Results 14,521-14,540 of 50,453 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: In terms of public transport, there will be a significant programme. It is not kicking the can down the road. The programme has been announced in terms of an enhanced and expanded rural transport network. I am a great believer in public transport. My late father drover many a bus to different parts of west Cork and I am fully aware of the needs of Mizen, Glengarriff, Beara and all those...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The rationale for doing this scheme is to help homeowners to be able to rebuild their homes. That is the only rationale. This level of State intervention is unprecedented. It has never happened previously at the level it is happening now. It is because it is a social priority. In other words, we believe the residents and homeowners in Donegal, given the situation in which they find...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: As I said at the outset, the scheme, as currently structured, will cost approximately €2.2 billion for 6,000 to 7,000 homes. That is a substantial contribution by the taxpayer of today and the future and the Exchequer to any housing remediation scheme. That needs to be acknowledged in the first instance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: We did not cause any problems.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I did not cause any problems. Everyone in life has responsibilities. Let us stop trying to excuse people on the ground of regulations. There are regulatory frameworks today and there were regulatory framework then. Certain people did not adhere to them. That is the point. No one will ever call that out because it does not suit them to call it out. The Government must always be the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: That is very important.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I do not think the existing arrangements were adequate in managing a scheme of this scale. The Government wants to do right by the homeowners. The comprehensive nature of this scheme, which includes rental properties, something that was not included in the previous scheme, is a significant advance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Not them. Not the residents.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I did not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Yes, those who produced the defective blocks.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Take that back, please. I think the Deputy should take that back.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I think the Deputy should take that back.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: First, we are living in a very fast-moving pandemic. No one, including the Deputy, at any stage suggested that we should, prior to utilisation of antigen testing, establish a regulatory framework governing them in advance. She has been an advocate for antigen testing for the past number of weeks and is of the view it should be happening much faster, etc.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Now she has come back around the scrum to say,well, actually, slow down somewhat now and do not have it as freely available on the basis of the quality.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: Of course, and we need very strong communications around the types of tests people should buy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: What is important as well is that, in key targeted areas, like schools and the food industry, we are up to 130,000 and close to 100,000 in terms of close contacts, which have been dispatched freely. In key target groups, they are free, have been free and will continue to be free.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: I went through all the different sectors where that currently is happening. More generally, the price range now has come way down, because of engagement, by €2 up to €3, which is a very significant advance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: However, we must always remember that PCR testing remains our core response and 210,000 were given out and done for free, properly so, last week.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy said the Government’s Covid-19 response in general was haphazard and chaotic. I would like to put that comment in context. More than 8.1 million vaccines have been administered in Ireland. We have the highest vaccination rate in the European Union, with 93.4% of the adult population fully vaccinated. The executive director today of the European Medicines Agency, EMA,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2021)

Micheál Martin: No Opposition party replied to a written request two months ago, after the working group report was published, to detail their specific position on how the scheme should be improved. You need to answer that fundamental question. You could have got involved. You could have come up with your proposals and your plan, but you had no plan and you had no proposal.