Results 35,601-35,620 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Since I became Taoiseach we have had record recruitment to the health service and record capital funding and beds provided. That is not enough and I am not resting on that. I want to do more. I want to accelerate capital programmes. In some cases, proposals have not come from certain hospital groups.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I met Cork consultants, who were taken aback when we said funding was available if they wanted to increase bed capacity in the short term. We are there to respond as quickly as possible.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I made my point and instanced Cork. What tends to happen is working parties are set up and various consultants can have different views as to where particular elective facilities are to be located. They all have preferred options and there is too much analysis, which leads to a degree of paralysis. That is before it ever gets to the Department. That is something I want to cut through and...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: If we add this recruitment to what was recruited for the vaccination and testing programmes, the figure is enormous, to be fair to the HSE.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: We should give them credit.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I disagree with the Deputy's analysis of the country and the Government's performance in relation to Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic. For instance, one key aspect has been the vaccination programme, which has been one of the most successful across the world in terms of speed, efficiency and effectiveness. About 90% of those over 12-year-olds are now fully vaccinated. That is no...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: In fairness, I just outlined the timelines the Deputy asked me for in respect of the booster programme. If you add it all up, including those four in seven and all people aged 50 to 59, there are now between 1.97 million and 2.2 million eligible under the NIAC advice. Those figures come from the HSE. There are timelines to consider with regard to when people got their second doses. That...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Our public health advice has been consistent from the get-go that our schools are safe places in respect of the management of Covid-19. A total of 35,000 CO2monitors have been issued to our schools and they are in use. As I have said, the advice is that if children are symptomatic, in terms of colds or whatever, they should not be sent to school. The biggest issue facing children is the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Why does Deputy Paul Murphy ignore public health advice and deny it every time he comes in here talking about schools? I did not repeat a line. I gave a line that we have received in respect of consistent public health advice, but he continually ignores it because it suits his propaganda approach to all of this.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy does not look at this issue from a purely public health perspective. He looks at it from a party or movement advancement perspective. That is my genuine take-away. The Deputy was an advocate for zero Covid for a long time, but now he will not even facilitate the extension of legislation to give capacity for Government to do things, if necessary, in the middle of an emergency....
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am answering the Deputy's questions. The Deputy ridicules the idea that public health advice in respect of schools is valid. He has just ridiculed that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Regarding another of the Deputy's points, he does not seem to accept at all-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I have been in paediatric hospitals. I was in Clonmel hospital two weeks ago-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: In the paediatric ward in Clonmel hospital, I was told that the issue was respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, in respect of admissions into that ward and the pressure that the ward was under, and other respiratory illnesses. Turning to workplaces, the Deputy knows that we have worked with the trade union movement and the employer organisations-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: ----- in respect of the return-to-work safety protocols.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Even as we speak, about 50% have returned. Huge efforts have been made in respect of workplaces to make them safe-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: In respect of ventilation in schools, I have said that 35,000 carbon dioxide monitors were distributed to schools up and down the country to monitor air quality and ensure that it was okay.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his question. I acknowledge what he has said and agree with it. We owe an awful lot to the front-line healthcare staff for their management of the pandemic. The most important thing people can do now to help our acute services and those who work in them is to get vaccinated if they have not done so. I urge people, without judgment, to consider getting vaccinated....
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: That is a very good suggestion. We thank the Deputy for volunteering for the vaccination programme early on. Others in the House also volunteered in various capacities to help out in their local communities. The voluntary, unpaid workers at the vaccination centres played a very significant role. They were partly responsible for creating the ethos of a community-based response to this...
- An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: First, on Deputy Mac Lochlainn's point, I find it difficult to accept the bona fides of his proposition. I do not believe he is interested in transparency at all. He gave the game away in saying I am not supposed to recite the CVs of the members because it does not matter whether they are qualified. That seems to be his implication.