Results 36,821-36,840 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have the largest number of councillors across the country but, as the Deputy is aware, all councils are fragmented between different parties. It takes a collective-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: What I have known in many councils, though, is that a lot of parties to the left just keep opposing housing developments until the cows come home.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Paul Murphy raised the issue of retail and hospitality workers. Again, just on the minimum wage, ours is the second highest in Europe right now. Even if you take in purchasing power, we are the sixth highest within the European Union. I think we need balance. We are above the average European wage. Again, we support wage increases, particularly linked to productivity. We do not...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is an extraordinary recovery in our economy which one would not-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Well it has been an extraordinary recovery. Employment is the best way out of low pay.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 28, inclusive, together. As the House will be aware, the most recent Citizens' Assembly, on gender equality, concluded its work in June 2021. In the intervening period, circumstances pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic have meant that it has not been possible, until now, to arrange for the establishment and running of further assemblies. The recent...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I welcome the comments made in respect of the biodiversity citizens’ assembly articulated by Deputies McDonald and Christopher O’Sullivan. I take the point that we need to do more in a review of the NPWS and indeed the agri-environmental scheme. We need to work on this as that is why the carbon tax is important to provide funding for that agri-environmental scheme. On the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I answered that earlier. My own view on reconciliation on the island is that we need to engage at both political party and community level with different traditions coming together. I am not clear that a citizens’ assembly is the best model for dialogue and for the more consistent long-haul engagement that is required. This is the sort of long-haul engagement that was required that...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: A comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past 2 years. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar type emergency arrives. We are considering what the best model for this evaluation will be. Specifically,...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There has been no expenditure on any consultancy contracts in 2020, 2021 or to date in 2022 either by my Department or by the National Economic and Social Development Office which is the only agency under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: As we continue to live with the COVID-19 pandemic it is important as a people that we pause and reflect, take time to remember those who have lost their lives in this terrible pandemic and to pay tribute to everyone who has contributed to how we have faced and are facing the challenges together. As announced, a Public Holiday is to be held on 18thMarch 2022 in recognition of the efforts of...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (8 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: In September 2021 the Government published a ten-year plan for the provision of housing - Housing for All. It is a multi-annual, multi-billion-euro plan which will improve Ireland’s housing system and deliver more homes of all types for people with different housing needs. The Government’s overall objective is that every citizen in the State should have access to sustainable,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the question and the issue. The Government came into office more than a year and a half ago, and I have made it clear that housing is the key social issue facing our country and society. Ireland needs, on average, 33,000 homes constructed per annum right out until 2030. These homes are needed to satisfy demand for housing across all four types of tenure:...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The answer is more supply. We need more supply and to build more houses. A total of 20,000 were completed last year, when the Covid lockdown hit us, and we hope to reach a figure of 25,000 in 2022. However, the target in Housing for All is to get to 33,000 houses every year. That is what we need to get to. We need it across all types of housing: private housing, public housing to an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There has been a detailed dive in the policy underpinning Housing for All regarding the various tenure types. We now need to get on with it and allow the houses to be built. That is a sincere point I am making. If we all agree this is a crisis, we are not going to solve it with 20,000 or 25,000 units per year; we need 33,000, at a minimum, per year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: No.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is no doubt in my mind that Sinn Féin's policies would restrict rental supply in the next number of years-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----and would actually cause rents to go up. The Deputy knows that. She mentioned houses. She knows well we have already taken steps, both legislative and through taxation, that do not allow for bulk buying of houses and for homes in housing estates.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It does not, and the Deputy knows it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: An Bord Pleanála has followed up in terms of recent decisions in relation to that. The Mullen Park project in Maynooth did not proceed. We are talking here about the other report that was referenced this morning in terms of apartments and so on. That is the context. There cannot be bulk buying of houses and homes and so on in this State.