Results 9,601-9,620 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The suggestion put forward by my colleague, Deputy Quinn, was that there would be two separate forms. I cannot see how two separate forms, handled and sealed separately, could involve any breach of confidentiality. What is the anticipated date of publication of the final census report?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: That is a bit like the electoral register. Even the Ceann Comhairle must admit this question is permissible under the rules. What does "early next year" mean?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Will the Minister of State find out for us?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: We have never seen the advice proffered to suggest the very reliable data we already have in the preliminary report is not a basis for revision of constituencies. Is it the Government's intention to make that advice available to the House generally?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Maybe I am losing it Minister. Did the Minister of State say how the one sixth of houses that are vacant most of the time were treated?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Six thousand what?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Minister of State is mishearing me. The same figures show that a sixth of the houses in the State are not habitually occupied. How is that treated in the census? That is not 6,000, as the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for housing would remind us.

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is the Minister of State saying that, if a census enumerator knocks on a door in An Spidéal but finds nobody at home, the occupants are simply excluded?

Ceisteanna — Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I take it the Minister of State is not chancing his arm. Has he established that with the CSO?

Order of Business (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Does the Minister for Finance believe a referendum will be necessary arising from the St. Andrews agreement? If so is it likely to be held at the same time as the referendum on the rights of the child?

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I would like to ask the Minister for Finance about the electoral register mess. Will he take a personal interest in the situation that has been created? Some 600,000 names were removed from the register but the problem is they are not the correct names. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, who is responsible for the register, describes these as "inadvertent...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The deadline should be extended so that initiatives can be taken to at least correct some of the damage. A massive advertising and public awareness campaign is needed and the leaders of political parties need to make a joint appeal to the public in respect of the state of the register. Additional resources should be provided to local authorities to validate the job that requires to be done....

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: ——because the only route available to people to get on it is to attend their local Garda station and, in many cases, they will not do that. The practice varies throughout the country but, in some parts, people will simply not do that. That process must be simplified. Measures can still be taken at this stage. The issue needs to be addressed urgently because remarks such as "Sure, only...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This is a cornerstone of the basis on which we should conduct elections.

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: With respect, the Minister is winging it. I know what the problems are, but what will the Government do to address them? There is no point telling the House that in the old days, there was no supplementary register. The Minister is certainly referring to the old days because there has been a supplementary register for as long as I can remember. There is no point telling people in many...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Minister is correct because that type of person will take action to put the situation right, but the great majority of those who have been inadvertently deleted, as the Minister put it, will not put it right and there will be a great deal of anger on polling day when they find that they have been removed from the register. Third World countries invite the United Nations to verify that...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: When we paid rates, there was no difficulty in keeping the register accurate and up to date. Respectfully, I made seven points about what the Government might do. Unless the Minister's party has a system that is unavailable to the rest of us, which I am sure is not the case, this is a democratic question for our democracy. The Minister does not seem to take on board the point that the...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: If local authorities require more resources, those resources should be made available. The Government should extend the 25 November deadline because, after that date, one cannot cause one's name to be put on the register until the final register is produced in February, at which time one must go through the rigorous process of attending a Garda station and so on. This is not a satisfactory...

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: There is a compelling argument to remove the matter from the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities——

Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: ——and to set up an electoral commission to address the issue. In terms of the immediate situation with which we are confronted, I ask the Minister to address seriously the seven points I raised.