Results 9,541-9,560 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: If I needed any corroboration of the mess on the M50, I can tell taxpayers that it is in the safe hands of Deputy Cullen.

Ministerial Responsibilities. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach the responsibilities of Ministers of State within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31613/06]

Ministerial Responsibilities. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Does the Taoiseach believe his two Ministers of State are overworked?

Ministerial Responsibilities. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I notice the Taoiseach said in a reply in October 2004 that the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, will play the key role in co-ordinating and advancing preparations for the ratification of the treaty on the European constitution. Is he still working hard on that and at what stage is his preparatory work? Can we anticipate that this issue will be reopened between now and the general...

Ministerial Responsibilities. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is it not the Government that is objecting to making the rules of the House more modern, adaptable and flexible? Has each of the Opposition parties, the Labour Party, Fine Gael, the Green Party and Sinn Féin, not published extensive proposals for reform of the Dáil?

Ministerial Responsibilities. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Government seeks to protect itself in not responding to them and as a result we cannot make progress.

Government-Church Dialogue. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach the position regarding the dialogue between the Government, churches and faith communities which he referred to in replies to parliamentary questions on 14 December 2004 and 13 December 2005; the structure of the process; the number of meetings held to date; the arrangements for future meetings; if his attention has been drawn to expressions of disappointment...

Government-Church Dialogue. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: We spoke of procedures earlier. I expected this question to be answered yesterday but I read the answer on the front page of The Irish Times this morning. I did not think the Taoiseach or his two doughty Ministers of State would engage in that kind of practice. While I thought that to be exclusively in the realm of the new Tánaiste, apparently it is not.

Government-Church Dialogue. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: As I have read the answer already in The Irish Times I am uncertain whether I have anything additional to extract. This commitment was made in the autumn of 2004 and subsequently, Members have asked the Taoiseach about it a number of times. My understanding is that notwithstanding the front page story in The Irish Times, nothing has happened. For example, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of...

Government-Church Dialogue. (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Taoiseach might find it harder than dealing with the parties in Northern Ireland.

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I have raised here a number of times on Leaders' Questions and on the Adjournment the daily hell being experienced by motorists on the M50, specifically the blockage at the West Link toll bridge. In particular, I want to again raise the request I put to the Government on a number of occasions to have the barrier lifted while the renovation of the M50 is going on. I am sorry to interrupt...

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is it correct that the ownership of the bridge will not be transferred until mid-2008? Is it the case, as the Secretary General of the Department has stated, that once the port tunnel is opened, 2,200 heavy goods vehicles will be decanted on to the bridge which, she said, is the equivalent of 6,600 cars per day, or one year's additional traffic on one day? I want the Taoiseach to explain if...

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The only point on which I am clear arising from that reply is that motorists are staring into a Dante's Inferno between now and mid-2008. This is going to be an unmitigated disaster during the refurbishment of the M50. The situation is already intolerable for motorists and what the Taoiseach is now saying is that no remedial action of any kind will be taken. He is sheltering behind the...

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: That is not 2013.

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Taoiseach said 2013; I wrote it down.

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I have enough difficulty following the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach did not make any mention of the cost or of the tax treatment. He did not query the DKM figures of €900 million forgone in revenue. He did not query the figure of €600 million reported in The Irish Times this morning.

Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is it appropriate, in respect of a distributor road, that a toll will continue to be levied? How does his statement now, that there will be a single toll, fit in with the information that he gave me some months ago about four gantries being erected at four different points of the M50?

Written Answers — Social Welfare Benefits: Social Welfare Benefits (14 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 99: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if he has received final figures on the number of applications received under the back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme in 2006; the number of applications accepted; the amount paid out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37613/06]

Written Answers — Social Welfare Information: Social Welfare Information (14 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Question 154: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on a national advertising campaign to promote greater awareness of social welfare entitlements, similar to the campaign now being run by the Revenue Commissioners to promote greater awareness of tax allowances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37614/06]

Order of Business (14 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: That sounds true.