Results 101-120 of 46,414 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: -----we are talking about pricing and affordability. Sinn Féin policies would undermine the capacity of first-time buyers to buy homes at an affordable price-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: -----because they would get rid of all the underpinning supports we have put in place. With the LDA through Project Tosaigh and others, we are moving very fast to get affordable houses on the market.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Again, the situation in Syria was not about peacekeeping so we were not involved in Syrian peacekeeping. It was during our membership of the UN Security Council when we gained very significant insight in respect of the behaviour of permanent members of the UN Security Council. The bottom line is that the permanent members should not have a hold on Irish sovereignty. They should not dictate...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: There has been none approved since 2014.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: No peacekeeping mission has been approved by the UN Security Council since 2014.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: No, you made the point there was no obstacle. None has been approved since 2014.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Kenny spoke about the militarisation of Europe and that he does not want to be involved in any imperial war. We are not going to be involved in any imperial war. We need a dose of reality in this House. We are not a military power and we are nowhere near being a military power. This is about peacekeeping and the methodology by which we can participate in peacekeeping. At the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Yes, we did.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Would you listen for a second? The triple lock does not apply here. The politics of the Security Council is the point I am trying to enlighten Members on. The politics wanted to close it down. The permanent members wanted to close it down. This can happen at any time. My point is the Security Council, in my view, is dysfunctional in terms of these issues. There is no point in waiting...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt you Deputy and I am making some clear points. Ireland incurred the wrath of Ethiopia by strongly standing by a humanitarian measure. Our international presence is humanitarian. It is peacekeeping. Please stop trying to portray what we are about here as some sort of erosion of our military neutrality, or a sort of engagement in militarisation and imperial powers. That...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The focus has obviously been on enhancing recruitment but I take on board what the Deputy has said about the physical quality of the barracks in Cavan. I will ensure his advocacy for the barracks as a forward operating base will be fed into the process. That is something I will do and I will revert to the Deputy.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy has advocated strongly. I do not want to raise expectations too high. The consolidation of barracks created benefits in terms of the operational readiness and deployability of Defence Forces personnel. The military would argue that consolidation has improved that readiness. However, the Deputy's point about the link between recruitment and military tradition through the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 16 and 34 together. As I stated earlier in response to questions from Deputy Howlin and others, we are living in a new era in Europe and in the world in which Ireland also faces significant new security and defence challenges, and we too must consider how best to respond. Given the changing nature of international conflict and geopolitics, it is...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Deputy Howlin agreed that the UN needs reform. There is a problem here.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: The fundamental problem is that there has not been a peacekeeping mission approved by the UN Security Council since 2014. We are on that council. The consultative forum was not prearranged. What was disgraceful was the attempt to stop it from convening and the attempts to undermine the legitimate debate and consultation to hear a wide variety of views, as we did hear over four days. It...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy did demonise it.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 50 together. I thank the Deputy. I am aware he has raised this before. As he knows, the Commission on the Defence Forces was established on foot of a commitment in the programme for Government and the Government decision in December 2020 that agreed to its terms of reference and membership. The report was published on 9 February 2022. The...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 43 and 51 together. Last year's consultative forum on international security policy featured a well-informed discussion on the issue of UN peacekeeping and overseas deployments, which formed a central part of the publicly available chair's report. That report was presented to the Government on 17 October and a Dáil debate on the outcomes of the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Personal vitriol is not going to change my mind-----
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2024)
Micheál Martin: Stop now. Through the Chair.