A round-up of other Ardfheis news in brief
Banks to swap top staff with State bodies
Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks are to swap senior staff with Enterprise Ireland and other State agencies to improve services to Irish firms, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan told the ardfheis.
Banks, she said, have admitted “that they have lost much of their business acumen” in the last 10 years when they concentrated on funding development.
“I want our indigenous enterprises to know that we are working hard to address their concerns, as it is in all of our interests that they survive the downturn,” she said.
‘Many positives’ in health service
Fianna Fáil local election candidates and canvassers should be “inspired by the many positives” in the health service, Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews said.
He rejected a “last resort” appeal at the ardfheis for retention of cancer treatment services at Sligo General Hospital, and said the policy on centres of excellence was based on the party’s platform of “people before politics”.
He said “the most radical reform” of the service was “well advanced”, and while very slow it had “made huge differences to people’s lives”.
Cllr Joe Whelan from Sligo/North Leitrim had appealed for retention of the “excellent cancer service” in Sligo General Hospital. Mr Andrews accepted that “people are reassured by having a local service” but “it doesn’t mean being local that you’re going to be safe”.
Porridge instead of fine dining
People used to fine dining might end up “doing porridge” instead arising from the investigations into irregularities in the financial institutions.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said “no one is above the law” and said people could not be brought to justice in hours or days, as the Opposition claimed.
Due process was there to ensure people “pay for their crimes”, and if this meant “some people used to dining in fancy restaurants end up doing porridge instead, then so be it”.
Seven million expected to visit
At least seven million tourists are expected to visit Ireland this year despite the downturn, Minister for Tourism Martin Cullen said.
He said “we can go into the doom and gloom but remember this: we will spend in this country in this coming year €54 billion across all sectors – record spending even by comparison to three or four years ago”.
He defended Government support for the horse and greyhound racing industries, which employ 27,500 people.
No army means no conscription
No Irish citizen can be conscripted into a European army because it does not and will not exist, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea said.
Referring to last year’s Lisbon treaty referendum, he said the impression was given that the treaty “was in some way impinging on Ireland’s neutrality. That is not the case.” The EU knew that “in relation to neutrality Ireland is not for turning”.
People could not be conscripted into an army that did not exist, he stressed.