Results 281-300 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: The Bill is being introduced in the Seanad today. While I did not hear directly what Deputy Fahey said, he made the point on the basis of being able to call the election at an appropriate time. As a Government, we are setting out a substantive legislative programme for the greater part of this session. This work needs to be completed and runs in parallel with an expeditious conducting of...
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: As I explained, we have to do this work. The NAMA (amendment) Bill must be enacted under the IMF-EU programme by the end of the first quarter. The Oireachtas has responsibilities which it must discharge in the interests of the people. An election will be called at some point in the spring. Everyone would regard that as a responsible and sensible arrangement.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: That was a wonderful flight of rhetoric. To bring Deputy Gilmore back to the facts, the budget must be enacted to give legislative effect-----
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: And other bills related to the budget. These bills are budget related and are part of the budget. The social welfare (miscellaneous provisions) Bill is part of the budget. Deputy Gilmore has a foolish argument-----
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: This is a process that will be undertaken. Those Bills will be taken when we are dealing with the finance Bill, which was completed last year on 6 April. The indicative timeframe at the moment is the end of February. Whether it is the end of February or the first week of March is a matter to be decided in terms of what work must be done. I have indicated that work must be done on civil...
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: The legislation to which Deputy Gilmore referred is part of the Government programme and will be accommodated as a parliamentary priority within the framework of implementing the finance Bill, which is one of the four Bills for the implementation of the budget.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: We must implement the legislation and maintain the agreed programme. The four-year programme will now be implemented. It is all very well talking about programmes and their necessity but we must implement them. We must use the period ahead productively for the purposes of implementing necessary legislation for this country in 2011.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: That must be done and will be done. We have set out priorities. Some Bills have yet to be published. The finance Bill will be published next week. The list is not exhaustive and gives an indication of the busy legislative session the Oireachtas will engage in over the coming period. That is the sensible way to do business.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: It is a question of doing the business necessary to implement the budget that the Deputy has consistently opposed.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: He opposes everything.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: The Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, will consult with spokespersons on the opposite side regarding a wording which has been approved by the Government for the purpose of engaging in such consultation, and convey the results to the Government. Much excellent work has been done over the last two and a half years. The proposal introduced by the...
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: We intend to bring it to the attention of spokespersons. It was brought to the Government this week and it is now a matter for the Minister of State.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: As the Deputy knows, the all-party Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children did a lot of work on this, and the Minister of State responsible has introduced what I believe is a good proposal-----
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: -----which has been approved by the Government and will now be the subject of discussion with party spokespersons. I am not saying the spokespersons were consulted during the course of the work that was done within the Government, but the Minister of State will talk to them and others about it now.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: It is not a priority in the legislative work programme. With regard to the Bills mentioned in the work programme, the Chief Whip mentioned in the first paragraph that the Government was "setting out our legislative priorities for publication and enactment in advance of the election later in the spring". He was simply pointing out that priority is being given to the finance Bill and related...
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: The usual Shatter-esque fiction. The clever boy at the front of the class.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: The Deputy should not be kicked out on the first day, for God's sake.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: That must be one of the Deputy's Bills.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: That is not true. The so-called simple little problem raised by the Supreme Court was in fact the transfer of money, which is a big problem.
- Departmental Staff (12 Jan 2011)
Brian Cowen: Other issues were also raised by the court, although they were not part of its judgment and no opinions were given. It has been suggested that there is just one little problem that needed to be resolved, and which should have been resolved in the last year or two. However, to bring forward the legislative proposal would probably involve a further court challenge by competitors in the market...