Results 28,181-28,200 of 50,916 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Data (14 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: 182. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda Síochána stations and the number of gardaí in each, in County Tipperary on 1 January 2011 and on 1 January 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1690/16]
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: It is time to put in place an enduring infrastructure that will stand strong in the face of the challenge of climate change. Climate change is a very real issue and one this Government, for domestic electoral reasons, put on the backburner. The EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, made sure of that when he was Minister, for his own electoral considerations and for those of Fine Gael. Behind the...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: People are quite tolerant when big schemes do not arrive. If €200,000 had been spent in Portumna, it would have done an awful lot to assist with the channel or canal that comes in from the river. Relatively small amounts of money could be provided for the reinforcement of ditches and the clearing of drains, etc. If a comprehensive and proactive system of prevention had been...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: There was no protocol.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: Without the civil contractors and farmers who went into the town of Bandon, the place would have been ten times worse.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: Some of the contractors were told "you should not be here because you have no insurance".
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: That is what they were told. I have to say that. I am not making this up.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: That is what people were saying on the ground.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: If the contractors did not get up and do this for their colleagues, we would have been in deep trouble.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: I was in Midleton for three hours. People were looking around frantically for pumps at 5 p.m., a full eight or nine hours after large sections of the main trading street and many housing estates in the town were destroyed and flooded. That is just the reality of what happened. A very basic thing like that-----
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: I am talking about the pumps. I am not talking about the Army personnel coming in late. Why are the pumps not stored in the council yards? Alternatively, arrangements could be made in advance for civil contractors to go in and do what they have to do when something like this happens. Anything else that needs to be sorted out with them could be sorted out at a later stage. That is what...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach and his colleagues are responsible. My point is that we should have learned from 2009 and other storms. It is a very basic thing.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: Deputies Cowen, Fitzmaurice and Naughten were part of a delegation of public representatives who went to Brussels today to explore how the EU solidarity fund might be accessed and to examine the deployment of the habitats directives.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: I will let Deputy Cowen speak about that later. All is not as it seems from the Government side on that.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: The Government has approximately 12 weeks from the date of the disaster to apply for funding. It should use this fund to help the communities in east Galway, Clare, Athlone, Bandon, Midleton, Graiguenamanagh and other areas that are grappling with the aftermath of the recent floods. The Irish Government secured €13 million under the EU solidarity fund following the devastating...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: We genuinely need to address the issue of insurance for flood-affected areas. I think the Taoiseach should take a lead in this regard. Perhaps the Government should have been more proactive in engaging with the insurance industry long before this happened.
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: Sorry?
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: What has all of this week's sabre-rattling, shouting, roaring and megaphone diplomacy been about? A system is necessary to give assurances to businesses and families that they will get the insurance cover they need without the shadow of financial catastrophe hanging over them. When one meets the owners of businesses that have flooded two or three times, one hears that they can take the...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: There were 15 staff in Midleton two or three years ago, but there are just six now, four of whom had to work overnight. The working time directive plays havoc with their capacity to go out again the following morning. The need for councils to be given more staff is a big issue. The Taoiseach has met the people in the Shannon region. They have experience because they have been going...
- Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)
Micheál Martin: Tá sé tábhachtach go bhfuilimid ag plé an cheist seo mar bhaineann sé le an-chuid daoine ar fud na tíre. Bhí an damáiste a tharla go dona ar fad, rud atá soiléir agus a bheidh soiléir go ceann cúpla mí eile. As the country settled into the peace and quiet of the Christmas period, many families found themselves desperately...