Results 6,661-6,680 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: All of what the Deputy raised, I answered very clearly in terms of what I believe in respect of the HSE chief being in a position----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: In respect of the budget I would make the point that the Government has allocated something very similar to what the Sinn Féin Party proposed in its alternative budget.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do not think the Deputy is in a strong position.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have concluded.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We are providing the funding for flood relief schemes. When the Deputy says it is not good enough, that is the reality of delay. People object, not just in the planning process but in the courts. Deputy Mick Barry was a classic example of it there. He came in advocating for flood relief protection schemes, he himself having supported alternatives and having gone against the OPW schemes as...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have not read the ombudsman's report yet but I will. My initial observation is that we need balance and perspective again here. When over 100,000 people come into the country in one year, we are not going to get a response that meets with conditions of normal times. A war has been waged on Ukraine. We have facilitated the arrival into the country of 73,000 Ukrainians. Sorry, we have...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have responded to a lot of those commitments. I am just making a general point. There seems to be a view abroad that we can do everything at once. We did the right thing and Europe did the right thing to facilitate fleeing Ukrainians coming from war. We did the right thing. There are limitations to how well one can do it in such a short space of time. I will read the report. The...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have not seen the report. The report has not been completed. The Deputy seems to be on the inside track.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We need to reflect on that, too. I am not so sure anybody should be on inside tracks or orchestrating a particular outcome from what should really be a very objective and open process. I will leave that with the House. I will read the report and am looking forward to receiving it. We will then consider it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We will look at all of those issues in both schemes we have for flood relief, including the humanitarian aid scheme and the scheme for business. With regard to Midleton, there is a total project budget for the flood relief scheme of approximately €50 million. The option has emerged for Midleton to protect 250 properties and that will provide protection in flooding from the Dungourney...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for the question and I thank all of the staff who help to keep our health services working on a 24-7 basis. They deliver a public service under very challenging circumstances. The Minister for Health received a letter and I have read the letter. He is very concerned with the issues raised in the correspondence and will meet with representatives of the GPs next week...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Minister will meet with the doctors. I take the Deputy's point that emergency departments can become the gatekeepers for the rest of a hospital. That was the point I was making in that it does need a more whole-of-hospital approach. Where that happens, there are very good outcomes in hospitals across the State. The Deputy referred to Cuban GPs.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Bacik should talk to her colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, who was both a Minister for Health and a Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. He might fill in Deputy Bacik and give her some insights into how the process works.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: What I can say is that-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----we have cut costs across the board for patients. We have removed inpatient hospital charges.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have had the biggest expansion of access to free GP care in the history of the State. Up to 60% of our population now hold a GP or medical card.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have reduced the drug payment scheme costs.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have funded diagnostic scans for patients. We have introduced free contraception for women up to the age of 31. We have publicly funded assisted human reproduction, including IVF, for the first time. We have agreed a new contract for consultants and up to 700 have signed up to it. We have added more than 22,000 staff since 2020. Funding has been provided for 22,000 staff since then.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have increased our hospital bed capacity by more than 1,000 beds at the same time, and we have also expanded our ICU capacity.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: We are increasing college and training places. For every GP who retires, between one and a half and three new GPs are working. We also expended huge funding in the context of the pandemic.