Results 21-40 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

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.

Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: It is also a major subject of debate in the WTO round, which is continuing. Deputy Sargent is incorrect to say we voted in a blanket way on a particular position at EU level. That was not the case. Attempts were made to try to put controls in place on a specific position, but that did not work. The alternatives that were proposed were not accepted and there was no compromise. The EU position...

Order Of Business. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Order of Business today shall be as follows: No. 14, European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill 2003 — Second Stage (resumed) and No. 14a, statements on the Third Interim Report of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse, to be taken on the adjournment of Private Members' Business. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the Dáil shall sit later than...

Order Of Business. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The Government tries its best to avoid guillotining legislation, but at times Bills become urgent for different reasons. At present, there are a few Bills which have deadlines for being moved forward procedurally.

Order Of Business. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: It is not always possible to have them ready in advance; one must wait for certain developments. Some of the issues arise from court decisions and new legislation must be introduced.

Order Of Business. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: The European Parliament Elections (Amendment) Bill, which is before the House, arises from the report of the independent Laffan commission. Everybody knows the result of the commission report. As far as I can recall, we have never amended a commission report. We can discuss it if we wish, but it will not change it.

Order Of Business. (3 Feb 2004)

Bertie Ahern: This work was given to the independent commission precisely because of the view that politicians should not do it. We can discuss it. We can say Clare should be in Leinster and discuss it all night but Clare——