Results 6,281-6,300 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: Deputy Ó Cuív did leave a lot of things behind. He left behind a broken country, broken public finances and broken morale.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: He also left behind a lot of people who are in mortgage distress and, as he said, he left behind the Cooney report. That report, as the Deputy knows and as we discovered, was not sufficient to deal with the mortgage difficulties people are facing. That is why the new Government asked the Keane group to bring forward a new set of recommendations as to what needed to be done to address the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: There were some good recommendations in the Cooney report. I said the Cooney report was not sufficient to deal with the range of difficulties that people in mortgage distress have had. Let us not forget they are in mortgage distress because of the difficulties Deputy Ó Cuív and his colleagues put them in. This Government is dealing with that issue. We had the Keane group look at the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: The Deputy should bear with me. This recession will not last forever, because of the way in which the Government is dealing with it and getting the country out of the hole Deputy Ó Cuív's party put it in. While we are doing that, many families will have difficulty paying their mortgages. They are in mortgage distress and we will ensure, in so far as it is possible, that they will not be...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: I am not quite sure which of the many accusations Deputy McDonald levelled is the question. I will not take any lecture on honesty from Sinn Féin.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: This Government promised-----

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: This Government promised that it would get the country out of the economic hole in which it found itself. The country was broken when we entered Government on 9 March last. There were broken banks, broken public finances, a broken reputation and broken morale.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: We have worked every day to fix these problems. This is not the first time on which Deputy McDonald has accused the Government in the House of breaking promises. She claimed in the House that we broke our promise on restoring the minimum wage; she was wrong about that. She stated we would not renegotiate the deal with the European Union and IMF; she was wrong about that. She stated in the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: She was wrong about that because we got a reduction of 2.5%, at a value of €10 billion to the country. Her accusation today that we have not delivered on political reform is also wrong. We cut the pay of Ministers, made cuts regarding the transport arrangements of Ministers and capped the salaries of public servants. We have changed the pension arrangements for top-level public servants...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: On none of those issues has Deputy McDonald or anybody else making the aforementioned accusations admitted she was wrong. She will have to admit she was wrong in respect of some of the other allegations she levelled today. Regarding the nominee to the European Court of Auditors, we were surprised by the vote taken at the committee meeting yesterday. We understand it did not reflect the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: There is one rule that this Government applies, and it applies equally to everybody. That is why, from the very beginning of this Administration, we took unprecedented steps to cap the salaries of senior public servants and staff in the semi-State sector and to change the inherited arrangements pertaining to pensions and severance deals. From the very beginning of the life of the Government...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: The Deputy keeps saying these things.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: They have been done by the Government. There is a rule regarding accountability, whereby people are called to account, but they are also given the opportunity to answer for themselves. I do not know if it is part of the culture of Sinn Féin-----

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: -----but it is something Deputy McDonald appears to find difficult to understand.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: If one makes an accusation against somebody-----

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: -----one gives him or her an opportunity to respond.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: It is something we do in committees of the House.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: In regard to the nominee to the European Court of Auditors, a hearing took place yesterday at a budgetary committee of the European Parliament. I understand the nominee gave a strong performance.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: A vote was taken, but, according to the reports I have received, it did not appear to reflect the tone and content of the discussion that had taken place.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2011)

Eamon Gilmore: I do not know why that was. It is something we will have to consider. It is not unusual that committees take a vote. I understand the committee will make a report to the Parliament in plenary session. That report has not yet been made.