Results 37,081-37,100 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am just making the point that it is not closed. We are not finished with this yet because it is a very serious case and a very serious issue. Speaking more generally, there has to be balance here. To return to the previous question, our existing agencies have to be able to do the work. Increasingly, almost daily now, it is an independent review for this and an independent review for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Hear me out. We have GSOC in respect of the Garda-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: No. Into the future, we are going to have make sure that agencies such as HIQA and GSOC do their work like all of the other bodies that are there to regulate and to enforce regulation, otherwise we will have commissions being established every two months, with all of the implications that that brings with it. The Deputy will be aware that there are commissions of inquiry still going on six...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I would have to disagree with the Deputy. Let us deal with 2022, not 2008, which is a long time ago and there was a different economic situation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The bottom line is this. We all know the current cause of the inflationary cycle is global. Oil and gas prices have risen dramatically. Two and a half months ago, on 1 December, the cost of the barrel of oil was $68. Do you agree?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It now costs $93 or $94. That clearly is a dramatic increase in a number of months, which the Central Bank and Europe are saying is a pandemic-related cycle of inflation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Natural gas costs £1.65 per therm on international markets, compared with 42 pence per therm last February. Higher gas prices have pushed up electricity costs as gas was used to generate half of this country's electricity last year. The latest CSO data on wages shows that average weekly earnings rose 5.4% in quarter 3 of 2021 from a year earlier and were up to 8.9% from their...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: To suggest that it is just carbon tax is simply not the truth. The story with the carbon tax is that we are giving the money back to the public in the form of the retrofitting scheme, where we will enable people to retrofit their homes which will lead to cheaper fuel costs into the future. We are giving money from the carbon tax to farmers for environmentally friendly farming programmes.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: Additional income streams for farmers will arise from the distribution of carbon tax revenues. To protect against fuel poverty for those on low incomes and those depending on the fuel allowance, it enables us to make more generous provision in those areas, as we have done in the last budget and in the most recent package in terms of those in receipt of the fuel allowance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The reality is that over the next decade or so, we will be moving more towards renewables. We will always need gas for the foreseeable future as a transitional fuel, but we will have to increase our renewable capacities into the future. Of that, there is no doubt. The current Ukrainian-Russian crisis illustrates that for Europe, not just for Ireland, more than anything else. It has caused...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: First of all, the retrofitting scheme has not started yet.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have the money and it has been allocated. The retrofitting scheme clearly has not affected the current pandemic cycle of inflation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: I ask the Deputy to calm down. There is no need to be roaring about the issue. The bottom line is that in 2021, the country spent €6.2 billion on imported fuels compared with €3.4 billion in 2020. We spent €6.2 billion on imported fuels in 2021 compared with €3.4 billion in 2020. That is a €2.8 billion increase in the bill for imported fuel, largely...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy cannot deny the global nature of this.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: During budget time, the Deputy is the first in the queue looking for higher investment in roads, rail and projects in his constituency, and greater social protection measures. There has to be a revenue base to pay for all of that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is the reality. The revenue we generate relates to what we can do for society and for the public, more generally.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have to be transparent and straight up about this. There is no denying the global nature of this issue. We must take measures to try to help people alleviate the pressure.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is my understanding that National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is meeting with the school concerned and that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is also engaged on the issue. I must say that SNA provision is not in crisis. The expenditure on special needs education has grown dramatically in recent years. We have expanded the number of SNAs in our schools.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Feb 2022)

Micheál Martin: That should be acknowledged. There needs to be balance in the debate here. Ministers do not allocate to every individual school across the country. We cannot be expected to do that and neither can the Oireachtas. We make representations in respect of different schools. There is a general allocation system and so forth. However, the numbers have never been higher. It is a system I...