Results 31,001-31,020 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: It has been effective and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has spent a lot of time in the last while meeting NGOs in relation to homelessness. It was brought in in the context of the emergency regulations and legislation relating to the pandemic. It is under active consideration by the Government. A decision has to be made by 20 July.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: It is in the programme for Government. I am aware, as is the Deputy, of the finer details of this but there has been a lot of frustration in terms of the difficulties in rolling out the compassionate access programme. The Minister is aware of it, as well. I will come back to the Deputy with, hopefully, some timelines in relation to it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: The first point I would make is that we do not control the private hospitals in terms of their fee structures. However, I reiterate what I said last week, namely, that there should be no profiteering out of the Covid situation in respect of any patients, be they private or public. Private hospitals should not be levying charges that are disproportionate to the costs of providing those...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: To be fair, I recall the pub owners themselves, in tandem with the previous Government, saying that they needed to close at the time they did close. In terms of the reopening under phase 4 of the roadmap, there will be a Government meeting tomorrow to discuss it. NPHET is meeting today and will give us its up-to-date advice. I am taken by some of the points made by Deputies McNamara,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy that it is a shocking cost. It is not sustainable for a young man going into business to take a cost like that on board. Such costs militate against young people becoming entrepreneurs, getting into business and going out to work. The programme for Government sets out a multipronged approach to dealing with insurance, both on the personal injuries side and in terms...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: Will the Deputy forward me the background and details of the case? Is it because of his private working hours that this individual is not allowed to perform his firefighting role?

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: If the Deputy sends me on the details, I will follow up on the matter.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am not going to go through the mythology the Deputy articulated at the commencement of his question. I remember the decisions made by the North Eastern Health Board and we have come a long way in medicine since then. Very often now, it is the colleges of the various clinical specialties which determine the critical mass that justifies and sustains, for example, a maternity unit or an...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Regeneration Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Mulvey report, Dublin North East Inner City - Creating a Brighter Future, commissioned by the Government and published in February 2017, contained recommendations for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin's north-east inner city, NEIC. This report has been further supplemented by the publication of the NEIC strategic plan 2020 to 2022, which is available onwww.neic.ie In June...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Regeneration Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: 4 o’clock First of all, I would never see something like this as a box-ticking exercise. All my life I have been committed to the idea of dealing with the vulnerable, those living in poor conditions and those in disadvantaged communities. For example, I believe the RAPID programme of earlier years was an effective multisectoral multidepartmental approach to dealing with urban...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Regeneration Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: Deputy McDonald should write to me on that. I will talk to the Minister for Health on the point she has made and on what she was saying. I am unsure of the background. Deputy McDonald is suggesting that the HSE is undermining community participation. We will get that looked at. I have gone into some of the flat complexes with Senator Mary Fitzpatrick. I agree with Deputy McDonald...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together. As outlined in the programme for Government, several reforms will be implemented to ensure openness and constructive co-operation within the Government. The details of the roles and staffing of these offices have not been finalised to date. Appointments to these offices will be made in line with the Public Service Management Act 1997...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I was going to come back to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I will deal with Deputy McDonald's queries. This is a tripartite Government. In fact, the model for it goes back to when the Labour Party was in government between 1992 and 1994 when Dick Spring-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I was a humble backbench Deputy at the time. The Labour Party pioneered the idea of policy people coming in from the political world, which I happen to agree with, to ensure the implementation of a programme for Government.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: People want the programme for Government to be implemented. They want to see through the political commitments that have been made. That was a major turning point in how Government works in terms of the use of special advisers. In the Northern Ireland Executive, the role of special advisers is strong and I have no difficulty with that. We know that special advisers in Northern Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not agree with that. There is a need and Government is becoming wide-ranging. There are areas, such as insurance, that need specialist attention. As we heard on the Order of Business, it is a key area and it is a good idea to have a Minister of State, together with senior Ministers, specifically charged with trying to deal with that area. That is the position. When we get further...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: The architect of this model of government was the Labour Party.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: It is not rubbish. I recall Deputy Howlin and the then Tánaiste, Mr. Dick Spring, won a substantial number of seats. They no longer wanted to play second fiddle to the Fine Gael party and did not go into coalition with them. They entered into coalition with Fianna Fáil and developed this idea. We are political parties, and I do not mean political in the sense that one is just...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am not even criticising it; I just note it. The emails were flying to and fro on that between all the special advisers of all parties so let us not pretend that this is something new. Ministers of State either mean something or they do not mean. In my view, they mean something in terms of the policy areas that are under their responsibility. The Minister of State with responsibility for...