Results 5,801-5,820 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. I attended the European Council in Brussels on 23 and 24 March. I was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance. As I will make a statement on the Council later today, I will at this stage merely give a summary account of its proceedings. The Council was addressed by the President of the European...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: To deal with the second issue raised, I have had discussions over a number of years with Foreign Minister Maratinos of Spain as I know him from his past involvement as an envoy, and in the past two years I have had discussions with Prime Minister Zapatero. The idea is that they will discuss those issues with us, as well as issues of mutual interest. That meeting will take place shortly. The...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte is correct. There was a long debate on the issue in which the Netherlands tried to move away substantially from the agreed text that had been prepared, and it was very persistent on this point. The good news is that it received little support. An amendment was made, with which the Commission was satisfied, that in the context of its overall position, the Commission wants to...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: On the first issue, there has been no change on the progress and the agreements we got at Christmas. As the Deputy will recall we got those written into the conclusions. The resources we secured for the peace fund — the amount of which I cannot remember off the top of my head — were included in the conclusions and agreed. I do not believe there is any danger in that regard and I have had...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I was brushed aside by the international media yesterday. President Barroso had now thought of this great idea——

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——but since he is a good friend I am glad to see that. He is a good person. The reality of this issue which I pointed out at the meeting is that the network stipulates the costs for which we are all paying. Travelling around does not incur an additional cost for the network. The imposing of such charges represents additional profiteering by the companies. Therefore, there is no need for...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: On the last question, we should harness as much as we possibly can. Deputy Sargent and I have always agreed on that and we will continue to pursue that. As I stated in my reply, we also ruled out the use of nuclear power.

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I did at the meeting.

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is almost impossible to get reported what one states inside the Council meetings because no journalists are present. One must run out and give the leak outside, which I tend not to do.

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not. If one wanted to do that, one could get killed in the rush getting out from the meetings. Guantanamo Bay was not discussed at the meeting. I read the reports in the newspaper of the statements made by some countries at the meeting, but they did not make any of those statements. Although I read that they did, I assure Deputy Sargent that they did not because it was not discussed. I...

European Council Meetings. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The point I made — at least sometimes Deputy Higgins and I agree — was that we have implementation in this country in that we have succeeded in forcing the companies on this issue. Obviously we had to get their co-operation as well. We have done that with the two large companies, O2 and Vodafone. We have already achieved that in this country. I also made the point that it could happen...

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Ruairí Brugha on the sad occasion of his death in January. His life, which extended almost 90 years from his birth in Dublin in October 1917, saw the unfolding of the history of the Republic. The only son of Cathal Brugha and the son-in-law of Terence MacSwiney, he was born amidst the turmoil of...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Last Wednesday, Deputy Kenny asked if we could give a greater sense of urgency to the implementation of the ten-point plan and to dealing with the excessive number of people who, unfortunately, are wrongly waiting in some of our accident and emergency units. More than 1 million people a year use accident and emergency units, which is approximately 3,500 people a day. In spite of the enormous...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There are a number of old people in beds who need to be taken out of the hospitals. They are not able to go home.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They are medically cleared to go home by their physicians, but they are not, for one reason or another, able to go back. We need to provide alternative accommodation for these.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We provided 250 beds in the autumn and we provided another 250 beds.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: As the Tánaiste made quite clear yesterday, in our various home care packages and health packages, we will continue to do that.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny knows I will not rise to any of his political charges, but I will give some of the facts.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: We have moved health——

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——in recent years. We have increased the health service budget from €3 billion to €12 billion. The fact that we did not realise that it required——