Results 7,401-7,420 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: Figures from the Central Statistics Office show unemployment now stands at approximately 10%, having reached 15% only a few years ago. The Minister of State with responsibility for training and apprenticeships received approximately 90 proposals at the end of March and these are being examined. Arising from this, he has already started a new apprenticeship course in stonemasonry, which...

Spring Economic Statement (Resumed) (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: Just over four years ago, in the face of an unprecedented crisis, a new Government was formed with a mandate from the Irish people to fix the public finances and get the country working again. We can all remember the depth of the crisis that then gripped the country. The economy was in freefall, banks were on the brink of collapse, thousands of jobs had been lost, Ireland's international...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: As I stated to the Deputy already, the relationship framework set in place before the time of the Minister, Deputy Noonan, did not require that the Minister for Finance would be informed in a mandatory fashion of serious financial transactions of that order.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: When the Minister had the opportunity, he changed the framework and appointed a senior civil servant. The evidence from the freedom of information documentation shows the level of concern and action taken by the Minister for Finance in this case. The Deputy has continually spoken about cover-ups and many other issues.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: The framework structure set in place when Siteserv was dealt with did not require mandatory reporting to the Minister for Finance but it does now. The review now being ordered by the Minister-----

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: -----from the special liquidator goes back to 2009 and right up to 2013. It includes all those cases, and I understand there are 30 or possibly more of the order of over €10 million.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: All that information is being collated and compiled, and it will be presented in a report to the Minister for Finance by the end of August. As I stated yesterday, in the event of any perception of a conflict of interest in that review, he appointed a High Court judge to adjudicate on those matters. All these transactions, beyond Siteserv, are covered in that period.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: This has been examined by the IBRC board, which has recommended very strongly that it did its job.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: It has been examined by the Central Bank, which did not take any action. The issue is now the subject of this review. The Government will have no difficulty, if deemed appropriate, for a further independent investigation to be carried out by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, for example. We cannot direct that independent office. The Government has no difficulty in...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy states that he expected a better statement yesterday but I am not sure what the Deputy was expecting.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Government was perfectly clear that the statements made yesterday and today are not budgetary statements but they are realistic in setting out the parameters of the conversation we need to have in the Oireachtas about where we need the country to be and where we see it as far as 2020 and beyond. The spring statement is very clearly predicated on a set of policies that are working - and...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: That document was always a public document and was a public document on the day of sale. The evidence is accessible to journalists and they have examined it. Second, in regard to the difficulties the Deputy referred to between the Department of Finance and IBRC, the freedom of information document shows exactly the nature of the concerns the Minister for Finance had. He changed the...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: We are now going to have a situation where the files will be prepared for the Minister, and if necessary, the Government will change the law so that a further independent objective assessment carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General if the Committee of Public Accounts wishes to do that.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: On the contrary. As I have said to the Deputy, the framework structure set up by the previous Government meant there was no connection or no interference or questioning from the Department of Finance in respect of these major transactions, nor was it compulsory that the Minister for Finance of the day would be informed. That was the situation that applied when the sale of the company in...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: I answered the Deputy's question on this matter yesterday. The scale and timeframe of the review is broader than the Siteserv transaction concluded by the board of IBRC in 2012. It is expected to cover the 30 or more transactions concluded by the board between 2009 and the liquidation of the bank in February 2013. The order provides:The review shall consider all transactions, activities...

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: I answered the Deputy.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: I remind Deputy Martin that unlike his own outfit, which proceeded with Anglo Irish Bank and cost us €34 billion, this Government has no difficulty in defending the taxpayer's rights in public and in an accountable fashion.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: Deputy Martin demanded a commission of investigation into Siteserv. I made the point that if one sets up a commission of investigation, there is a long lead-in and possibly a long period before one receives a report. The Deputy wants answers now.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: All of the files that are relevant to Siteserv, and beyond Siteserv, are in the hands of the special liquidator, who has been directed by the Minister to produce those files and to report to him by the end of August. In respect of the matter of conflicts of interest, the Minister has appointed a retired High Court judge to adjudicate.

Leaders' Questions (29 Apr 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy never listens.