Results 12,181-12,200 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 114: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the timescale he envisages for the implementation of the proposals of the recent international conference on cluster munitions held in Dublin. [23521/08]

Dáil Sittings: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I thank all Members who contributed to the debate tonight and last night. The motion proposed by the Labour Party is that this year, given the enormous problems into which the country is now facing, Dáil Éireann should not go into recess for three months but should continue to sit up to the end of July and resume again in early September. In response to the motion, the Government...

Dáil Sittings: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I compared this with the Green Party's manifesto which stated it would seek to double the number of Dáil sitting days. This would amount to approximately 180 sitting days per annum. By my calculations, at the rate of three days extra per year, the Green Party commitment would be met in or around 2038, by which time we should be carbon neutral.

Dáil Sittings: Motion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: The Labour Party has long argued that the summer recess is far too long. Against the background of the current situation in which the country finds itself, namely, the economic challenges we face, the fact that unemployment has now reached more than 200,000, an 8% increase in food prices in the past year, record high prices for petrol and diesel and associated problems of fuel poverty, the...

Order of Business (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I wish to raise three matters with the Taoiseach. First, the Government, in response to the Labour Party's Private Members' motion, which will be considered later, has offered to extend the Dáil sitting by a week, from 7 July to 11 July. Will there be Leaders' Questions and written and oral parliamentary questions during that week, as is normal practice? Yesterday, the Minister for the...

Order of Business (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Deputy Cullen was in great humour in the Chamber last night but wherever he went afterwards, he is in foul humour this morning.

Order of Business (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: It also caught my eye that none of the three Green Party Ministers was in the Chamber last night for the division. Given the pressure the Government was under last night, should we read any significance into it?

Lisbon Treaty: Statements. (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I wish to share time with Deputy Joan Burton.

Lisbon Treaty: Statements. (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Last Thursday a majority of Irish voters chose to reject the Lisbon treaty. That is the decision of the referendum. The Lisbon treaty has been rejected, and that decision must be respected. The Labour Party campaigned vigorously for a "Yes" vote because we believed the treaty was an important step forward in creating a progressive and democratic Europe that would better address the needs of...

Lisbon Treaty: Statements. (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I strongly supported the treaty and with my colleagues in the Labour Party, I stand over every statement we made about it. I believed there were substantial benefits for Ireland, and for Labour's vision of a social Europe, to be had from a "Yes" vote. We placed particular emphasis on the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European treaties and if I might make one comment...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I want the Taoiseach to picture a primary school. Looking at a primary school in this country today, the first thing that would strike him is the number of prefabs. There is a clutter of prefabs in school yards, as well as prefab extensions. Sometimes the entire school is a prefab. The Labour Party spokesperson on education, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, had been asking the previous Minister for...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Does he agree that there is now a solution to this problem? We know there is a downturn in residential construction. We are being told that by the end of 2009 something like 65,000 jobs will have been lost in this sector, so there is now a capacity to build schools. Now that there is a slowdown in residential construction, which has the same skill set as that required for the building of...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: I asked the Taoiseach a very simple question, which I thought was not that difficult to answer. I asked him about pre-fabs and primary schools. However, he talked about primary and secondary schools, teachers, hedge schools——

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: ——anything to hedge away from giving an answer.

Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: There is a very simple problem here. Some 40,000 children go to school in pre-fab buildings, which is not acceptable to anybody. We all understand that a temporary situation can arise in any school which can be met by having a pre-fab for a year or two while an extension is being built or whatever. However, the problem is that many of these pre-fabs are in effect the permanent schools. We...

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (17 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 101: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will publish his cost benefit analysis on the recently announced new tranche of public private partnerships for the National Roads Authority's national road maintenance and building programmes; the amount the new round of PPPs will cost; if projected savings through the PPP programme will be reallocated to the repair of secondary and...

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (17 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 145: To ask the Minister for Transport if he has been briefed by the National Roads Authority on the status of the roll out of the network of motorway rest and service areas on the national urban road system; the target completion date and location for the first group of rest and service areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23287/08]

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (17 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: Question 191: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of public bodies here and so on who have been fined or had penalties imposed on them in the past three years; the cost related to them for non-compliance with EU and Irish tendering legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22731/08]

Dáil Sittings: Motion (17 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: It is proposed in the motion that Dáil Éireann should not adjourn for the summer recess until 24 July at the earliest and return in early September. The country faces four major problems, the first of which is the economy. Once the pride of Europe and the envy of the world, the economy is now heading towards recession. In the past year unemployment has risen by the highest numbers in 40...

Dáil Sittings: Motion (17 Jun 2008)

Eamon Gilmore: We have already seen some of these cuts taking place. I refer to the decision not to proceed with and the delay in proceeding with services for the homeless. We have seen people with disabilities unable to get the carers they were promised 12 months ago. We are already seeing that those who are least able to bear the pain and those who should be least asked to bear the pain are the first...