Results 37,761-37,780 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: My earlier response was that it needs more substance. I heard what the Deputy said on Sunday morning about a mini-budget.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: It was so threadbare in substance as to be beyond any credibility.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: It was the Sinn Féin Party and its policies that I criticised.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: I agree that we face a huge challenge. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Yesterday's report from the IPCC is a stark warning to all governments and to all parliaments that it is going to be impossible to put this matter to one side or defer action. The first item on the agenda today was the carbon tax, as if it was the be all and end all of the increases in fuel energy when we all...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: The Cabinet sub-committee on climate change has been meeting regularly. There is an overall Cabinet sub-committee, chaired by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, now dealing with climate change. My Department has a co-ordinating role in terms of the delivery of climate change policy. We have made progress. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act, which is comprehensive...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: Please do.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: The Deputy's first premise is wrong, in my view. The overwhelming causes of the increase in energy prices are global. They derive from the pandemic and from the war, without question.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: Anyone with any degree of intelligence knows that. I would appreciate if we had less of the heckling and nonsense that is going on here.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: Everybody knows the cause of this is an unprecedented war on the Continent of Europe that nobody anticipated. In advance of that war, there was a deliberate strategy to cut energy and fuel supplies. There is no question about that now, in the full light of day. Unfortunately, that has created very negative impacts on us all, particularly workers and people on very low incomes. That is...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: That means covering all aspects of this, including pay policy, tax, welfare and climate. To do it on a tax-by-tax basis makes no sense. It is incoherent. That is why I am not jumping to the political bait from the Deputy and others in the House who are attempting to make this about one issue or one tax., which is nowhere near the real cause of what is transpiring here. We have already...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: He did not mention it at all. He believes strongly and passionately-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----in energy efficiency, which is a legitimate pursuit and a good policy across the board, war or no war, and one of the most effective is to equip ordinary working people with the wherewithal to retrofit their homes so they can reduce their bills in the long and medium term. It is important that we do that work and that we are not deflected from it.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: The only three-card trick I saw attempted in this House in the last month was from yourselves when at one stage, prior to the war, they had us believing the Russians were not going to start any war-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----and that NATO was the warmonger. That is what the Deputy and others said in this House.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: That is the only three-card trick I saw attempted in this House. I did not mention Deputy Boyd Barrett at all; he has been consistent enough but Deputies Barry, Paul Murphy and others had us believe that the warmongers in Europe and NATO were going to be the cause of this war. Now we know the truth of who caused the war. Less of that kind of trickery from the Deputy from time to time-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: In terms of the ESB and any price gouging there is a Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in place to investigate all of that. The Deputy should present the evidence-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: -----on that and I will have no issue with that being pursued.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: There should be no price gouging or exploitation of the situation. The ESB has a huge capital debt on the other side of that balance sheet by the way. It has that debt from investing in making sure we have energy security and supply, which are also very important. I did not get an opportunity to make that point in response to Deputy Bacik's question. There is a balance in the short term...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and acknowledging the strong support the Government has given to the hospitality sector because, without question, it was a major victim as a sector as a result of Covid-19. It had a horrendous time during the two years of Covid-19. The Government allocated a record level of funding for tourism in budget 2022, of €288 million in total, which...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Apr 2022)
Micheál Martin: I will talk to the Minister again about that. I would just say that Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment advised that it only received 12 applications for hospitality manager positions under the newly introduced quota, which I referenced earlier. That might indicate that demand for those type of positions is low. Processing times are not what they should be, but the Department...