Results 7,441-7,460 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I accept the Deputy's point about people working in the home. It is not covered by legislation, to the best of my knowledge.

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: However, strong powers and laws exist both in regard to companies that are unionised and those which are not. Deputy Rabbitte is correct. There are not 31 inspectors in place but 31 have been approved.

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I understand the reason they are not all in place is due to the difficulty in getting people to take up this kind of work. People have been interviewed for the jobs. Dealing with this end of the labour market is not seen as a very attractive profession even though the remuneration is quite good. We must deal with this issue. It is believed that we can tackle it when we have 31 inspectors. We...

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: If there is evidence of that, it should be reported.

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: It is a well known fact that it is nearly impossible to get an Irish person to work in the meat industry. Let us not start confusing the issue. If people are abusing the system or there are sectors we have not covered, I am in favour of doing whatever is necessary in that regard, but a host of legislative measures already exist. When I inquired today about the legislative measures in place to...

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The report stated that those people who are not close to hospital services, especially those in rural communities, must travel greater distances. That is stating the obvious. I will not go into the situation at Monaghan General Hospital again. There are hospitals in the area and an examination is being carried out into the best clinical and medical ways of dealing with the health needs in the...

Leaders' Questions. (8 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: To specifically answer the Deputy — I may have been too general — all the hospitals, Letterkenny, Sligo, Omagh, Daisy Hill in Newry, Cavan, Drogheda, Dundalk and Monaghan, are trying to work in co-operation. That is why I mentioned the efforts with Altnagelvin and Daisy Hill. We are very anxious to work with them. The Tánaiste is due to have meetings next week or the week after with the...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: There are no EU directives which come within my Department's area of competency which have not yet been transposed into law.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The information set out as follows shows the fees paid to counsel in regard to each case. No other fees were paid out by the office of the Chief State Solicitor which carries out this function under the aegis of the office of the Attorney General. Case Amount â'¬ C-67/99 19,538.96 C-117/00 5,400.00 C-316/00 No fees paid* C- 67/02 No fees paid* C-494/01 30,120.90 ...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Judge Barron's third report relates specifically to the murder of Seamus Ludlow and it was presented to the Government in October 2004. The Government wishes to see the report published in the form that it was received from Judge Barron. In that context, certain aspects of the report have required careful consideration and were the subject of legal advice, including on the protection of the...

Written Answers — Public Relations Contracts: Public Relations Contracts (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: No contracts have been awarded by my Department in respect of public relations in the period December 2004 to October 2005.

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The number of civil servants and other staff employed in the Taoiseach's constituency office, their grade and remuneration is set out in the following table. Grade Remuneration â'¬ Personal Assistant 46,691 Personal Assistant 47,921 Personal Secretary 33,270 Executive Officer 26,618 Staff Officer (Work-sharing) 18,098 Clerical Officer 26,203 Clerical Officer...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The number and value of contracts awarded to outside consultants by my Department in each of the last five years is given in Table 1. Details of the contracts and the current status are shown in table 2. Table 1. Year Number of Contracts Total Value of Contracts â'¬ 2001 12 1,113,547 2002 5 143,065 2003 10 281,707 2004 20 430,886 2005 6 108,588 Table 2....

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The number of civil servants and other staff employed in the Government press office, their grade and remuneration is set out in the following table. Grade Remuneration â'¬ Government Press Secretary 120,117 Press Officer-Assistant Principal 65,701 Press Officer-Higher Executive Officer 47,921 Press Officer-Higher Executive Officer 45,457 Press Officer-Higher Executive...

Freedom of Information. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I noted the points which the Information Commissioner highlighted in her report of last year on the operation of the Act. My understanding was that she was more concerned about the costs of appeal to her office than about the €15 application fee, which is generally not seen as a large amount. It is important to point out there is no charge for the time undertaken in making a decision on a...

Freedom of Information. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: No, we do if there is an internal review. The upfront fee is €15. Not many requests go to appeal. There are not many requests for an internal review. We give the information and then one does not get into that process.

Freedom of Information. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: In my Department, out of a total of 1,143 freedom of information requests received to date, 94 were received for internal review. As I stated earlier, the personal cases, which many of these would be, would not be covered. In my Department, since the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act seven and a half years ago, a total of 13 requests have been investigated by the Information...

Order of Business. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: It is proposed to take No. 9, motion re Social Welfare Consolidation Bill 2005; and No. 13, Health and Social Care Professionals Bill 2004 [Seanad] — Order for Report, Report and Final Stages. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 9 shall be decided without debate; and Private Members' Business, which shall be No. 40, motion re Irish unity, shall also take...

Order of Business. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The proposal is that we would not lose time if there is a vote at 7 p.m.

Order of Business. (2 Nov 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The heads of the Planning and Development (Strategic National Infrastructure) Bill were approved in the early part of the summer. The Bill is due in the spring session. The greater Dublin area land use and transport authority Bill, which was only for the Dublin area, was dropped some time ago. The Minister announced yesterday that his Department and the relevant agencies are considering the...