Results 5,081-5,100 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Next year.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The legislation on lone parents will be brought before the House before Christmas. I do not think the provision of a rapporteur will require legislation. However, we must obtain advice on the best way to proceed.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The broadcasting Bill will be published this year. I have an open mind about the all-party committee. However, it might be best to establish a new committee.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The Cabinet will discuss the terms, but I will provide the committee with draft terms of reference.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Yes.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is a North-South Ministerial Council dimension to this issue. However, I asked the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to try to find a way to circumvent it. The Departments of Education and Science and Health and Children are examining this matter. They are considering the establishment of a pre-employment consultancy service and the Minister of State is trying to provide for that.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The legislation is due later this year. However, it will not be ready by September.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I answered that question two minutes ago.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I answered that three minutes ago. I do not think we need to amend that Act but we must examine the required procedure.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: This session.

Order of Business. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is no promised legislation.

Leaders' Questions. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is the prerogative of the President to submit legislation to the Council of State, as she has done, and the Government accepts her decision. I have no views on that whatsoever. I have already said that some issues relating to last week's legislation have to be dealt with. I am also putting forward the reason section 5 was there. That is the point. The legal opinion——

Leaders' Questions. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The view of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is that we should establish an all-party committee fairly quickly, make progress in that regard over the coming months and be in a position to make changes that are necessary in the autumn. I will send the terms of reference to the party leaders for their perusal as soon as they have been cleared by the Government.

Leaders' Questions. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We will see what we will do on those issues. As I have said, the equal opportunities investment plan is an enormously costly plan that has been funded as part of an attempt to assist, and it is hugely helpful. The Deputy will acknowledge the changes we have made. For example, I have put on the record a number of points relating to the establishment of an office of special rapporteur for child...

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. The information requested by the Deputies about the freedom of information requests received by the Department of the Taoiseach is in the following table. All freedom of information applications made to the Department are processed by statutorily designated officials in accordance with the 1997 and 2003 Acts. In accordance with those Acts, I...

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There were 45 cases in 2004, but that number increased quite substantially last year and that trend is continuing. There was a period when the number of applications stabilised, but the relevant figure increased by almost 30% to 61 last year. It seems that the trend is continuing this year. The numbers decreased for a while, but they are back up again. A number of bodies have been added to...

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As already stated, the Law Reform Commission is the only agency under my aegis which is not included at present and this matter has been under consideration for some time. As for the fees issue, I have stated on numerous occasions that personal information is free and the same is true of appeals. The figures are rising again and the majority of cases involve journalists. While there has never...

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do. I understand from my officials who are involved in this area that they take account of it. Admittedly, it may be easier for my Department because it is not obliged to deal with much legislative change. The Department of Finance monitors the rest. However, people should take into account fully the views of the Information Commissioner.

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not know. Monitoring of the Act is carried out under the aegis of the Department of Finance. I do not know whether there have been any discussions in this regard. To the best of my knowledge, however, it was not in any of the most recent reports in which the bodies I mentioned previously were discussed. Hence, I do not know whether there have been any discussions in this regard. It would...

Freedom of Information. (7 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The process in my Department is carried out by a number of senior staff without any recourse to me regarding either the question or the reply. It is an entirely independent function, as per the Act. There is a database in the Department which allows it to know the details of every request. It is monitored by the freedom of information liaison officer, who receives all the requests, logs them...