Results 8,761-8,780 of 50,151 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: It could, actually. It could be much worse.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Of course, the origins of the residential zoned land tax lie in the context of the debate we have just had. The Government is totally focused on increasing the supply of housing. Any land that is zoned or that people sought zoning for that is not used for housing, we want used for housing. That is the fundamental objective here, to deal with the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: The view generally is that we have a lot of zoned land that has not been used. The objective is to use it. People who have sought zonings should use the zoning and get houses built.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy's point about phase 2 is fair, I think. That is being examined by the two Departments at the moment. The issue has been raised. There is a desire to have more compact growth in towns and cities, which makes sustainable sense in terms of climate, congestion and access to services. That is a broader planning objective people have subscribed to. There are some towns, though,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Cairns more or less said that it does not matter what they say but of course it matters. There is an obligation on everyone in the House. If Deputies oppose, they should come up with solutions. They should come up with ideas.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: But they do not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do not understand how the Deputy, in reference to the help to buy scheme, which helped 33,000 young purchasers, can just dismiss it and oppose it. It helped young people to buy a house. Maybe the Deputy is against home ownership. I do not know if that is her position. I would make the point in respect of leasing that there will be 1,000 units following adjustments to the capital...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: First I will deal with the specifics and will come back in later in terms of how we can help people over all with housing but Deputy Boyd Barrett needs to put his shoulder to the wheel as well. I would also say, as a caveat, that the Deputy has a habit of raising individual cases and when people go checking out those cases, the story does not always turn out to be exactly as he presented it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: I would make two points to the Deputy. The rental market is the key market but the Deputy does not believe in landlords at all. That is fair enough.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: He does not believe in a system where we-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: He does not believe in a system where we have landlords. He said that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Sorry now, let us not get too smart. This is a serious issue. It is about time Deputy Boyd Barrett's policies came under the microscope. He keeps on attacking and attacking but when it comes to the structure of our rental sector, he believes it should be all State run. That is his position. He does not believe there should be any private rental market. Correct?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is correct. That is what the Deputy believes. That is fair enough; he is entitled to that belief. He does not believe there should be a private rental market.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Let us not twist it now. That is the Deputy's position. My view is that we need to increase the number of houses available to let. That is what we need to do. We need to keep more of the smaller landlords in the market and we need to attract more landlords into the market. We need more people to provide-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Investors, yes. An investor could be a person who is investing in a pension. It may not be a "big corporate" which is how the Deputy loves to label every landlord and that is part of the problem here. People are getting out because they see the kinds of attitudes that have been developed. Anyone interested in tackling homelessness in the fullness of time must provide social housing, which...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: We delivered 10,000 in 2022-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes, between leasing, acquisitions and so on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: The target this year is 12,000. We need to do more and we will. We are doing affordable but Opposition Deputies keep opposing everything we do to try to provide more housing. Deputy Boyd Barrett, it is alleged, has opposed well over 1,500 houses in his own constituency. Indeed, it could be close to 2,000.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: In one case he said that it would "dampen the Victorian ambience" of the area.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Then he comes in here and shouts about a housing crisis. The Jackies he mentioned would have a far better chance of getting more sustainable housing if we all treated the housing crisis as a crisis, including Deputy Boyd Barrett. He should do that rather than engaging in nimbyism in his constituency, opposing left, right and centre. The fundamental issue, I put to the Deputy, is supply...