Results 32,101-32,120 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy spoke about what happened two weeks ago, which was on a Sunday. The previous Thursday evening, the Government received a letter from the same body, NPHET, that did not even recommend moving from level 2 to level 3. These are the facts. This is the prelude to what happened on the Sunday. Suffice it to say, the letter on Sunday took the Government by surprise, and everybody in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am sort of taken aback by the Deputy's enthusiasm for the statist approaches in some Asian countries towards controlling populations but that is another debate. Asian countries are doing well and I think that is because of the experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, and the fact they use their police and a much stronger state apparatus for contact tracing and so on. They...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: No, they do not-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy knows that New Zealand is not Ireland. Our geographical location, in my view, makes zero Covid not credible and very difficult to implement. We are not in a position to seal the Border, nor would we want to. Second, we have historically a very close relationship with Great Britain. Families travel to and fro. Surely they are not going to seal that border. We are part of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Quarantine is not going to happen to the degree people suggest. It is just not. Our geographic location and connectivity makes zero Covid, in my view, not capable of implementation. I believe NPHET share that view. The Chief Medical Officer and deputy CMO have heard this and the people who put this forward are serious people. I am not ridiculing or undermining people but I genuinely do...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We could give back 15 minutes on Taoiseach's Questions. I am not dodging Taoiseach's Questions.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is wrong. That did not happen.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is wrong. The Deputy cannot say that. That is not on.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: My understanding is that the Business Committee is due to meet today, or that it can do so. We have no difficulty in engaging with the Business Committee, as the Chief Whip has made clear, to work out the arrangements that might be optimal for the House to debate all of these issues. I hope Deputy Gannon did not mind that I interrupted him. The reason I did is because the Minister for...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: If the Deputy is agreeable to a Business Committee meeting-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: No, I cannot. I do not want to do that. I am not going to dictate to the Business Committee.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: It may very well result in a Friday sitting but given that it has been agreed that the Business Committee will meet, the fairest thing is to allow it to deliberate upon it. The Government will be represented by the Whip at the Business Committee. That is a reasonable way to proceed.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: It is their decision to vote.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: To be fair to Deputy McGrath, he ran that committee for a long time.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I jest, I jest, I jest.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I jest; I apologise.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: No offence, a Cheann Comhairle. I did not mean it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has been very active on the Business Committee for a long time.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I said the Business Committee is due to meet. I am being respectful to the committee and I will not dictate to it. I will not pre-empt what it may do.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is a reasonable position. If the Deputy does not accept that, that is his prerogative.