Results 22,721-22,740 of 50,909 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: If the contractors did not get up and do this for their colleagues, we would have been in deep trouble.

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: I was in Midleton for three hours. People were looking around frantically for pumps at 5 p.m., a full eight or nine hours after large sections of the main trading street and many housing estates in the town were destroyed and flooded. That is just the reality of what happened. A very basic thing like that-----

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: I am talking about the pumps. I am not talking about the Army personnel coming in late. Why are the pumps not stored in the council yards? Alternatively, arrangements could be made in advance for civil contractors to go in and do what they have to do when something like this happens. Anything else that needs to be sorted out with them could be sorted out at a later stage. That is what...

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach and his colleagues are responsible. My point is that we should have learned from 2009 and other storms. It is a very basic thing.

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: Deputies Cowen, Fitzmaurice and Naughten were part of a delegation of public representatives who went to Brussels today to explore how the EU solidarity fund might be accessed and to examine the deployment of the habitats directives.

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: I will let Deputy Cowen speak about that later. All is not as it seems from the Government side on that.

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: The Government has approximately 12 weeks from the date of the disaster to apply for funding. It should use this fund to help the communities in east Galway, Clare, Athlone, Bandon, Midleton, Graiguenamanagh and other areas that are grappling with the aftermath of the recent floods. The Irish Government secured €13 million under the EU solidarity fund following the devastating...

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: We genuinely need to address the issue of insurance for flood-affected areas. I think the Taoiseach should take a lead in this regard. Perhaps the Government should have been more proactive in engaging with the insurance industry long before this happened.

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: Sorry?

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: What has all of this week's sabre-rattling, shouting, roaring and megaphone diplomacy been about? A system is necessary to give assurances to businesses and families that they will get the insurance cover they need without the shadow of financial catastrophe hanging over them. When one meets the owners of businesses that have flooded two or three times, one hears that they can take the...

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: There were 15 staff in Midleton two or three years ago, but there are just six now, four of whom had to work overnight. The working time directive plays havoc with their capacity to go out again the following morning. The need for councils to be given more staff is a big issue. The Taoiseach has met the people in the Shannon region. They have experience because they have been going...

Flooding: Statements (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: It is time to put in place an enduring infrastructure that will stand strong in the face of the challenge of climate change. Climate change is a very real issue and one this Government, for domestic electoral reasons, put on the backburner. The EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, made sure of that when he was Minister, for his own electoral considerations and for those of Fine Gael. Behind the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Employment Data (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: 230. To ask the Minister for Finance the baseline employment and unemployment figures he has used for each of the next five years in preparing his fiscal and economic projections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1230/16]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Strength (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: 491. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations; the number of gardaí in each station in Waterford on 1 January 2011 and on 1 January 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1082/16]

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Resources (13 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: 888. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of future oil-refining requirements here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46709/15]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Data (14 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: 181. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations and the number of gardaí in each in County Kerry on 1 January 2011 and on 1 January 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1689/16]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Data (14 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: 182. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda Síochána stations and the number of gardaí in each, in County Tipperary on 1 January 2011 and on 1 January 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1690/16]

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: The appalling human impact of the homelessness crisis was revealed on RTE last night in "My Homeless Family". The unacceptable impact on families and children in particular was laid bare in this city and across the country. The programme was made possible by the bravery and dignity of the three families involved. There was Erica and her daughter; Sandra and Brendan; and Melissa. With...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: The reason given by the Taoiseach is not the reason. He allowed this crisis to escalate. He allowed it to become the full-blown national emergency it is. I gave him the figures. Eight families on average per month were becoming homeless in 2012, 40 per month in 2014 and 75 per month in 2015. A total of 90 families became homeless during one month last year. This is nearly three families...

Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2016)

Micheál Martin: In December 2014, Bob Jordan from Threshold said, "...keeping Rent Supplement limits below market rents has done nothing to dampen rent increases. All it has done is drive vulnerable families into homelessness." These are people at the coalface who told the Government years ago that the rent supplement changes in 2012 introduced by the Tánaiste were wrong.