Results 16,341-16,360 of 50,453 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: Obviously, the Minister for Education is responsible for the overall building programme. I know that Deputies across the constituency are engaged on this issue. Deputy Lahart has been in touch in relation to it as well. I will certainly talk to the Minister to see if we can get progress on that project.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, has been in touch with me as well in relation to the CT scanner issue. We will be working with the Minister for Health and the HSE in relation to that because I know there has been a campaign locally and a lot of fundraising as well behind that. In relation to the wider programme, the national HSE...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is unfortunate in the House of late that politics and politicians get compared to Nazi Germany. This is the second time in recent weeks that Deputy McGrath has articulated that and I think it is bringing the Parliament----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----to a low level, to be frank.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: Public health is about saving people's lives and the only reason for the public health Act was the pandemic. No Government wants to be introducing the kind of measures that we have had to introduce for the last 12 months but we do it on public health advice to protect people's health and to save lives. The legislative framework is required to enable Government to take those initiatives and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: It is a slur on our Parliament-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----and I do not think it should be allowed.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I will speak to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in relation to those points. Perhaps the Deputy might forward them to the Minister as well just to illustrate them because, obviously, I do not have the detail of the individual cases or the council involved.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: First of all, we will do everything we possibly can in terms of renewing international travel in as safe a way as we possibly can, both by participating in the European Union green digital certificate framework and also in terms of bringing in supports for the aviation industry to enable particularly Shannon Airport and Cork Airport, and the airports generally, to incentivise and bring travel...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I cannot give that commitment but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on that. We know that more demand will mean a higher level of renewable energy on the grid to meet Ireland’s 2030 renewable targets. The Government is now developing projects and policies to encourage the development of renewable energy by the data centre sector to meet its demand and to meet the target...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: First of all, the Government is deeply concerned about the decision of Aer Lingus yesterday. We are not blaming anyone but are seeking to do something about it. Government has been supporting both the airlines and the airports from the beginning of the pandemic, which I say without contradiction, through the means of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, the various other schemes and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: First of all, ISIF is a commercial loan facility in respect of ensuring liquidity to protect jobs, which was a big objective at the time.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: The airlines have lost heavily over the past year because of the pandemic and received liquidity support through the ISIF pandemic stabilisation and recovery fund.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: There was a €32 million regional State airports programme which gave capital and current funding to Shannon and Cork Airports and which was important to them. Getting international travel back up and running is obviously the key to the continued economic well-being of Shannon, of Cork and the regions. Through the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, for example, we have...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----to offset what the Deputy said earlier about the 96%.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: We need to build up the cities around the country. That is not an issue of points of contact and the chairman is not the issue.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I have dealt with this earlier. This is not an abandonment of anybody. There is a key issue about the supply of apartments and that is one that has to be balanced. We could do what people want and increase taxation or do this or that. All of that could, cumulatively, reduce-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government has now been in office for ten or 11 months. Over that time, we have made it very clear that we would have a broad suite of initiatives for housing, the key part being social housing and the building of 50,000 houses over the next five years. The Deputy keeps ignoring that. That is part of the €3.3 billion. The €3.3 billion has nothing to do with it ISIF. HAP...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. Without question, the expansion of data centres in Ireland has led, and will continue to lead, to a large increase in electricity demand, concentrated in the Dublin area, which raises challenges for the energy system. One needs to consider data centres more broadly, in terms of both the FDI situation and also in terms of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 May 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and I acknowledge his consistency on it. I will say what I have said consistently since this attack. It is a despicable thing to do to attack a health service and to engage in theft of people's personal medical records. This is a criminal enterprise and this is what criminals do in situations like this. We have to be very clear on two things....