Results 17,701-17,720 of 50,683 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: First, in response to Deputy Paul Murphy’s comments on fourth year students, I have stated that that rate is being reviewed with a view to it going upwards. The review will be finished by the end of this month and will determine that students in fourth year are paid for the 36-week internship during which they are in hospitals. I reiterate that model has worked and in respect of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about FEMPI reversal and said that I knew well he was speaking about low and middle income groups. That is exactly what happened. Successive Governments and the Oireachtas reversed FEMPI, first, for lower income groups, then middle income groups, and kept higher income groups until the end, when it was no longer legally feasible not to do it. That is the reality...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----he would have got rid of FEMPI in its entirety, which would have meant that higher earners would have had the full reversal five years ago rather than getting it in July 2021. Those are the facts and the Deputy cannot get away from them.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy said it was dictatorial and so on, but he should not try to weasel out of what his actions would have caused in 2016. If his motion was passed in 2016, it would have caused the reversal of the cuts on the highest earners and highest pensions, which he is now railing against. On taxis and the temporary waiver of the ten-year rule, I will engage with the Minister responsible,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I will try to get clarity on that before Christmas and will speak to the Minister about it. Deputy McDonald made a point about the broader economy and the workforce, and the changing nature of the economy. I agree with that. The national economic plan will deal with that when we publish it next week because it is about economic recovery, and also about understanding the changes that are...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not run the Irish Aviation Authority. The Oireachtas, through the Government, creates agencies with a statutory basis. They go through their proper recruitment processes. We cannot politically vet everybody who goes for a State appointment. The reality is that aviation in this country has provided thousands of jobs and has been one of the success stories of the past 30 years. I know...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: He seems to think that it is okay to give any kind of work to nursing students, irrespective of the fact that they are on a learning programme. I said about the case that he raised in the Dáil yesterday that it should be forwarded to the HSE as a complaint, because it represents abuse and exploitation of that student nurse. I ask him to send that to the HSE because it should be...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The case that Deputy Murphy raised yesterday should be sent and I do not know if he sent it or not. Has he?

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should have sent it already.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: He should have sought it by now because it is a terrible thing to do. Deputy Barry has advisers and gets remuneration, as his party does, from taxpayers' money as well.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: It seems to me that the only party that is stepping up to the plate with regard to retail is the State and the Government, through the Social Insurance Fund and statutory redundancy. The Deputy never says that.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I appeal to the Deputies not to lead people up another hill. They are great at doing that but they are short on solutions for workers.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is why I am talking about the Arcadia Group. I am not responsible for a British retail unit that decides it is going into liquidation. We will do everything we can to support the workers.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: And I will answer it. That review is under way, as I have said. The objective is to get it completed before the end of the year. The key point is that the Government and State will step up to the plate with regard to our obligations for all redundancies.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: We are not responsible for every decision made by companies outside the State.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 11 and 12 together. My Department has been working across Government to integrate data and insights relevant to the management of the Covid-19 pandemic since it began. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, and Department of Health have provided a great deal of data through the Covid-19 data hub. In addition, economic and other data are...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Ministerial Advisers (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: In response to Deputy Kelly, to his credit, the system was introduced by the Labour Party back in-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Ministerial Advisers (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: It was, actually. The whole of idea of a separate office of the Tánaiste at the time was-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Ministerial Advisers (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have no objection to it. I think it makes sense in terms of-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Ministerial Advisers (9 Dec 2020)

Micheál Martin: Where there are parties with different perspectives in government, and this is a three-party coalition Government, there is a need to make sure that the policy programme, as per the programme for Government, and the perspectives of parties are brought through. In respect of the offices that have been established for the leader of the Green Party and the Tánaiste, that makes sense in...