Results 4,041-4,060 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together. The four principal legal functions carried out by the Office of the Attorney General are summarised in paragraph 2.3 of the Sullivan report as (i) the provision of legal advice — advisory counsel; (ii) legislative drafting — Parliamentary Counsel; (iii) the processing of litigation; and (iv) conveyancing and other transactional...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte correctly pointed to what happened in that case and what the Sullivan report recommended. The relevant parties accept the CC case met the criteria of being an "important and sensitive" case — which are the words used in the protocols — such as to warrant reference to the Attorney General according to its office policy and protocols. It identified several milestones in...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: An ongoing problem exists in obtaining, holding and training drafters. On a number of occasions over the past few years, approval was given to the Attorney General to obtain additional drafters. In my reply I mentioned some drafters were brought in from the younger people assigned to other Departments to help in the legislative process. The issue of key experienced people is an extremely...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The parliamentary counsel published approximately 175 Bills. As a Parliament, we deal with more Bills than most. In terms of productivity, the number of Bills the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel produces is higher each year. However, while the staff of the office are working harder and producing more Bills, legislation gets more complex and is of a more specialist nature. It is a...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I was not just referring to my time in office. The position is the same at present. The staff find they have to check all the work so contracting work out does not help much. It is preferable to have a core staff within the office. That is their view and I am in no position to contradict them. I am surprised at the position with regard to the CD-ROM. A CD-ROM takes the hard copy and...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will raise it with the office. It should be up to date. We brought in reinstatement legislation which means there is a reinstatement process whenever the House passes an Act. The latest Act should be available, which was the idea of the reinstatement legislation. I will raise the matter with the staff. With regard to the Deputy's point on legislation, the broadcasting Bill is being...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Each case is different. In the CC case not all the procedures were followed. However, all the work on the case showed it was processed in an expeditious, timely and conscientious manner. Although the work went on, the Attorney General had not been informed. Efforts have been made to improve procedures. Some months ago when I asked how many challenges to constitutional Acts of the...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Yes. Some of those were blocked around particular issues. With 550 cases coming down the line, as well as all the other cases, it would be difficult for the Attorney General to be on top of them all, even with all these procedures. Could one ever be on top of this? However the procedures have been put together. The more important point, as I said to Deputy Rabbitte, is regular...

Office of the Attorney General. (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not accept the Deputy's point, which he has made on two occasions, that the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006 is flawed. Although there are different views on this matter, the Attorney General is satisfied the Bill is not unconstitutional. Otherwise it would not have been introduced. Although I accept that many issues must be teased out, not least that there is a general...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The subvention scheme is provided for under the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993, as amended. When carrying out a financial assessment for the purpose of subvention, 5% of the imputed value of the person's principal private residence is taken into account. There are exceptions, for example, where the house is occupied by a spouse, a child under the age of 21 or a person in...

Leaders' Questions (1 Nov 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The value of the household under the regulations was €95,000 up to last December. The limit has been increased from €95,000 to €300,000 outside, and €500,000 inside, Dublin, which is a substantial increase. Deputy Kenny asked if the HSE has discretion in this area. The answer is that the HSE may, in either case, use discretion. If there is somebody living in the residence, for...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Our overall strategy is to increase housing supply to meet demand and to improve affordability, particularly for first-time buyers.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We are investing heavily in infrastructure to deliver high levels of housing. One third of all the houses in the country have been built in the past nine years. We are putting greater focus on building active and successful communities through quality housing.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy is six weeks too early for the financial statement for 2007.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It will be released on this day in six weeks. On the stamp duty issue, I appreciate the constructive comments made by Deputy Boyle and others and I am sure all of them will be considered. Stamp duty applies to a range of property and other transactions, as Deputy Sargent knows. These include residential and commercial transactions and also share dealings and bank levies. The yield from...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am just trying to be helpful to Deputy Sargent. It is estimated that, in the current year, only €70 million of stamp duty, out of a total yield of €2.7 billion, will be from first-time buyers. The Government is always prepared to listen to arguments and debates but one should note that over one third of stamp duty on houses is derived from the more expensive upper end of the market. I...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The point is that, of the €2.7 billion received from stamp duty, only €70 million relates to first-time buyers. The case is not as it is sometimes presented.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A number of points arise and there is no point in my going back over the stamp duty issues. On the Deputy's point that we are accruing far more than expected from stamp duty, I was pointing out where it comes from. It is not simply derived from residential property but from a range of sources. The resources that accrue from stamp duty are used. Every year, we invest approximately €1...

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As I said at the outset, our policy has been to increase supply — we have done so. We used to build approximately 25,000 houses per year and we now build 80,000 per year. Affordability is a key issue for the Government. In fairness to the Government, it amended Part V of the Planning and Development Act and also launched the affordable housing initiative.

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: All of these measures were designed to increase supply.