Results 17,381-17,400 of 50,683 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Okay. I will come back to Deputy later on that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am disappointed that the Deputy's party saw fit to raise the age to 66 years in Northern Ireland and voted for it. The Deputy did not even respond to that point. That is what Sinn Féin did. It is just hypocrisy and double standards. Historically, Fianna Fáil was responsible for significant increases in the State pension down through the decades, particularly in the late 1990s...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is quite extraordinary the two-dimensional thinking and approach from Deputy McDonald and the Sinn Féin Party more generally. They say one thing in this House and do the exact opposite in Northern Ireland on the Executive, for example. The Deputy calls for a pension age of 65 years here, yet in Northern Ireland last October the exact...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The relationship between Ireland and the United States of America is an important and historic one. While arrangements for marking the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are not finalised, any arrangements will take account of the situation with regard to COVID-19 and related measures both here and in the US.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Shared Island Unit (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: On 22 October, as part of the Government’s Shared Island initiative, I launched the Shared Island Dialogue series to foster inclusive and constructive dialogue on all aspects of a shared future on the island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The first Shared Island Dialogue was held online on 26 November on the theme ‘New Generations and New Voices on the Good...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Shared Island Unit (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: On 22 October, I set out the Government’s vision and priorities on Shared Island in an online event at Dublin Castle. Over 800 people participated online, comprising a broad range of civil society, community, sectoral, and political representatives, across the island of Ireland and in Britain. A Shared Island unit was established in my Department in September to drive and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was considered by Government and published on 12 January. On 13 January, I issued a formal apology in the Dáil on behalf of the State for the hurt experienced by many former residents of Mother and Baby Institutions and County Homes. I apologised for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens' Assembly (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Consideration is being given to all possibilities with regard to methodology for future Citizen’s Assemblies, but any decisions in this regard will be guided by the experience of the current Assembly which aims to report in June this year. This is also being evaluated by an independent researcher who has been appointed to monitor and record, amongst other things, the perceived...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Shared Island Unit (10 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Government’s Shared Island initiative involves: - Working in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive, through the North South Ministerial Council and with the British Government to address the strategic challenges facing this island; - Further developing the all-island economy, and deepening cooperation in key areas such as Health and Education and investing in the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Cahill has been consistent on this issue for quite some time. I point out to Deputies Carthy and Durkan that a working group has been established by the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Noonan, to examine the future role of peat in the horticultural sector in relation to the long-term solution for peat alternatives for horticultural...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The HSE deserves considerable credit for ramping up a very significant testing and tracing capacity, with up to 150,000 tests per week now. I recall people articulating loudly not so long ago for 100,000 tests per week. I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is that 137,000 were conducted last week. However, the Deputy is correct in saying there has been a resistance from the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy needs to change his tone. His continuing relentless hostility is regrettable to have to witness weekly, but that is the way he operates and that is his entitlement. I have refused to meet no one. The Deputy keeps coming in here every week saying I am refusing to meet somebody. I have refused to meet nobody. Obviously, with Covid, we cannot meet people physically.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: We can meet people virtually, and I know that Deputy Cahill and others would facilitate that meeting tomorrow morning or whenever else. Deputy McGrath cannot keep on attacking people in a very nasty way left, right and centre and then expect-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: The reluctance, from what I can surmise and gather from the discussions I have had, is that NPHET believes the PCR test is gold standard. It believes a lot can be missed through antigen testing. That said, it has now advised that it can be used in outbreak settings. I know that the Deputy chaired the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, which I presume discussed this, zero Covid and the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: -----throughout the summer. I do not accept the Deputy's point that there is a conflict of interest between being chair of NPHET and being director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, NVRL. To be fair to all concerned, everybody has come together in different contexts to help the country defeat and suppress Covid-19. We should accept people's bona fides in that regard. There is a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I am not an expert on testing or the most-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: No. They have their experts. We cannot just pick and choose à la carte. There are structures within the country and clinical and public health advice and-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Maybe the Deputy's party could do something as well. Maybe it is time for Sinn Féin to help and assist in truth recovery in respect of the terrible atrocities-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: Why is it shocking? Why is it shocking that the relatives of those who were murdered in Kingsmill should get transparency and some truth as to what happened?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2021)

Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt. I listened and I wish to respond. It is a genuine response. The Deputy generically calls it "the conflict" as if the Provisional IRA and the Provisional movement had absolutely nothing to do with it. "People got killed by accident" seems to be the assertion in the lovely and articulate way in which this is put, but we know the reality-----