Results 35,721-35,740 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: First, 75% of those working in the home care support sector are working part time. As I stated, last year the Minister secured additional funding of €150 million for home support and the HSE national service plan sets a target to provide 24 million hours of home support.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: That is throughout 2022. At the end of September, some 15 million home support hours had been provided to more than 53,000 people. There is an enormous programme in place that is being resourced by the Government through the HSE and it has grown significantly beyond previous years. However, that, in turn, has created pressures in terms of availability of people to provide the home...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: First, the Deputy made a statement that is simply not true in terms of the commission. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Government have gone well beyond the recommendations of the commission in respect of the payment scheme. Surely the Deputy has to acknowledge that. Not everybody will be satisfied with the entirety of the scheme but it has gone well beyond the commission. Indeed,...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am responding to Deputy McDonald. There is an action plan containing 22 actions. From my exchange and engagement with people down through the years, I understand that the most important action is access to information and tracing. We published legislation, which is groundbreaking legislation. No other Government before this Government has produced legislation of this groundbreaking nature.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: No, it is an important point. The legislation has been at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage for six months, then the Government gets attacked for delaying. The suggestion and implication there was that we deliberately produced the scheme yesterday. I hope the Deputy is not suggesting that. Last week, we were being asked when the scheme would be published.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy mentioned those younger than 60-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The target and expectation of the HSE is that those aged 60 to 69 will receive boosters by the end of December-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I know, but we have engaged regularly with NIAC on the need-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: -----to review this. NIAC provides the advice. There is a balance here, and I must be honest with everyone in the House. People ask if the Government will do this or that. The Government acts on the advice of NIAC. I do not want to put the committee under the spotlight unduly either, which really is the implication of what the question is about.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am answering it. My point is that the committee ultimately has to answer for any advice that it gives about the administration of a vaccine to people. Roughly 93% of people took up the first vaccines, which in many ways is a vote of confidence in the system that we have.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I respectfully suggest that we could jeopardise all of that. It is easy for me and it would be very populist of me to say-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am giving the Deputy the answer.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy knows that is the answer.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: We do. NIAC is constantly reviewing all of these things. I have to say what I said there.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: We do, and we need to accept public health advice on keeping our schools open. The constant thread and consistency from Government in keeping our schools open is accept the public health advice. It has worked, actually. The public health advice was received in respect of contact tracing. It has not been disastrous either way.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: I put it to the Deputy that he cannot have it both ways. His party took the correct approach from the outset of the pandemic. I agreed with his party leader, Deputy Shortall, who said, at the time, that we must be guided by public health advice, no matter what, because if we jettison that, we will end up with a very inappropriate and wrong response to the pandemic. If we look at countries...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: To be honest, the number of PUP recipients has been coming down steadily as we have reopened the economy. The number of recipients has gone from somewhere well over half a million down to 60,000. That has been the direction of travel, because we have reopened so many sectors of the economy.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Which the Deputy supported, I think. Or did she? I thought she supported what we did last night.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: Some day I might get an answer from her.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Nov 2021)
Micheál Martin: As they say, you run with the hare and you hunt with the hound. It was Deputy Kenny's question, to be fair. It is our view, and there is consistent feedback from Members and people across society, that one of the significant difficulties employers have faced since the economy reopened is getting staff. There is a balance somewhere between the two. The number of recipients of PUP has come...