Bruton, JohnWednesday, 8 October 1997 |
Dáil Éireann Debate
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Order of Business.
Where is that stated on the Order of Business?
When is it proposed to bring forward the Equal Status Bill on which much work was done by the previous Government? The Bill was referred to the Supreme Court because some constitutional deficiencies w...
Is the Bill a priority?
A decision has not been made yet?
It was suggested that one had been made.
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Luxembourg European Council.
Does the Taoiseach anticipate that there will be a proposal for adding to the number of six countries that have already been identified as ones with which negotiations will be opened when the EU leade...
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Accountancy Qualifications.
Asked the minister: if he will elaborate on his reported remarks when he met a delegation from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy recently.
Would the Taoiseach agree there should be at least one qualified accountant working in the field in each Government Department?
It is dealt with in the answer to Question No. 3.
Nomination of Member of Government: Motion.
Is the Taoiseach speaking for Deputy Harney. (Interruptions.)
A lost sheep.
Who leaked it — was it not a member of the Taoiseach's party?
I congratulate Deputy Andrews on his appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has a loud voice, as we could hear yesterday, and I have no doubt it will be useful to him in some of the meetings...
The Deputy's party did not win the last election. (Interruptions.)
The party did not increase its vote. It only hobbled into office with the aid of the Progressive Democrats.
The Taoiseach has known for many months, if not for many years, about all the matters which brought former Deputy Ray Burke under pressure in recent weeks. He conducted at least six investigations th...
The Taoiseach appears to have forgotten that.
It is common knowledge that a string of Progressive Democrats sources said last Saturday that the former Minister, Mr. Burke would have to resign. The Drumcondra summit on Monday morning was only a f...
We know the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, did the digging on former Deputy Burke.
Are other Ministers involved in investigating each other? Did the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, help the Taoiseach in his inquiries into the former Minister's invo...
Being Taoiseach involves making timely decisions based on the information available. The reality is that perfect knowledge is unattainable as is perfect proof. Decisions must be made using a combina...
The Taoiseach had all the knowledge he needed but none of the judgment to apply it. This is the only reason Mr. Burke had to endure such a painful and prolonged process over the past month or so. Reg...
As long as they continue, will the country not continue——
As long as those who operated——
As long as the Ministers remain in office——
As long as Ministers who were involved in sustaining and defending repeatedly the Haughey system of Government remain as members of the Cabinet, will the country not continue to sit on the edge of its...
Is that the type of Government the country really needs as we enter the new millennium?
I will now deal with the Taoiseach's remarks and his heavy and excessive reliance on Deputy Owen's comments last night. She said there was no evidence of corruption or wrongdoing in the context of cor...
She did not say that there was nothing seriously wrong. In fact, much was seriously wrong — passports issued on foot of illegible signatures, issued before people were actually citizens and passports...
One might say they are just procedures, but that is not the case. They are rules put in place to protect the State from corruption and unwise decisions in the granting of passports. Under law the Min...
The Taoiseach, Deputy Ahern, knew this. He knew his own involvement in sustaining Mr. Haughey; he knew how serious these breaches could be in that context. There is no evidence of corruption on the ...
I will deal with a number of points made by the Taoiseach if the Minister, Deputy Woods, will behave as befits his high academic standing.
The Taoiseach said that the internal Department of Justice report on the issue of the Mahfouz family passports was leaked to the media in pursuit of a political agenda. I take it then that the Taoise...
Who leaked it? The Taoiseach said it was leaked for a political agenda.
I challenge the Taoiseach to state who leaked it because neither I nor Deputy Owen had anything to do with leaking it. If the Taoiseach knows, he should say who leaked it. We have had enough innuendo...
I want to turn to another matter.
That is, he says that I on this side of the House bayed, in the last few days, for Deputy Burke's head. That is not true.
When asked about that, I said: This is not a matter now about Ray Burke at all because it is quite clear that the Taoiseach knew all of this before he appointed Ray Burke. The issue does not centre on...
In my statement I also said: “It would be unfair to scapegoat Deputy Burke for things the Taoiseach knew about all along.”
It is sad that a party like Fianna Fáil has sunk to the level that it cannot accept responsibility for its own acts. We have a situation where the elected Leader of Fianna Fáil has a habit of trying ...
—in one of the least attractive speeches I have heard from a Taoiseach in recent years. It was full of attempting to shift the blame elsewhere for his own vacillation. The Taoiseach should realise i...
Adjournment Debate. - Trim (Meath) School.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter. The people of Trim have been requesting a new boys' secondary school for the past 15 years. As Taoiseach I was delighted, with the c...
I will follow up on this matter.
Written Answers. - Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995.
Asked the minister: the plans, if any, he has for an Ethics Commission.
Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.
Asked the minister: the plans, if any, he has for the staff employed in the Office of the Tánaiste which the Government proposes to abolish.
| Last Updated: 21/05/2011 03:24:05 |
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