Results 9,741-9,760 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Freedom of Information. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I am almost certain it is a case of no records existing, and I have not seen any such cases. Sometimes maybe the records are incomplete. It is taken very seriously in Departments if records go missing and immediately detailed searches take place. Most FOI requests relate to current information and do not go back years requiring officials to go to storage boxes. Normally there is no difficulty...

Freedom of Information. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Overall guidelines are set down. Liaison takes place between the information officers in each Department. In my Department the officials follow those rules. The amount of money taken in by my Department for the whole year was €525. In all cases a genuine effort is made even with historical records, which are not requested as frequently now. The figures were high early on because people were...

Freedom of Information. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: To the best of my knowledge, this might happen if an individual case had an enormous impact on time. Perhaps not last year but in the previous year we had a few such requests, but people are charged the same fee. I do not think they are charged a higher fee. I am not positive about that, but that applies in my Department. Some Departments may need to do considerable searching and gathering of...

Freedom of Information. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Under Civil Service code such a matter would be subject to disciplinary action. Apart from FOI, regarding anything——

Freedom of Information. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Certainly not under FOI. Over the years there have been cases of files having been mislaid in Departments, about which quite serious action was taken. I remember one Department in which I was a Minister where such problems existed.

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 15, inclusive, together. The procedures I have outlined to the House previously, most recently on 25 November 2003, are unchanged. Use of the ministerial air transport service requires my approval. Procedurally, requests for use of the service are made by Ministers' private secretaries to my office and are dealt with by the staff of my office. Requests...

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Travelling in the smallest jet. So small that we are always last in the queue to take off. The Beechcraft has been replaced by the Learjet to provide the ministerial air service. It is now mainly used by the Air Corps and would only be used for ministerial travel if nothing else was available and normally for local flights within the State. Some of my colleagues must use it to travel to...

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: It takes a while to get there, it is quite a hardship. The Learjet carried out 78 missions, mainly to various European locations during the Presidency. The Gulfstream IV is still in operation.

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I am not directly involved but I am sure the Minister for Defence and the Air Corps follow the highest environmental standards. The jet is rarely used within the State. The Beechcraft is usually used on short flights. The Gulfstream is used for long flights and, increasingly, we use the Learjet on the Brussels route. It is effective for short haul flights.

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I do not have the figures, the Department of Defence has them, but the service offers value for money and is efficient. Where easy alternatives are available, it is not used. Each case is screened to ensure it makes sense. Effort is always made to get Ministers to travel together to make it more cost effective. It is also useful to the Air Corps when it is not being used by the Government.

Ministerial Transport. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: The service has been looked at a number of times and it has been found to provide an efficient and cost effective service.

Leaders' Questions. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny has asked me a number of questions to which there are a number of aspects. Obviously, since we debated these matters on the eve of the Christmas recess, events have taken a bad turn. The fall-out from the Northern Bank raid is that trust and confidence in the process are now at a very low level. The sooner we can deal with these issues straight up with the republican movement,...

Leaders' Questions. (26 Jan 2005)

Bertie Ahern: I do not know the make-up of the present army council. I had some heated exchanges about that yesterday. I will not go over that ground again. I do not know the whereabouts of any arms dumps. The position of the Garda is that we will continue to seek out arms anywhere. No easy line will be taken on that. Regarding the other issues, I appreciate Deputy Kenny's bipartisan position of support....

Seanad: Northern Ireland Peace Process: Motion. (15 Dec 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I am grateful to this House for affording me the opportunity to report on the progress made last week on the Northern Ireland peace process. I would like to explain why the recent developments are important. It is my belief that we have reached the final, difficult phase of our peace process. I have heard some people say that things are quiet in Northern Ireland and that we should leave well...

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: If, however, Deputies want to have it debated today, tomorrow and Friday, we will go on to Committee Stage next week and Report and Final Stages the following week, and it will be in the Seanad right up to the Christmas recess. I have repeatedly explained to the House that this is an urgent Bill and, so that it would not be complex, we took out the entire section on the information and...

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I thank the Deputy for his comments on the talks. I still cannot be certain how this will move into a debate. As the Deputy has said, our difficulty is that we are in different levels of the debate. However, I have tried to brief all the parties over the weekend. I had a long meeting yesterday with the SDLP and we have also talked to the other parties. While we have not given them the...

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: We will put it on the website as soon as possible and then issue the documents, if we have any documents on the matter. We made a commitment on the traffic corps in An Agreed Programme for Government. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform set out the time-table from the strategic review today, pointing out the changes that will lead to the enforcement of traffic law. The number of...

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The substantial increase in medical cards above the increase in the limit for those currently on medical cards will require legislation.

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I made no statements at the weekend about Aer Lingus. Last week I thanked the management, the board and the workers in Aer Lingus.

Order of Business. (23 Nov 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I will bring that matter to the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.