Results 3,501-3,520 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is no point in my employing these people if I do not let them do their jobs.

Leaders' Questions (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: For the third time, the Deputy has asked what I am doing about legislation and, for the third time, I will tell him that the auctioneering-estate agency review group submitted a report last year to Government. We subsequently approved preparation of legislation giving effect to the report's central recommendations and that legislation is before Government. Pending the enactment of the...

Appointment of Minister of State (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I wish to announce for the information of the Dáil that on 8 December I accepted the resignation from office of Deputy Síle de Valera, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science. In her place, the Government has today appointed Deputy Seán Haughey as Minister of State at that Department.

Departmental Programmes. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. My Department's quality customer service charter was published in April 2004 and has been distributed to staff and customers. The charter is displayed around the Department in a number of appropriate locations. The charter is also available on the Department's website and a link is attached to all outgoing e-mails. Under the charter, the...

Departmental Programmes. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I dealt with the Deputy's first supplementary question in a recent reply. The matter relates to the Office of the Attorney General and is not covered by my Department's charter.

Departmental Programmes. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is covered by my Department but is not by the departmental charter. It is in the domain of the Attorney General, which also comes under my area of responsibility. I replied on that issue in detail approximately two weeks ago and it is being addressed. It will take us some time to resolve that issue, though hopefully not too long into the new year. The South African company originally...

Departmental Programmes. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Yes. I will communicate the Deputy's point.

Departmental Programmes. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I stated in reply to Deputy Sargent, a number of sections in my Department have quite a number of dealings through Irish, but other sections do not. Sections with ongoing dealings through the Irish language have a number of people who can deal with telephone calls or callers to the Department. The Department does not receive many visitors due to the nature of its work, but it receives...

Departmental Bodies. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 7, inclusive, together. I have no plans to alter the functions of the communications unit in my Department. The unit will continue to work during the period following the dissolution of the 29th Dáil as it did following the dissolution of the 28th Dáil. The unit operates on an apolitical basis and only deals with the Government Press Office and the...

Departmental Bodies. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The unit has no dealings with the headquarters of any political party as that would be totally inappropriate. For that matter, it has no dealings with Ministers and Ministers of State, it deals with the press offices of Departments. Its work during election periods is to send information to a Department and it is likely the Minister and Minister of State will be there. Other than that I...

Departmental Bodies. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The communications unit takes the daily news from the national broadcasting agencies and presents it to the Departments; Ministers and Ministers of State would then receive that. Individual Ministers look for reports from the unit through their own staff but it has no political purpose. It is not engaged in political activity on any given day. The unit provides information to a huge range...

Departmental Bodies. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I have not done that. If I wanted to find out what anybody said on a political issue, I would ask my press office to check that rather than examining the nuanced report on the first 15 items of a news bulletin. That is not a great political issue and it would probably be quicker to listen to the news headlines. The unit does not provide any political benefit whatsoever, particularly during...

Departmental Bodies. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Civil Service is not closing down during the election and the communications unit is part of the Civil Service structure. Before the communications unit, a range of news agencies made a small killing from Departments by collecting information from media sources and selling it on. It was a good service but it is now done by a unit within the Civil Service. The information provided by...

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 9 together. The information sought by the Deputies is contained in a schedule which I propose to circulate with the Official Report. Travel and subsistence payments are made at the appropriate civil service rates in respect of certified official travel and subject to the usual Civil Service regulations. Salaries and expenses of Political Advisers and...

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A science group gives Departments and agencies advice in that field. We regularly ask members of agencies to present a briefing to Cabinet committees and meetings. This is a day-to-day feature of Cabinet committees in particular. The science group addresses senior staff in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment regularly.

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: On the Deputy's specific question of whether we have advisers similar to those referred to in No. 10 or No. 11, where there are contract advisers for practically every area, we do not operate such a system.

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They have one person for everything, irrespective of the issue.

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They also have a science adviser.

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A science adviser works in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and we are working with that individual. A small group, the science committee, holds meetings which we attend to discuss issues including environmental issues. However, its members do not work in my Department but come from relevant Departments or, in many cases, relevant agencies. The Deputy is correct with...

Departmental Expenditure. (12 Dec 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I always listen.