Kenny, EndaTuesday, 7 February 2012 |
Dáil Éireann Debate
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Leaders’ Questions
Deputy Martin is aware that there have been programmes over the years, involving every commentator in the land, about the bloated extent of the public service and the requirement to reduce overall num...
On top of that, there should be very active communication with the people about what is happening. The Deputy has rightly identified health as being of particular importance. He spoke about redeploym...
The Deputy is very good himself at saying things that never happened. If he just listened to what I said, he would have heard that the figures for those leaving in the sectors I mentioned only became...
——will be well aware of the process by which the change will be managed in every area throughout the country in respect of——-
The Deputy will recall the planning issue when he said he would give medical cards to those over 70.
The Deputy will recall that he agreed to give medical cards to every person over 70 years and he assumed this would be about 10,000 people. He miscalculated by 60,000 at least.
I think it is only right and proper that the Government should plan properly, based on the accuracy of figures which we now know and this is what is under intensive discussion here.
It will come before Cabinet next Tuesday. Transition teams will deal with the areas, now that we know the accuracy of the figures.
I understand Deputy Adams has a holiday cottage in Donegal but I am not sure if it is connected to the public sewerage scheme. I suggest the next time he is there he should have a look. I am quite s...
Any household can now register within the period at a cost of €5——
——and next year, when the inspections commence — má tá tú ag dul ag caint faoi shéarachas, beidh mé ag caint leatsa Mattie, in a minute. It is not a universal inspection as was proposed in the Fianna...
Deputy Adams will be aware, as the leader of his party, that his own members in Northern Ireland comply with and support charges that are very much in excess of what is being charged down here. This ...
In some cases these septic tanks were built on the borders and along the fringes of lakes and rivers where it is clear they could not function, given the status and structure implicit in those times.
This is the issue and I remind Deputy Adams it will not be at a cost of €20,000, €17,000 or €10,000. It will cost €5 to register and if a random inspection decides there is a requirement then the con...
On 29 October——
——2009 the European Court of Justice ruled against this country. This has been going on since then without any action being taken. The Minister set out clearly what it is that he intends to do. Som...
——the treatment of grey water, as it is called, whereby phosphates in washing detergent going into the system affect the working mechanism of a septic tank, and the issue of pipes leading to manholes.
Deputy Mattie McGrath knows all about that.
Even Deputy Mattie McGrath will understand that old-style septic tanks would overflow if they get filled.
There is also a requirement to keep down the level of unnecessary liquid and sediment going into the tank in the first place. The Minister set out the structure. There are no inspections until 2013....
Far from the evidence of the hysterical ranting of Deputy Mattie McGrath and Deputy Ó Cuív, this is a common sense approach——
——to a problem we have had for a long time in this country but have done nothing about. Deputy Martin’s party put forward the view that we could get a derogation to allow us to cut turf all over the p...
That is the kind of nonsense which prevailed for good Government and good governance in this country. In this case the Minister, Deputy Hogan, set it out clearly and reasonably. People in the countr...
——and this will be done at a normal cost.
I assure Deputy Dooley that if the system is not working——
——the answer is that under this requirement the owner of the septic tank will have to desludge it. That means they will have to get it pumped out and treated properly in a local authority works.
The Government has set out its plan for the development and introduction of a universal health insurance system which will apply at the end of the Government’s term of office. The Minister will publi...
The Deputy is aware that 1,433 staff left the health service in 2011. Transition teams are not going to turn up in Beaumont Hospital or any other hospital in the middle of the night and do what he su...
As a frequent visitor to observe what happens there, I am sure the Deputy is well aware that many of the patients do not need to go to an accident and emergency department with minor ailments in the f...
Ceisteanna — Questions (Resumed) - Appointments to State Boards
Was asked: if there have been any board appointments from his office in the recent past; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Was asked: if there have been any board appointments arising from his office recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Was asked: the board appointments from his office that have been made in the recent past; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. Details of the appointments I have made since coming into office on 9 March 2011 are set out in a table. The National Economic and Social...
I am very conscious of the requirement to maintain a gender balance and I try to meet it in the strongest way possible. I am glad to say a number of very competent and influential persons have been a...
Yes.
I will update the Deputy on the position.
I have set out the position on a number of occasions. The new arrangements provide that on their websites Departments have to invite expressions of interest from the public in vacancies on the boards...
The appointments to the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, were made by me following very careful consideration of the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise relevant to the functions of t...
Deputy Gerry Adams’s Question No. 3 asks about the board appointments from my office that were made in the recent past and that I make a statement on the matter. In response, I pointed out the appoin...
As Deputy Martin will be aware from his own experience, it is difficult enough to find people who want to put themselves in the public eye by chairing or participating in State boards. This is becaus...
In a number of cases, appointments recommended by the committee were from a list given to it by the Minister. These are matters that can be reflected on. We would like to reach a situation whereby t...
To where?
The Minister for Finance is considering all these matters. The Deputy will be aware that he responded to Deputy Adams in January in respect of appointments made by him as Minister and the Department ...
Ceisteanna — Questions (Resumed) - Official Engagements
Was asked: if he discussed with David Cameron the banking regulation in general and specifically the City of London and IFSC competitiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Was asked: if he raised the issue of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings with the British Prime Minister David Cameron at his meeting of 12 January 2012.
Was asked: if he raised the issue of the murder of human rights solicitor Pat Finucane during his meeting with the British Prime Minister David Cameron on 12 January 2012.
Was asked: if he will provide a report on his attendance at the British-Irish Council meeting on Friday 13 January 2012.
Was asked: the issues that were discussed and the outcomes of the most recent British-Irish Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Was asked: if he discussed with Mr. David Cameron the issue of the proposed financial transactions tax and the possible implications for the City of London and the IFSC; and if he will make a statement on the...
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 9, inclusive, together. As I stated in the House a few weeks ago, I met the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, on 12 January in London, at which time we discu...
I dealt separately with each issue in my response.
No problem.
The Deputy raised a number of important questions. The common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, is a subject of a paper prepared by the European Commission. Deputy Martin is aware the European...
No, we are not.
We are asserting that fact and we have made our position very clear. Since the day after I was appointed as Taoiseach by this House, I have resisted a great deal of pressure in the context of changes...
Deputy Adams and I can agree on this matter. Before he became a Member, the House agreed an all-party motion which was very clear in calling for a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. Tha...
It is very important to stress this point. I am not sure on the report about which the Deputy spoke and about what he gave to Mr. Tony Blair.
All of the facts, in so far as we know them, lead to the inescapable conclusion that there should be a public inquiry. I do not say this just as a public representative or as Taoiseach. The agreemen...
Deputy Boyd Barrett gets his weekly rush of excitement with the auld rant in a Second Stage speech.
An bhfuil an Teachta Mattie McGrath ag dul ag caint arís faoi shéarachas?
Tá sé ag dul ag caint faoi chúrsaí séarachais.
The question is to ask the Taoiseach if he discussed with Mr. Cameron the issue of the proposed financial transaction tax and the possible implications for the City of London and the IFSC——
——and if he will make a statement on the matter. That was a question.
It was not the subject of your speech.
The Deputy misunderstands the situation. I pointed out to Deputy Martin, in response to his valid question——
——that President Sarkozy said that he intends to introduce——
The point I was making was that President Sarkozy said he intends to introduce a financial transaction tax unilaterally in France. The same applies to any other country that wishes to do so. We have...
——with Prime Minister Cameron. The answer is “yes”. Did I discuss the possible implications for the City of London and the IFSC? The answer is “yes”. As was pointed out here before the Deputy came...
The Deputy seems to think that all of these people should be run out of this country with the way he goes on about austerity programmes in his usual rant every week.
That has neither relevance nor resonance in terms of people who are working and contributing to a €2.1 billion corporate tax payment to this country and payroll from the IFSC. The answer is “yes”. I...
——and does not apply in another. The Deputy has a very different view: play for nothing, work for nothing and come in here and rant day after day. I am not sure that he ever did a day’s work in his ...
The Deputy likes a bit of flexibility.
Order of Business
It is proposed to take No. 8, motion re proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Teaching Council Act 2001 (Amendment of Nominating Bodies) Order 2012, considered by the Joint Committee on Jobs, Socia...
I ask the Deputy to give me the details of the case to which he refers. If we set in train a system to provide answers to applications for medical cards, I do not understand the reason that cannot op...
I understand that in a lot of cases all of the elements of the application are not filled out and therefore are returned.
I want to help the Deputy. If he gives me the details of the chronically ill patient he referred to I will have it taken up directly with the Minister for Health. If the Deputy or one of his Members...
Yes, and there is no reason we cannot have a system now——
——that operates smoothly, competently and professionally.
I would like to see that happen with the applications for all medical cards. Some may be granted and some may be refused but that does not mean the system should not operate effectively.
It is not the only problem we have come across in health, Deputy Martin. Let us see if we can fix it. It is not the only problem we have come across in this system or across the structure of health ...
I was in Cork last weekend and this matter had come to a conclusion the night before I arrived. I commended all those who had put up their money to see if that proposal would work. There were a smal...
The Cabinet approved this morning the appointment of 33 senior personnel and I expect that the Commissioner, in looking at the rostering arrangements and appointments to different localities around th...
In respect of the personal insolvency Bill and the implementation of the Keane report, the Minister for Finance outlined in some detail the schedule ahead for that. The heads of the personal insolven...
This request was made a few weeks ago and we had a special debate on the HSE and the situation in the health services in the House last week. I do not see why we cannot have evidence from Deputies of...
If there is a system in place, it should operate and the people who apply for medical cards should get an answer as to whether they are entitled to them or not, but they should not be left in limbo. ...
I can inform the Deputy that the first Bill he raised is due in May 2012. I do not have a date for the bail Bill to which he referred.
I did not say the Minister has published details plans in respect of universal health insurance. I said it is the intention of the Government to introduce a universal health insurance system at the e...
That was dealt with and the medical card problem will be dealt with as well. There is a difference between not getting a medical card and being granted one. The system that operates should be profes...
That Bill is due late this year. I can confirm that I did meet representatives of the union and workers at Vita Cortex last week in Cork. I found them to be a very real and honest group of people, a...
The Finance Bill will be published later this week and the Deputy will have an opportunity to comment on it then.
A new emigration Bill?
I am not aware of the publication of any new immigration Bill.
The Minister for Finance is well aware of these two issues, which are of considerable importance to our economy. We recognise the scale of what is going on here. I advise the Deputy to wait until th...
Written Answers - Official Travel
Was asked: if a date regarding his trip to China has been agreed yet; the programme content; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Government attaches great importance to developing our trade and bilateral links with our Asian partners and in particular with China. I hope to travel to China later this year. Our Embassy is fo...
Written Answers - Job Losses
Was asked: the key sectors of the economy in which jobs have been lost since the first quarter of 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers - Departmental Bodies
Was asked: if he will issue a breakdown of the remuneration packages in place for chief executive officers of all semi-State companies as of 27 January 2011, specifying in detail any bonus, pension, expenses ar...
The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) is the only State Agency under the aegis of my Department. The NESDO was established under the NESDO Act 2006 and is the body corporate for...
Written Answers - Income Statistics
Was asked: the reason there was more than a two-year time lag when the Central Statistics Office issued county incomes and regional GDP for 2009 in view of the fact that this statistical release was issued on t...
Written Answers - Constitutional Convention
Was asked: if he would indicate when the constitutional convention will take place; and the form he envisages it will take.
Was asked: the issues which will be examined and debated through the constitutional convention; and if civil marriage for citizens who are gay or lesbian will be on the agenda for debate and subsequent introduc...
I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 108 together. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to establish a Constitutional Convention and indicates areas for it to examine, including the ...
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