Results 10,061-10,080 of 13,375 for speaker:Pat Rabbitte

Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Under the terms of reference of the——

Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This situation arose famously in 1994 in a different context.

Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The terms of reference——

Order of Business. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I am not seeking a debate on it.

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Does the Taoiseach accept it is difficult for anybody outside Government to understand why, if the 1995 reforms had been implemented and policed, there should have been what he calls a "communications failure" in the CC case? I am sure he will accept there is scarcely anything more serious than the protection of our children yet, despite the commitment that cases affecting minors would be...

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: Is the Taoiseach stating that somebody could be free to walk as a result of the charges being withdrawn and new charges not being capable of being preferred and that we would not know about it?

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This is not normal.

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I think they are having a long debate.

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I have one supplementary——

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I have a second question.

Office of the Attorney General. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Taoiseach had no time to follow the Dubs.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: They should be, they are rust proof.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: This is a shocking Government debacle and a shocking waste of taxpayers' money. The first thing that strikes me as odd is that the commission's terms of reference require it to present its report to the Taoiseach. I am surprised to learn that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, was given the report at the weekend. The Taoiseach stated the Government has only read...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: I refer the Taoiseach to page 107 of the report which among other things, points out that in a tied vote, the system eliminates the wrong candidate. It also states: It was noted that, in addition to selecting the incorrect candidate for elimination, the software makes a further error by reporting incorrectly through its user interface that a different candidate has been selected.

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: It further stated that the software is not of sufficient quality to enable its use to be confidently recommended and that functional testing has revealed programming errors. It states there are significant and important vulnerabilities: Firstly, it was found, when reading in votes at a count centre from a CD received from a service centre, that it is possible to read in the votes from an...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The Taoiseach comes into this House and says we can go on and work this system. Is the Taoiseach saying he will spend the extra money to try and find a software system that would meet the requirements set down by this commission? I remind him that when his Minister rushed this through the House the first time, he made it a charge on the Central Fund. The entire €52 million was a charge on...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: To what €500,000 is the Taoiseach referring? He said it would cost €500,000 to improve the software. How did he arrive at that figure? I am glad that Deputy Roche had the opportunity to read the report but that figure is not in the report, nor does the judge say how much it would cost to renovate this system, if it is capable of renovation. I do not know from where the Taoiseach tosses up...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: These were non-partisan who came to offer advice in advance that what was being done was folly——

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: ——but the Government ignored them and ploughed on. Tossing out a figure of €500,000 is entirely misleading. The commission never recommended anything of that kind. It stated that the system is rescuable, but it does not state whether rescuing it has merit. Deputy Gilmore has drawn my attention to a very interesting final report from the returning officers in Dublin West and Dublin...

Leaders' Questions. (4 Jul 2006)

Pat Rabbitte: The terms of reference state: "The Commission, which shall be independent in the performance of its functions, shall prepare a number of reports for presentation to the Ceann Comhairle . . . . . on the secrecy and accuracy of the chosen electronic voting and counting system." The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, may be the Ceann Comhairle in the next...