Results 1,141-1,160 of 1,279 for speaker:Michael Ahern

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: This is a technical amendment that deletes superfluous words. Amendment agreed to. Section 14, as amended, agreed to. Sections 15 to 17, inclusive, agreed to. NEW SECTION.

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: Section 1 is moved to this new section and this is required by convention in a short Bill.

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I am not in a position to accept the amendment, having regard to legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General. First, as the payment of a statutory redundancy lump sum is a legal requirement on employers, it could not be imposed on them with retrospective effect. Employers are entitled to due notice of intention to legally require them to pay enhanced rates. Second, the new redundancy...

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I will bring the points raised by the Senator to the attention of the Tánaiste.

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I can only comment on the basis of the information provided to me that the Tánaiste, at that meeting, advised the people concerned that she would use her best endeavours – that she would do what she could – to help the situation of those being laid off. The Senator's colleague, Senator John Phelan, who attended that particular meeting, stated earlier this afternoon that he was under the...

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: As Deputy McGuinness did not comment on the matter in my presence, I do not know what he said. I have no doubt that if Senator John Phelan was confident that he had heard the Tánaiste promise retrospection, he would be leaping up and down and thumping the table. He did not do that; the stated that he was only "under the impression".

Seanad: Redundancy Payments Bill, 2003: Committee and Remaining Stages. (14 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I have been informed that she did not.

Seanad: Adjournment Matter. - Schools Building Projects. (13 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity of outlining to the House the current position of the Department of Education and Science on the proposed acquisition of a site for Charleville national school, Tullamore, County Offaly. The Minister for Education and Science decided to publish the 2003 schools building programme on the departmental website to give the maximum amount of...

Seanad: Adjournment Matter. - Schools Building Projects. (13 May 2003)

Michael Ahern: I will convey the Senator's concerns to the Minister. The Seanad adjourned at 7.10 p.m. until 12.30p.m. on Wednesday, 14 May 2003.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (16 Apr 2003)

Michael Ahern: I would like first to declare an interest and at this stage a non-interest, in that I am retired from my auditing and accountancy profession – just in case anyone would attack me afterwards. I am very pleased to bring this Bill before the House. The origins of the Bill can be traced back to the report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Dáil Eireann of December 1999 which recommended,...

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (16 Apr 2003)

Michael Ahern: Former interests.

Seanad: Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003: Second Stage. (16 Apr 2003)

Michael Ahern: I thank Senators for their contributions to this debate in which many interesting points have been raised, of which I will address as many as possible in the time remaining to me. First, I wish to stress that the purpose of the Bill is to promote a culture of corporate compliance in Ireland. I wish to reassure Senators Coughlan and Leyden in relation to their concerns about impositions on...

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2003: Second Stage. (27 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this important Bill to the Seanad. The Bill is designed primarily to provide a legislative basis for the granting of full labour market access to nationals of the EU accession states after accession takes place in May 2004. From the date of accession, nationals of these countries will no longer require employment permits to work in Ireland. It...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Air Services. (13 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: As the Senator is aware, Aer Rianta has statutory responsibility for the management, operation and development of State airports, including Cork Airport which is now in existence for over 40 years. The number of passengers, in the first full year of operation following the official opening of the airport by the then Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, on 16 October 1961, totalled 78,000. The airport has...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Company Closures. (13 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I learnt with grave disappointment of the decision by TexTech Limited to cease production at its Kilkenny facility with the loss of 75 jobs. I understand that closure will take place on a phased basis over the next few weeks TexTech Industries is a privately owned US company headquartered in Portland, Maine. It is involved in...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: At present there can be a refusal to confirm or deny, for example, in relation to Cabinet records under section 19, for legal privilege under section 22, for security reasons under section 23 or for law enforcement reasons under section 24. The provision covering those areas is invoked subject to oversight by the Information Commissioner. The requester is to be informed he or she is being...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: They are. Question put and agreed to. SECTION 7.

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I regret that I cannot accept the amendment as its effect would be to diminish the protection contained in section 7 against requests involving a substantial and unreasonable interference with the work of a public body as opposed to other work. The use of the term "other work" in this context has the potential to set the threshold much too high. It is correct that a substantial and...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: This provision has not been invoked often. However, when it is invoked the public body in question must consult the requester and ask him or her to narrow down the scope of the request before it can be refused. From experience, requesters who make voluminous requests generally agree to narrow down the scope of their requests following consultation with the relevant public body. On the...

Seanad: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (12 Mar 2003)

Michael Ahern: I will not accept this amendment as it would mean that a clear pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests from a single requester or a group of requesters acting in concert could not constitute grounds for refusal. The need for such protection was adequately demonstrated by the Minister for Finance in his speech to the House on Second Stage, when he drew attention to the example of a...