Results 23,941-23,960 of 50,909 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: They are very constructive comments, actually.

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I will just make the point-----

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Deputy-----

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Acting Chairman. I have been making very constructive speeches on Northern Ireland here for the past six years. People should listen to and reflect on what I am saying. The fundamental dynamics have not been working over the past six or seven years.

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Even the DUP and Sinn Féin would have attacked me three years ago for pointing this out. I regret we are where we are in this regard.

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald's predecessor, Deputy Adams, adopted the approach of angrily refuting the idea that Sinn Féin had any case to answer on any issue. High Court findings of sectarian behaviour, media revelations of funding abuses, sectarian comments about getting one over on the Protestants in elections and so on were ignored. Instead we got ever more elaborate attacks on the motivation...

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: However, the Northern institutions are quite different. At a moment when the radical Brexiteers are trying to undermine the Good Friday Agreement, the failure to have a working assembly and Executive makes Ireland even more vulnerable. Given that Deputy Adams said Brexit is the defining challenge of this age, allowing the institutions to be re-established should surely be the priority. ...

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: By any objective measure, this is an exceptionally serious moment for Northern Ireland, North-South relations and relations with the United Kingdom. The core building block of 20 years of progress is endangered and there remains a threat of new economic and social divisions. The breakdown three weeks ago was not an isolated event. It was the logical conclusion of practices over a lengthy...

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: That is welcome. Where once the renewable heating initiative and Arlene Foster were so fundamental that the Executive and the Assembly had to be brought down, now they are barely worth a mention. I can certainly believe an agreement between the two parties at negotiator level was blocked subsequently by the DUP’s wider leadership. In this it is quite similar to the situation where...

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Let me make it very simple: no one has the right to question Fianna Fáil's good faith in relation to Northern Ireland. I refer to speech after speech made in the House and elsewhere that show how for seven straight years we have been pointing to the inevitability, unfortunately, of reaching this crisis point if the two Governments did not change their behaviour. We would much rather...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge sa Státseirbhís (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Ceann de na polasaithe is tábhachtaí do mhuintir Fhianna Fháil ná an Ghaolainn a fheabhsú agus a chur chun cinn. Dheineamar an-chuid nuair a bhíomar sa Rialtas. Achtaíodh Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003. Bunaíodh Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga agus Foras na Gaeilge agus cuireadh cearta teanga san áireamh i nithe éagsúla....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge sa Státseirbhís (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Caithfimid níos mó áiseanna a chur ar fáil maidir leis an teanga agus don Ghaeltacht, go háirithe ó thaobh mhúineadh na Gaeilge de. Cuirim i gcás na mic léinn sna coláistí oiliúna. Faoi láthair ní fhaigheann siad aon deontais chun dul go dtí an Ghaeltacht agus tá sé ró-chostasach ar fad do na...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge sa Státseirbhís (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Rud amháin eile. Is é TG4 an seod Gaeilge is mó atá againn faoi láthair. Tá an stáisiún ag déanamh an-chuid oibre ar son na Gaeilge

Ceisteanna - Questions: Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge sa Státseirbhís (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Agus Máire Geoghegan-Quinn - an bheirt acu. Caithfidh an Teachta Howlin é sin a admháil. Dheineadar an-chuid chun TG4 a chur os ár gcomhair. An bun rud ná easpa taithí. Sin an bunfhadhb. Ní fhaigheann daoine deiseanna nádúrtha chun an Ghaeilge a labhairt.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Freedom of Information Data (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: These emails were not any of that.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Freedom of Information Data (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I asked the Taoiseach to review the process. Six months is not healthy. Initially, section 29 of the Freedom of Information Act was cited as the reason for refusing a release of these records. That section refers to matters actually under consideration by Government. The citation was changed in January to section 28(1), which deals with confidential documents, the equivalent of Cabinet...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Freedom of Information Data (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: During yesterday's venting, the Taoiseach's fake outrage focused on comments that I made on the handling of freedom of information requests. In particular, the Taoiseach claimed that I had failed to understand basic procedures or the difference between the Government and the Civil Service. That is quite an incredible statement given the fact the Government is spending millions of euro...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Freedom of Information Data (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: This calls for a review, especially given that the Department lost the case. The Taoiseach should organise a review of the processes to make sure that such information is not withheld in such a manner again.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Freedom of Information Data (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Not in a propaganda unit though; in an information unit rather than a propaganda unit.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Operations (7 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Does that mean the rural Independents take the Whip?