Results 36,101-36,120 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: Yes, but-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for his query. I noted his comments regarding the cardiac situation in Waterford, which we will continue to pursue vigorously. I am conscious another Waterford Deputy and Minister is sitting adjacent to me, who is also advocating strongly for that. I take the Deputy's point on the issue. On insurance inform, I have a lot of sympathy with the Deputy's comments on the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue for people and it is part of a wider agenda within Government to reduce costs for people in their ordinary lives. Insurance is a significant cost, whether one is in a household, motoring or in a business. The Deputy was correct to point to the reduction in motor insurance. This morning, the Government again adopted a significant...
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: Are we agreeing the Order of Business?
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: That is like a query we take after we agree. I think we can keep it under review. It is open to us to review anything at any time but the public health advice has given a timeline into mid-February, if I am not mistaken, on the wearing of masks in schools. The Chief Medical Officer will review that advice and communicate to the Government.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I do not deny that. We are in the middle of a pandemic and hopefully the childhood vaccination programme will begin in earnest early in the new year. That will have an impact. We will consult the Chief Medical Officer. I fully take on board the concerns of the Ombudsman for Children. We all have those concerns.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy will recall that at the time the contracts were signed I was standing where she now stands. We had a robust debate around broadband more generally. The memo she referenced was published at the time in The Irish Times, if I am not mistaken, and that generated a lot of debate in this House. I may have asked questions about it at the time, so intrigued was I by that memo.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I am just pointing out that what the Deputy is revealing is not new. In terms of the memo and so on, these are not new developments. In terms of broadband, the contract is signed and the Government's focus is on rolling out broadband and getting it as widely distributed across the country as we can.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: That is a matter for parliamentary questions.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: It is very regrettable if the developer pulled out. I do not know the background to the case. I commend anybody involved on providing housing of this type in a co-operative context. I will engage with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and ask him to talk to the Deputy.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I will ask the Minister to assess this and to see what we can do to help. I would make the point that I do take on board very seriously the report today. Mortgage lending is very robust at the moment and commencements, which are mentioned in that report, have increased very significantly. We are looking at approximately 31,000 commencements from October to October. While it is...
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: To be fair, we have been generous enough in the past two years in terms of both the scale of the minor works grant scheme and the timing of it. It is not a question of schools having to choose between a broken window and a HEPA filter.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: Every school is different. There are technical teams available to talk to schools in respect of what will work best for them. There is emergency works funding as well. We have already delivered 35,500 CO2 monitors to 4,000 schools across the country. They are an important aspect following the advice the Minister received. The advice also is that HEPA filters may be appropriate in...
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy has consistently sought throughout the pandemic to paint a dismal picture of employment in this country and that the Government is somehow negligent. He needs to acknowledge that our economy is the fastest recovering economy in the European Union. We had the fastest jobs growth in quarter 3 of any EU member state. I never hear the Deputy say that in this House, because he cannot.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I expect you to acknowledge the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have gone back to work in the past number of months because of sound economic policies. Through the PUP, EWSS and other initiatives, we kept businesses and employment intact, but all I get from the Deputy every day is one tale of misery after the other. One would imagine there were thousands of people out of work all...
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: The bottom line is this: the Minister has reintroduced PUP for those who are going to lose work as a result of the measures we introduced last week.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: There are more vacancies now in our economy than there were in 2019, pre-pandemic. Maybe the Deputy should absorb that.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: First, we represent all the people and we have to raise revenue generally to provide for education, our health services and social protection. That is why tax exists. I accept that, because of global developments principally, fuel prices have gone up very high. That is why we brought in and increased the fuel allowance.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt the Deputy.
- Order of Business (7 Dec 2021)
Micheál Martin: Hold it one second, Deputy. I have also said in this House that the Government is looking at measures to help householders further to reduce their household bills in respect of electricity bills that are a consequence of increased energy costs.