Results 4,061-4,080 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The latest programme, which pertains to the period 2007 to 2009, involves 27,000 affordable houses. Overall, the programme will meet the needs of 60,000 households in the various schemes in the social housing category. We are proceeding with the proposed legislation concerning zoned land which developers hold for a period before selling. It is the key part of the Kenny inquiry and we are...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. Thirty-nine staff serving in my Department have applied through the central applications facility to relocate under the decentralisation programme. The breakdown by grade is: assistant principal officer, seven; higher executive officer, three; administrative officer, seven; executive officer, nine; staff officer, two; and clerical...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Of the 213 staff in my Department, 39 have applied to decentralise. They include seven assistant principal officers, three higher executive officers, nine executive officers, two staff officers and 11 clerical officers. Ten former members of staff have already been assigned to decentralised posts. The total number of officials is 49 — ten officials have already moved and a further 39...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The staff numbers will be the same, although we have to achieve a small reduction every year. Under the Department of Finance's guidelines, we have to try to achieve a 3% reduction every year over a three-year period. I am sure that approach will continue into the future. For the past two years, departmental officials who want to participate in the decentralisation programme have been...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I said on a previous occasion that 45 officials in my Department had applied for decentralisation — that figure has since increased to 49. Ten members of staff have moved on and the others are in the system. The restructuring process under the central applications facility is ongoing. I assure the Deputy that civil servants are not worried about the election because they will still be...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As retraining is being done by the Department of Finance, it is a question for that Department. Considerable programmes of training and retraining are being organised, for example in the area of information technology. A great deal of it would probably be happening anyway, but more of it is happening as a consequence of the movements which are taking place.

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The things mentioned by Deputy Rabbitte are happening in my Department. Progress is being made with the central applications facility and in the discussions with the staff associations. My Department and all other Departments and agencies are working their way through the system. It will be slower than we anticipated. That has to be the case because the programme is voluntary. We are...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Many of the buildings which are held by the OPW are also on saleable leases. If Departments move, including some Departments near here, they can sell on some very lucrative contracts. We need to consider what the bottom line figure for that will be in five or ten years time. One can receive far better offers throughout the country, as we all know. Some of the buildings which are held are...

Decentralisation Programme. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I think more people will apply to be moved under decentralisation and 20% of the Department has already moved. The Minister for Finance informs me there are 34 locations under development around the country and, as this rolls out, people from my Department will join the list as has happened over the past number of years. Some specialists might also move. Some of the agencies in my...

Benchmarking Awards. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 7 together. The benchmarking phases were implemented in my Department with 25% of the increase from 1 December 2001 paid in June 2003. The total cost to December 2003 was approximately €405,000. A further 50% of the increase was paid from 1 January 2004 at an approximate cost of €491,000 for that year and the final 25% of the increase was paid from...

Benchmarking Awards. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Everyone had to put forward a plan and the plan I submitted relating to my Department covered four broad areas on which management and staff collaborated. Those areas were human resource management, financial management, quality customer service and technological innovation. More competitive promotion processes were introduced while the performance management and development system, PMDS,...

Benchmarking Awards. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will examine that. Currently, contract workers are not really in the system. Like advisers, they operate on a different contract basis. If one was a contract worker for a number of years, one would fall considerably behind his or her benchmarked colleagues. The Department's management group is examining the initiatives it would like to have included in the Civil Service performance...

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, together. Progress on the implementation of the Government programme is kept constantly under review. Deputies will be aware that for every full year that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats have been in government, we have published an annual progress report which sets out the progress to date in implementing every commitment...

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: May I give a general response, a Cheann Chomhairle, without going into detail? We have substantially reduced class sizes and the pupil-teacher ratio. We have transformed the learning environment for those with special needs and have launched major initiatives to tackle educational disadvantage. We have put resources into all communities. There are thousands of extra teachers and teaching...

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I hope no one shreds any of the initiatives or proposals from my Department but from time to time people would have a different means or timescale for implementing them. That is always an issue we must try to resolve. The timescales and formats are not always as we set out in the programme for Government; that is part of the system we must engage with. We did an annual audit to keep things...

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The view of the management of the HSE is that 3,000 beds are not required. Its view is that the utilisation of existing beds, plus the 1,300 new beds that have been delivered by this Government and 450 that are planned, should, with better utilisation and more day cases, fulfil the need. When we were talking about 3,000 beds we were not talking about day cases being where they are now —...

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not think Deputy Rabbitte is suggesting that we said we would have it all built by 2007. We were not trying to do that.

Programmes for Government. (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, recently did a very detailed update on environmental issues. Across almost 50 measures there has been substantial progress and success in a range of areas. We will continue, as long as we are in office, to implement these measures. There is a long list of actions taken to improve road safety. On the particular...

Order of Business (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is proposed to take No. 9, motion re statement of expenditure for Houses of the Oireachtas; No. 13, Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006, Report Stage (resumed) and Final Stage; No. 1, Europol (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad] — Second Stage; and No. 2, Citizens Information Bill 2006 — Second Stage, resumed. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 9...

Order of Business (25 Oct 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is a technical procedure to be followed on this matter. When the motion is agreed, the Secretary General must present the statement of Estimates to the Minister for Finance not later than 30 days before the preparation by the Minister for Dáil Éireann of the Estimates of receipts and expenditure, that is, the White Paper for this year. That White Paper is presented to the Dáil on 1...