Results 10,241-10,260 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I do not want to comment specifically on Henry VIII provisions but there are approximately 500 Acts on the Statute Book that predate 1922. I gave a detailed response to this some months ago. Many of these Acts go back several hundred years. The statute law revision unit is examining whether these will be re-enacted or deleted. I do not know how many go back to the reign of Henry VIII but all...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The smoke-free environment will help. I do not have the specific notes on the statute law revision unit's work. The unit is trying to categorise the legislation in different areas. It hopes to re-enact what it requires to put as much as possible of the re-enacted legislation into a number of Acts and to clear the Statute Book for other areas. While many of the Acts are still law, in effect,...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The judgment in the case under discussion must be taken into account. As I said earlier, curative measures will have to come before the House. Under the Constitution, it is open to individuals to challenge legislative matters before the courts. Individuals have that right. The eminent members of the Judiciary are able to hand down judgments that we are honour-bound to take into account in...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As I have said, 500 pre-1922 Acts are being examined. The statute law revision unit is examining such legislation as part of a project that is examining all Acts. As I have said, the unit will probably give advice on how to deal with such legislation. I hope that re-enactment can be taken collectively in many of the cases and that many of the other cases can be cleared. Our intention is to...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy is asking whether there will be just one Act to deal with all these judgments. I am not certain yet, but I imagine there would need to be primary legislation in different areas, particularly where decisions have been made over the years. The note I read out was from the Office of the Attorney General stating that these matters could be corrected by primary legislation. Whether an...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: If there is a relevant Act it may be possible for new judgments to be dealt with therein. In other cases primary legislation may be necessary, although I hope there will not be too many such cases.

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As I stated in reply to the points made by Deputies O'Keeffe and Rabbitte, it was originally envisaged that legislation would be based on fundamental principles and amendments made either by statutory instrument or orders for secondary legislation. This happens in different jurisdictions in different ways. The case has been well made that we sometimes wander too far away from the primary Act,...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Mr. Loughlin Deegan, a qualified solicitor, was appointed to the position of special adviser to act as a liaison between the Attorney General and myself and other Departments on items relevant to the programme for Government as well as to keep the Attorney General informed on items arising in the Dáil and Seanad or media which could impinge on, or be relevant to, the role of the Attorney...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He does not give legal advice to or provide legal services for the Attorney General. On behalf of the Attorney General, he monitors what is going on. The Attorney General cannot monitor what is happening in all Departments, keep in touch with the legislative programmes of all Ministers and with everything being dealt with by his office or monitor what is going on in the Dáil and Seanad. Mr....

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Attorney General's office is independent and, therefore, Mr. Deegan is not a political adviser in any form. He acts as a special assistant and liaises between the Attorney General, me and other Departments and colleagues on items that are relevant to the programme for Government. He also keeps the Attorney General informed on items arising in the Dáil, the Seanad, committees and the...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: That information would be available to the Attorney General but, in so far as advice or work on it is concerned, that is a matter solely for the Attorney General.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He provides no advice and is not involved in the preparation of any such advice. He, perhaps, would gather some information but he would have no role in the preparation of advice.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As far as I can recall, Mr. Deegan is the third appointment to this position. There may have been more appointments but Mr. Deegan is the third appointment I know of in this regard. Deputy Rabbitte makes the point that there is a necessity to appoint a liaison officer. Whether everything works perfectly at the end of the day is another matter. It is essential there is a person available to...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The reality is that management structures within the Attorney General's office, which brought together all sections of that office, have only been in place since Mr. Gleeson's time in office. That office was not technologically driven and the current form of legislation committee did not exist, nor did the link-back structures with the Departments. This House processes 50% more legislation...

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He reports only to the Attorney General. He is responsible to him, and any work he does is on behalf of the Attorney General. As part of the Government legislation committee, he reports to the Attorney General on any liaising he does.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Not normally.

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: He will have contact, but he does not have any involvement with the advice, and therefore legal agents would not——

Special Advisers. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: They have all those responsibilities, but with regard to the responsibilities in preparing legislation and dealing with advice they would not deal on legal matters other than with some of the legal officers and the Parliamentary Counsel people although they might deal with the individual concerned on administrative matters.

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: As a result of an examination by the Attorney General of recent court judgments on the delegation of legislative power, the Government has directed that each Department undertake an audit of the part of the Statute Book for which it has responsibility regarding delegations of legislative powers which may be affected by the decision of the Supreme Court of 27 January 2004, and the decision of...

Departmental Investigations. (30 Mar 2004)

Bertie Ahern: On the timing, the Departments were made aware that this was a matter of urgency. I hope their report to the Attorney General will be completed promptly. The Attorney General will then have to consider the extent to which changes will have to be made. It is his view that it is the prerogative of the legislature to solve any problem that currently exists by way of primary legislation. In other...