other urban areas people work to share these facilities, by bringing committees together. Parents of people in the age group Deputy Stanton mentioned are concerned to keep them away from the drink and drug culture....

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The purpose of the criminal justice (trafficking in persons and sexual offences) Bill, which deals with the issue Deputy Kenny and I discussed, is to give effect to a number of international instruments on trafficking in persons and sexual exploitation of children. The heads of the Bill were approved in the summer of 2006 and I hope the legislation will be available over the next period. I...

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The sale of alcohol Bill is due later this year.

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Medical Practitioners Bill is before the House. As indicated, the Minister for Health and Children wants the Bill to be passed as soon as possible. The eligibility for health and personal social services Bill, whose purpose is to clarify and update the present provisions relating to eligibility for health and personal services, is listed for this year.

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: In the next few weeks.

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: With the Deputy's help.

Order of Business (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: This session.

European Council: Statements. (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I attended the European Council in Brussels on 14 and 15 December. I was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern. The conclusions of the European Council have been laid before the Houses. The Council represented the culmination of a successful Finnish Presidency. Earlier during its term, there had been speculation that it would not succeed in forging agreement...

Leaders' Questions (7 Feb 2007)

Bertie Ahern: If Deputy Sargent is asking me to enforce the existing regulations, he should note it is a matter for the local authority. If he is saying the existing regulations are not sufficiently strong, that is another matter. To the best of my knowledge, the only legislative change I know in the area of energy efficiency was put in place by the European Union.