Results 481-500 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, has given me a report on the incident. The IBTS entered into an agreement with the New York Blood Centre, NYBC, for the provision of a data query tool last October. The purpose of the data warehousing reporting tool is to improve the existing IBTS blood banking system computer, which is called Progresa. The issue the IBTS was trying to deal with...

Leaders' Questions (20 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On the evening of 7 February, an NYBC staff member was mugged outside his home in New York and the laptop issued to him by the centre containing these encrypted files was stolen. While the police have been notified and an investigation into the robbery is ongoing, the laptop has not been recovered. The IBTS and the NYBC are very concerned about the theft and the IBTS informed the Data...

Written Answers — Information Society Commission: Information Society Commission (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Information Society Commission's Content Advisory Group was established in May 1999 to look at the content industry in Ireland and the potential for Ireland to act as an international centre for the industry. The Group held its first meeting on 11 May 1999 and its final meeting on 4 October 1999. The 18 members of the Group were appointed by the Information Society Commission and...

Written Answers — Population Statistics: Population Statistics (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following table. Population of Dublin Garda Districts (source: Census 2006) Dublin Garda District Population Pearse Street 16,684 Kevin Street 49,047 Donnybrook 50,831 Crumlin 51,356 Tallaght 131,427 Terenure 51,895 Santry 57,179 Coolock 121,626 Raheny 83,372 Blanchardstown 141,640 Lucan 76,917 Clondalkin 66,905 Store...

Written Answers — Percent for Art Scheme: Percent for Art Scheme (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: No drawdowns have been made by my Department between 2002 and 2008 in respect of the percent for arts scheme.

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: No capital projects have been funded by my Department from 2002 to date in 2008 and consequently there were no cases in which the percent for arts grant applied.

Written Answers — Financial Management Systems: Financial Management Systems (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: My Department's financial management system is Oracle Financials which was supplied by Oracle EMEA Limited. The annual maintenance cost associated with this system in 2008 is €30,184. In February 2008, the operation of this system was transferred to the Financial Shared Service Centre in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which will be responsible for maintenance of this...

Written Answers — Travel Schedule: Travel Schedule (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: On 10 February, I travelled to Manchester by Government Jet where I had a meeting with the British Prime Minister. The Prime Minister and I also attended the event at Old Trafford to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster. I later attended an Irish Community Reception at the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester before returning to Dublin that evening. While there, I met...

Written Answers — Tourism Sector: Tourism Sector (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The information requested by the Deputy is not available. Extensive statistics on employment and Tourism are compiled by the CSO. However sectoral data are compiled using the NACE classification, which is the standard EU classification for economic activity. Due to the fragmented and diverse nature of tourism, it is not identified as a sector within the classification. In order to estimate...

Written Answers — Equity Stakes: Equity Stakes (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: My Department does not hold an equity stake in any company.

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I have consistently called on the British Government to cooperate fully with inquiries which were established in this jurisdiction into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. Both the Barron Inquiry and the Commission of Investigation in their reports commented on the reluctance of the British authorities to provide access to original documentation on security grounds. I regret that such...

Written Answers — Regulatory Authorities: Regulatory Authorities (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I understand that this question is being answered individually by all Ministers. My own Department does not have responsibility for any such regulators or regulatory bodies.

Order of Business (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I will speak on the legislation but I did not blame the prison officers. I gave that answer to the Deputy twice. I said that it was an industrial relations issue which had been resolved. The Deputy has a point about the prison development Bill because I understand there are only two heads to it. I will inquire about it.

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The Government for the past ten years, as Deputy Kenny has said, has continued both to put in more buses — we have 1,100 more buses on the road — and we have continued on certain routes to allow additional licences for private operators. We are committed to seeing the further expansion and enhancement of public bus services. We want to see a top class service delivered to all citizens....

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: We will amend the Transport Act 1932 in line with the Dublin transport authority Bill. The Deputy is obviously very happy with what is there at the moment but we are not so happy with it.

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: We will do that with the Opposition's wholehearted support. Therefore the Dublin transport authority Bill will be coming before the House, while the proposed amendment of the 1932 legislation is also under discussion.

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: Three points have been raised and I will try not to confuse what is a simple issue. The Dublin transport authority Bill will be before the House shortly. The Bill is almost ready and will deal with a number of important things including responsibility for the allocation of Exchequer funds, which will give the DTA power to ensure the delivery of priority transport projects. It will have...

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: In regard to the figures published yesterday, many of the tests referred to were carried out on prisoners who had just been committed and relate to drug use prior to imprisonment. That should be highlighted.

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: I will explain. It is only since last October that prison staff have the power to carry out random mandatory drug tests on prisoners. This was not previously available and drug testing was, therefore, primarily targeted at those prisoners suspected of taking drugs or who had a known history of drug misuse. The figures should not be taken as an indicator of drug misuse across the wider...

Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2008)

Bertie Ahern: The figures are not representative of all prisoners. Some 500 prisoners are on supervised methadone maintenance programmes at any one time. These prisoners are initially tested at least twice weekly and tend to be tested in any case, even if they have been in prison for some time, at least once a week. This amounts to some 30,000 tests. Thus, the figures include the tests that take place...