Results 10,421-10,440 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: There can be no fast-tracking this issue. It has already taken five years to get the process to this stage. Deputies may want quick public inquiries, but if there is one thing I have learned in almost seven years as Taoiseach, it is that there is no such thing. Deputies will find this situation no different. We may not get anywhere quickly but we should receive the committee's report quickly...

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I am aware of everything Mr. Justice Barron has said and of all the meetings which were set up. I have already answered questions on those matters. I am also aware that some people who have contributed to the public hearings have made comments on the issue of a public inquiry and on the form such an inquiry might take. There are serious, complex issues involved and the sub-committee's...

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I am sorry if I did not make that clear. I thought I did. When it became clear some years ago, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, instituted a full examination and investigation in the Department while the Garda Commissioner carried out an examination of Garda files. They did not uncover the whereabouts of the files. It was not established how, why or...

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I have answered this question already. I based this judgment on a far more difficult decision when we came to the Bloody Sunday tribunal, and Prime Minister Blair, against the advice of everybody in his administration and elsewhere, pressed ahead to set up the inquiry. On another terrible incident the Government, through a former chief justice, made a similar request of him. The Deputy is...

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: This was a call made by the justices, based on the information supplied by those who responded to them. They spent several years on this and I am sure they interviewed as many people as they could. I cannot say what information or evidence Mr. Donlon would have had. However, it was open to people to submit statements and many did so. Even people living abroad who were not interviewed...

Dublin-Monaghan Bombings. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I opposed the war last year. MI5 or MI6 information would have nothing to do with Northern Ireland. We do not talk to MI5 or MI6 and I do not have any great information on them. The Deputy asked about the international element of the inquiry and by and large we were satisfied with the arrangements for the Bloody Sunday inquiry. From the Government's perspective, the Justice Cory inquiry has...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny raised two issues. On the first one, I join him, as I am sure does everyone in the House, in expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of Frances Sheridan who died in the past few days. To respect the privacy of the family, I will not go into the specific circumstances of the case at this time. I understand that the State Pathologist has conducted a post-mortem, the results...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Every day, the Government, the Minister for Health and Children, his Department, the health boards, and almost 100,000 people who work in the health service try to do precisely what Deputy Kenny has requested. If he is asking if we will continue to do this and provide resources of €10.5 billion, much of which is being used to improve infrastructure in the health service, we will continue to...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Anything Mr. Justice Ryan or his commission requires will hopefully be made available to assist him because that is what we want to do. Since the establishment of the commission, 16 discovery orders have been made to the Department, 12 of which were delivered within the timeframes provided. In the case of six of those, extensions of time were granted by the commission. The difficulties...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I have answered the question. I have answered the question on discovery orders.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I will answer Deputy Quinn. I was asked whether I would assist in discovery for Mr. Justice Ryanand I said that I would. I went on to say that all the other 16 discoveries were dealt with. I was not asked any other question.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I am now highlighting the issue of more resources, and this was also an issue highlighted in the report. Mr. Justice Ryan clearly states in his report that the legislation was overly ambitious, and this is the reason it was necessary to undertake reviews. Everybody accepted the fact that, if the commission were to continue as it was, it would not have produced a final report for at least ten...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I will not agree with Deputy Rabbitte on this matter and he will not agree with me. I have a view that is contrary to his. Deputy Rabbitte's view is that the State should force these cases through to their finality——

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I could resolve the issue with absolute certainty by proceeding through the courts with the thousands of cases and there would be absolute certainty of where the blame lay.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I was not prepared to do that.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: I was not prepared to do that. We sought a way of making an apology to the victims, of finding a commission to process it——

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: ——and to come to an agreement on what was a fair contribution. Whether Deputy Rabbitte likes it or not, in many cases the State put children into institutions where there was no proper inspection, control or accountability.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The State in this case is under an obligation. Over a long period of time, we sought to take a substantial amount of resources from religious institutions, but the State made the decisions, and we were right in what we did. Trying to jump off a few religious organisations and make them bankrupt is a deplorable act and that is really what Deputy Rabbitte is about.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The position is that the ban still applies. The Irish Presidency will try to achieve consensus on this issue, but I understand from the Minister that this is unlikely to happen. Different countries have opposing views on this issue and are unlikely to come together in the short term or even the medium term. Countries have differing perspectives on this matter. The Irish Government position is...

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Sargent is aware that three issues are at stake in this regard, but I will provide details for the information of the House. This matter has been a major source of contention between the US and Europe for some years. Discussions on the issue have continued and will continue in that context.