Results 8,761-8,780 of 36,764 for speaker:Enda Kenny

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Ministerial Travel (27 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: I have attended the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos for the past three years and again last week. The Forum provides a unique opportunity to engage with key figures in international business and politics and my focus while I am in Davos is to promote Ireland's strengths as a location for investment and trade and meet existing and potential investors in Ireland. In...

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: For the information of the House, today the Government made an historic decision in approving the wording of the thirty-fourth amendment to the Constitution Bill which will allow the people to decide the question of equality of marriage which, in turn, will allow for the right of two people to marry, irrespective of their sexual orientation. This is the first time a people’s...

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy referred to several health Bills. The Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, is working on a range of them. The priority is to have the doctor visit card legislation agreed to and get it through. This will require much consultation. I will get the Minister and the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy on the Bills to which he referred as to their state of preparation.

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: The climate change Bill was published last week and will be taken in the second week of February. The Deputy will have more than adequate time to give his views on it. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta go bhfuil an reachtaíocht i dtaobh stádas oifigiúil na Gaeilge agus úsáid na Gaeilge anseo ar an gcéad liosta don seisiún seo. Ní ró-fhada a...

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: There is no difficulty about this. As Deputies Adams and Martin have raised, it is an important matter. It is important that people who wish to speak on it should be given time. The Chief Whip has informed me that he has another list of Members who wish to speak - I did not have a contribution to speak on it myself - so the explanation is that there are more speakers who wish to contribute...

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: This is a false row and Deputies will have more than one and a half hours next week.

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: I disagree with Deputy Tom Fleming's comment that there is no hope at all. There is a proven record of stabilising and growing many sectors. For example, the Government reduced the VAT rate in the hospitality sector from 13.5% to 9%. It stabilised the industry and created another 25,000 jobs. We also abolished the travel tax and implemented the concept of the Wild Atlantic Way, with a...

Order of Business (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: It is proposed to take No.a17, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the draft Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters) Order, 2015 (resumed); and No. 47, Workplace Relations Bill 2014 - Report and Final Stages (resumed). It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that in the event a division is in progress at the...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: However, we must change the structure of it. The Deputy has made the point himself - I agree with him - that the responsibility does not just lie with the Government. The Deputy recognises the need for change and it cannot be changed without the co-operation, willingness and support of teaching professionals. What was on the table was an original proposition from the former Minister,...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: While change is often difficult to accept, what we are doing is trying to provide the very best level of first examination process for students moving through secondary school. The Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and her people have spent hours engaging with unions and teachers on this change. It is a very progressive step in the right direction so that the integrity, quality, range and...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: As she has said on many occasions, the Minister is more than willing to continue to work and engage with teacher unions. I ask for that to happen. At the end of the day, this position will be resolved. The Minister has put a compromise on the table that is very reasonable and that should be accepted.

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: I thank Deputy Tom Fleming for his question and comments. He has put his finger on the central issue for Government and one of the twin pillars of the mandate it was given: to fix our public finances and put our country back to work. I agree with Deputy Fleming that when a person is out of work for more than a year, or for two years and longer, it becomes very difficult to get the...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Minister for Education and Skills did stand back to consider the proposals that were on the table. She engaged with the teachers, listened to them, took on board what they had said and changed the nature of the proposals. Change is always difficult to accept. It was not the Minister or the students who called the strike; it was called by the teachers. One element of what the Minister...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: I share the Deputy's view on the importance of strong leadership from teachers, which has an incredible impact on many young minds and is important in terms of the quality and attractiveness of Irish students for what they do.

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: Teaching plays an important role in this regard. This is not a case of the Minister imposing by diktat something that has been considered. Compromise has been brought about because she has engaged with teachers and listened carefully to what they have had to say. I recently spoke to somebody from a country which had changed the entire structure of examinations to one where boxes were...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: It is important that students are able to prepare for their examinations. Teachers are professionals and an element of assessing their own pupils is something they can manage with credibility and confidence.

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: It is not a hardline stance. Everybody accepts that there is a need to change the structure of the junior certificate examinations. A number of proposals have been tabled during the years as to how this might happen. There is an evolution of change here for the junior certificate. The proposition on the table follows the Minister having listened very carefully to the teacher unions. If...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: Deputy Martin is right to raise the point, which he knows from his own experience, that the only people who suffer here are the students. It is of particular concern to them that a second day of strike is taking place tomorrow. Deputy Martin is also right when he says that the strike is avoidable. It is avoidable. The Minister has made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that she...

Northern Ireland and the Stormont House Agreement: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: The Deputy did not get his way.

Northern Ireland and the Stormont House Agreement: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Enda Kenny: I welcome the opportunity to open this debate on Northern Ireland and the outcome of the political talks in Belfast, which concluded on 23 December last with the Stormont House Agreement. Since the 1990s, successive Governments have played their parts in supporting and facilitating a series of agreements to establish and underpin the Northern Ireland peace process. The first of these, in...