Results 32,581-32,600 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: That has been my motivation from the beginning in the handling of this issue and was the motivation behind my statement to the House last week on this issue and it remains my overarching objective. I have not seen in the past in this House Ministers answering questions about specific judicial appointments.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: That said, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is prepared to come in and answer questions on process as part of her normal questions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: Is it beyond the Deputy’s capacity to take questions?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: Just because Deputy Kelly shouts louder than others sometimes does not mean that he is right. That type of browbeating does not work with me Deputy Kelly.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I make the point and I have made it repeatedly, Mr. Justice Woulfe was appointed appropriately in accordance with the Constitution and with the law and of that there is no doubt. If one reads the Cabinet Handbook it states that very clearly.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: My first point is that we should stand back from creating unnecessary rows and tensions between public health advice, Government decisions and the views of the Oireachtas. I accept that people have different perspectives on Covid-19 and the steps we must take to keep the virus down, open up society and relax restrictions. We should never question the good faith of people on all sides,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: At a cost, yes. I accept that. It is a big cost but the Irish people are adhering and it is working. We would like the figures to be lower. I would prefer them to be lower again. They are still coming down. Last evening, the 14-day incidence per 100,000 was 108.7. Finland is ahead of us, with about 50 per 100,000. Other European countries are in a much more difficult space. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy. I do not disagree with him on the utilisation of data to inform decision-making. That is important. Various sets of data can inform decisions. The Deputy is correct in saying there have been outbreaks in certain healthcare settings, which has been problematic for those settings in dealing with the normal throughput, services and so forth. To inform our decisions, our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I accept the Deputy's overall point about preparation and the need to prepare. Decisions will be made and announced by the Government in time for various sectors and actors to prepare in response to a Government announcement this week. I made it very clear five weeks ago that there would be a six-week application of level 5. I made it very clear in the first press conference that our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: First of all, in terms of mechanisms and so on, we have made many public statements. People have tracked the status of the virus over the last number of weeks in terms of numbers coming down. When we reopened after the first lockdown - go right through the summer into September and October - restrictions were lifted and certain things happened, notwithstanding all the dialogue in the world....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should be glad.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I am not.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have answered questions on this on a number of occasions.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I have answered questions, and I have answered them straight. I want to say, through the Chair if I may, that I have made it clear that it has all been laid out in terms of how the appointment was made. There was no horse trading involved. There was no involvement whatsoever in terms of judicial appointments, the formation of the Government or the programme for Government. Any assertion...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: I know what I signed up to and what I did not sign up to. The proof of the pudding is that I followed the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board's recommendation in terms of the suitability of the candidate so that I would not-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: -----embroil myself in judicial appointments.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is the point. It goes back to February, which was when the request relating to the need to fill the vacancy came.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: On 9 March last, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board met. That was long before any negotiations to form a Government.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: The board recommended Séamus Woulfe. Those are the facts.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Nov 2020)

Micheál Martin: That is the only context. I was not embroiling myself-----