Results 461-480 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: I mentioned the extension of the free schoolbooks scheme to all students. If you have one income coming in, we all know that every September and every summer, schoolbooks, going back to school and the cost of schoolbooks was the bane of most parents' lives. That is gone, eliminated. The Deputies did not have the good grace to acknowledge that. I do not expect any acknowledgement, but they...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: Over the last five years since Fianna Fáil came back into government we have built close to 48,000 social houses - delivered. That is the most in 40 years. You would have to go back to the 1970s to get that level of social housing construction, but we need more because the population has increased. That is a factor in this. The composition of those presenting for homelessness and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----and through the approved housing bodies and those involved in the homelessness area to address this issue.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: Additionally, with inflation expected to grow by 2% this year, nominal wage growth-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----is set to reach 5.5%. That will result in real wage growth of between 3% and 3.5% this year. When inflation was high, we did not have that to offset it. We now have it at significant levels. That is an effective way of dealing with this issue, in addition to the measures we will take in the budget to deal with that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I take issue with the term "released" from school. Children these days enjoy school and have very good experiences in our schools but they are going out to enjoy the summer holidays. Through many other avenues of government, we will endeavour to give supports to children throughout the summer holidays. More specifically, the issue...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: We will deal with this issue in the budget, but consumer price inflation, as measured by the European Union harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP index, has eased significantly over the past two years, with the annual inflation rate in May 2025 standing at 1.4% compared with 2% in May of last year. That is below the 2% target rate of inflation set by the ECB. In April, Ireland had the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: I join with the Ceann Comhairle in welcoming our special guests from County Tipperary, our Little Blue Heroes, who have come to watch proceedings here in the Dáil. They had a busy morning. They had a Garda escort and were greeted by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy Michael Murphy. I was delighted to attend the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Government's response to the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council's Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge report 2024 was published on 5 November last. The Government's response was co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach, drawing together material from relevant Departments. This was the fifth year in which a formal response was issued by the Government to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: The information requested by the Deputy is provided in tabular form below and in the notes accompanying the tables. Department of the Taoiseach - As at 31/12/2022 As at 31/12/2023 As at 31/12/2024 As at 31/05/2025 No. of full-time employees who applied for blended working arrangements (% of total employees*) 98 (46.9%) ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Public Procurement Contracts (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 184 to 186, inclusive, together. All procurement within the Department of the Taoiseach and in the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) - the only body under the aegis of the Department - is conducted in accordance with applicable EU and national regulations and Office of Government Procurement (OGP) guidance. The Department of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Reports (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: The article the Deputy has supplied refers to a technical issue affecting some links on Gov.ie, resulting from a major system upgrade completed in April 2025.The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) manages Gov.ie and completed the system upgrade. During the migration of content to the new system, a small number of links became broken and were replaced with...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Communications (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: Policy development is concerned with the enactment of Government priorities to deliver valued outcomes for the public through the provision of high-quality advice and a steadfast focus on implementation. The development of policy derives in the first instance from the Programme for Government. My Department supports the Cabinet Committee structure to provide for the discussion of key...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Communications (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: There are no agreements or lists, made or exchanged, to include projects in any constituency in the future National Development Plan and or the HSE Capital plan. The Programme for Government was agreed and entails all of the Governments priorities. In the coming weeks, a review of the National Development Plan will be published. A public consultation process was recently launched by the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Projects (24 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Department of the Taoiseach does not oversee any infrastructure projects and has no capital allocation in its 2025 Revised Estimate.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht – Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: This is an important point. In addition, the capitation grant payment in June 2025, which will be a balancing payment for the period of January to December, will include the new increased rates effective from September 2025.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht – Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy can send that note to the Minister for housing and copy it to me, and I will talk to the Minister for housing in respect of it. The Deputy should try to take it up directly with him. I will alert him to the fact the Deputy has raised it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht – Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: First, more generally, the Minister for rural affairs will be meeting the Gaelic Athletic Association in respect of the new rural future design programme. The GAA is having a huge impact the length and breadth of the country on many fronts. On the housing front, it is not fair to say that there is no focus on housing in rural Ireland. There is. The derelict grants and the vacant grants...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht – Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: All of those apply to rural Ireland. The first homes scheme applies to rural Ireland.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht – Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Jun 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. He is raising very legitimate concerns and I will ask the Minister for Transport to review this. I will also ask him to consult the Minister for justice in respect of any road traffic regulations and laws. I saw a situation yesterday evening. I could not believe my eyes. There were two guys on a scooter and a guy on a bike was hanging on to them...