Government Press Releases 2003
The Taoiseach Mr Bertie Ahern T.D., has written to his European Union colleagues calling for a focused approach to next years Spring Economic Council. The Taoiseach also sent a short Paper outlining the key areas that Ireland intends to focus on at the European Council.
Speaking about the Book of Estimates for 2004 published today, the Taoiseach said that the Government plans were focused on the issues that are most important and achieving value for money.
The smoking ban is contained in Statutory Instrument No. 481 of 2003. It was notified to the European Commission the 24th day of April 2003. There was no objection to this smoking ban by the Commission or any Member State.
Ireland is an island off an island off the coast of Europe. It is not endowed with major mineral or hydrocarbon resources. The industrial revolution in the late 18th and the19th centuries bypassed large parts of Ireland. In the main such industrialisation as took place in Ireland during the course of the industrial revolution was focused on the northeast of the country.
The Government has carefully considered Ms. Justice Laffoy's letter and its implications for the Commission. The pre-eminent concern of the Government is the interest of survivors of abuse and establishing the nature, causes, circumstances and extent of abuse in institutions, and responsibility for this abuse. Therefore, the Government at its meeting on 9 September 2003 addressed a strategy for the way forward which would facilitate the Commission to discharge its mandate.
The Irish and British Governments today published the draft international Agreement which will establish the Independent Monitoring Commission to report the carrying out of commitments in regard to paramilitary activity, security normalisation and participation in the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.
Despite the demonstrable progress that has been made, and reflected in the Joint Declaration of the two Governments and associated documents published last week, the two Governments regret that it has not proved possible to establish a basis for the early restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland.
In the course of this paper I would like to outline the Irish experience in the development of institutional arrangements to secure growth and development. I wish to focus in particular on the social partnership arrangements which have developed over the past fifteen years or so. I want to say a little, then, about the process of public service modernisation which is proceeding in that context, and, finally, to address the process of regulatory reform which we are also pursuing.
The Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern T.D., last week published the 2nd edition (2003) of the document, Ireland and the European Union: Identifying Priorities and Pursuing Goals, which sets out the Governments priorities and goals for Irelands engagement with the European Union.