Results 32,181-32,200 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I outlined the very significant increase in capacity in testing to put it on the record of the House and it needs to be acknowledged. Things need to be viewed with balance and perspective. I am not happy and I am disappointed that because of the extraordinary demand over the weekend given the level of community transmission we currently have, there is not a test-and-tracing system in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I got a text last evening which included The Irish Timesarticle. That was when I first knew. I was not informed of the operational measure the HSE undertook in response to the extraordinary demands it was under over the weekend with community tracing. The HSE has reconfigured the call structure to deal with 1,500 positive cases per day this week. All the cases yesterday were dealt with....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We have a lot of agencies and we are recruiting a lot of people.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: It is a very fast-moving situation with a pandemic. For example, Deputy Kelly made a valid point on antigen testing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I will just make this one point. I asked the Chief Medical Officer and his team, through the oversight committee this morning, if we can get a quicker response on this. It is currently being clinically validated on the ground. That could be a very important supplemental resource to our testing regime by the time the lockdown is over.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I believe that measures like this should be announced publicly and in advance by agencies. I have always been of that view. People are working under pressure and they advised of this measure. There was nothing secretive about it. When people get a message from the HSE it will be quite transparent. It is interesting that Deputy Kelly has suggested that we separate out the process from...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We are where we are in terms of the recruitment processes. There will be close to 800 people recruited for contact tracing. Testing and contact tracing are connected. We are testing more than we ever tested.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: We missed a lot of cases in the first phase of the pandemic when people were not tested because we did not have a testing system to the same degree we have now. People were positive and were walking around not having been tested, and they were infecting others. We know that this happened.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: When there are higher volumes of testing and much higher community transmission-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----by definition, there will be huge pressure on the contact tracing system. That said, I do not think we can now start separating out processes and so on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: People are being recruited. We are creating a permanent workforce as opposed to what happened in the first phase when staff were taken out of physical therapy and occupational therapy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not believe that was a good utilisation of personnel. It had to be done, however, in the emergency we had at the time.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I did not get the text from the HSE.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The only guaranteed way of preventing lockdowns in the future is human behaviour. The virus spreads when people congregate. That is, unfortunately, the truth of this virus. It is very challenging for people generally because we all have to do things we would not normally do. It has upended our lives when it comes to the normal practices of daily life. That is the unfortunate reality of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: The testing has been dramatically scaled up recently. Contact tracing is coming under tremendous pressure because of the high level of community transmission of the virus and the number of positive cases that have emerged. The HSE is saying it has reconfigured the call structure to enable it to deal with 1,500 positive cases per day this week. That is what the HSE is saying as of now....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his comments. I recall that in the summer when we introduced restrictions that were equivalent to level 3 in counties Laois, Offaly and Kildare, which people may forget as things are moving so quickly, there was anger at the time, and understandably so. Those level 3 restrictions had an impact on that occasion, in terms of reducing the spread of the virus in those...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: I do not have the specific unit cost of each of the deals. It is not as high as one might have thought or as might conventionally be the case. One has to be cúramach about what one says publicly about it, but there is a genuine effort being made here. That said, the difference here has been the advanced purchase process. In the US, the government there has been doing it. There has...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: Notwithstanding other issues, I have been engaged with, and in regular contact with, workers. On Debenhams, I am concerned about the situation and would like to have it resolved without any further pressures on the workers, given that they have been picketing for quite a long time in trying conditions and in adverse weather. There have been constraints on the degree to which the Government...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is not the way to proceed either. I have no difficulty asking the Minister to meet the Deputy because he has met the 221+ group. His understanding was that he could proceed with the tribunal because a lot of people were complaining about the delay in getting it up and running. That has been a complaint for a number of months. That was the original, understandable and justifiable...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Oct 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----to get the tribunal established and do things in a non-adversarial way. I will talk to the Minister. If there are issues, they can be dealt with and resolved.