Results 36,801-36,820 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Order of Business (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: The Taoiseach means next Thursday.

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: Deputy Ciarán Cuffe said of this Bill that many people interested in public transport in Dublin and in the future of the greater Dublin area have argued for a coherent development of approached planning and provision of public transport. Public transport in Dublin — and many of the recommendations made by Deputy Fahey — would be immediately improved if the Minister for Transport were to...

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: For people who come from Swords into——

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: I have a number of direct answers from the Minister that indicate his position. He has powers under the relevant Transport Acts going back to the 1930s to grant the right to Dublin Bus to use the tunnel. However, presumably in order to develop the private sector and give it an extra advantage, the Minister is barring Dublin Bus.

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: The net result is that commuters who live in the Forest Road and Highfield areas of Swords very often face an extra commute of half an hour minimum and, at busy times, their journey time from Swords to the city centre is extended by anything up to an hour and a quarter. If the Minister is committed to fair competition between private and public transport, he would permit access to a tunnel...

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: That is what the Minister's order and his parliamentary replies to me indicate.

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: The Minister has refused to advance the position to allow Dublin Bus or CIE to use the tunnel——

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: ——although €0.75 billion——

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: Dublin Bus is not using the tunnel from the Swords 41X route, from the Highfield-Forest Road area——

Dublin Transport Authority Bill 2008 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: The Dublin transport authority has been discussed for a long time. However, the way in which this institution has been put together by the Minister calls to mind the development of the Health Service Executive. This Bill has all the hallmarks of the structure of the HSE. A minimum amount of genuine public accountability and democracy is provided for along with a maximum amount of...

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: Has the Minister engaged in a reassessment of PPPs? One of the aspects regarding PPPs is that they are meant to transfer risk from the State to the private sector. This was fine when interest rates were low. In light of the international credit crunch, however, interest rates for private sector investment have risen dramatically. Some time ago, the former Comptroller and Auditor General,...

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: I have asked the Minister to comment on my question.

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: He is just reading a long text.

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: Will the Minister comment on the questions I asked?

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: What is the Minister's view of the provider walking away from the Dublin City Council PPPs and the fact the provider is the preferred bidder on Thornton Hall? What is the rationale of keeping the provider?

Public Private Partnerships. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: So four of the five are not legally binding? Why is the developer the preferred bidder on a prison project?

Government Pay Awards. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: We will receive more Exchequer figures this afternoon — the Minister probably knows them already — which may not be any better than those for the first five months of the year. In view of the state the economy is now drifting into and the current pandemic of uncertainty, and from the point of view of the moral authority of the Government, should it not bin these pay rises now?

Government Pay Awards. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: The process for determining Ministers' pay rises should be handed over to the system that governs the pay of TDs, so that they are within the public sector process. Does the Minister agree that in view of the culture of greed with regard to bonuses which has so infected the international private banking sector, determining Ministers' salaries by comparison with the private sector whose...

Government Pay Awards. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: Assistant principals.

Government Pay Awards. (4 Jun 2008)

Joan Burton: It sounds as if the Cabinet has gone in like a negotiating group with a shop steward at its shoulder and told people that Ministers should get a certain amount. The salary increases are unacceptable to most people. The increases would be difficult to justify at any time, but they are almost impossible to justify given the economy's difficult situation. Where is the Minister for Finance's...