Results 1,081-1,100 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Bill is listed for priority drafting. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment informed me yesterday that it should be published this session.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The only question the Deputy asked that was in order related to the HIQA Bill. A further amendment has been drafted in respect of that legislation, which is due to be published next year.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I will bring Deputy Barrett's comments to the attention of the relevant Minister.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: No.

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The purpose of the family law Bill is to make provision for pension adjustment in the context of separation agreements and certain other reforms in family law. The draft heads are in preparation and the legislation is listed to be published next year. The heads of the alcohol products (control of advertising, sponsorship, marketing practices/sales promotions) Bill have been approved. The...

Order of Business (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I am sure the relevant Minister would love to provide a detailed answer in that regard.

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: What I said in February was in the context of my statement that all young people should not be portrayed as being involved in drugs. To brand all young people with being involved with drugs would be disrespectful to the huge number of young, responsible people, both teenagers and those of a slightly younger age who are not involved with drugs. Last week, I outlined my view in a very good...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Deputy raised two points. On the first, it is always very difficult to determine how much of the drugs are confiscated by law enforcement agencies and how much of the drugs come into any jurisdiction. I do not have a precise figure. In so far as there is a figure, the UN report states that 40% of the output of cocaine is intercepted. That is the only meaningful figure, 40%, but the...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I am talking about the heart of the inner city. I had a problem with the drugs issue in 1984 when nobody else in the country had hardly heard of drugs. I am talking about drugs in communities.

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It is not the perception. The perception is that people try to portray that it is far more widespread than it is. It is a problem and we are not denying that.

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Under the strategy, the Garda national drug unit is co-ordinating large-scale operations against drug dealing and trafficking. Additional assistance is being made available from specialised Garda support units. The Government has given considerable resources to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Criminal Assets Bureau because...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Obviously, I will not dispute the figures provided in reply to a parliamentary question. The Deputy stated that the total figure for warrants is approximately 111,000, including some 36,000 bench warrants. I regularly see figures relating to the number of people who evade warrants on a weekly basis, which is a very small number. With regard to the Deputy's figures, I do not know how the...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: Anything that tidies up the system would improve it. However, I do not want to give the impression that when bench warrants are issued, a significant proportion of those for whom they are issued do not turn up. From security briefings and from following Northern issues, I know they may not always turn up at the prescribed time but they do turn up. I do not have the figure for those who are...

Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: It also applies to the bench warrants.

Written Answers — Departmental Publications: Departmental Publications (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: The Department of the Taoiseach's Annual Report 2006 was presented to Government in April 2007. The Annual Report was subsequently published simultaneously in Irish and English, as required by the Official Languages Act, and copies were supplied to both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 150, 152 and 153 together. My Department has not carried out a study of opening hours of the public offices under its control. However, the Deputy will be aware that access to public services and choice in how those services are delivered (including opening) are two of the core principles of the Quality Customer Service Initiative. My Department uses...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: While my Department has a relatively low level of interaction with the general public and the business sector, we encourage feedback via our Customer Service Feedback form. This is available on the Department of the Taoiseach website — www.taoiseach.gov.ie. This facility offers customers an on-line option for submitting: Business queries; Website suggestions; Customer complaints; and...

Written Answers — Departmental Records: Departmental Records (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: My Department wipes the information off all hard drives of redundant information technology equipment using a specialist software product. In addition to this, the hard drives are removed from all information technology equipment prior to being sent for destruction. These hard drives are retained in a secure location in my Department at present awaiting supervised physical destruction in the...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: There are four Press Officers currently employed in my Department. The same number were employed in my Department in 2002. None of the agencies reporting to my Department employ Press Officers.

Written Answers — Departmental Websites: Departmental Websites (4 Dec 2007)

Bertie Ahern: One podcast was made available to members of the public for download from my Department's main website (www.taoiseach.gov.ie) in May 2007. This dealt with my address to the Joint Houses of Parliament in Westminster and there were 413 downloads in the month following its publication. The Government Press Office continually monitors developments in communications technology and may use...