Results 38,161-38,180 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Obviously, the key issue will be resources and the level of expenditure increases we can accommodate within the broad range of challenges and pressures on Government expenditure more generally. We accept the basic point that we need to enhance and strengthen our military capability, not least because the world has changed. The immoral and unjustifiable war on Ukraine in many ways reveals...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am conscious that we have a day and half this week to get business done in the plenary session. Many items will be covered by the House today and tomorrow including: the finance legislation; the Sinn Féin Private Member's motion; the Topical Issue debates; oral questions to the Ministers for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Housing, Local Government and Heritage;...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are not in a position to facilitate a debate on the national maternity hospital this week.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I am open to it. I am not against debate but the Government-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----also has to take decisions.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is up to the House. The Minister is available for a debate on agriculture. The Deputy has been asking for one.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is Report and Final Stages that are being taken.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It has gone through Committee Stage. There was an extensive debate on Committee Stage.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Ah, come on.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It was not guillotined.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is a very dishonest presentation. This Government intervened in an unprecedented way during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect workers, in the main, businesses and enterprises right across the economy to an extraordinary degree. It was the right thing to do because of the protection it gave to workers and jobs. That was evidenced by the rebound in the economy in the aftermath of the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The cost of living is a very serious issue brought on by the war in Ukraine and, as economies rebounded from Covid-19, the major imbalance between supply and demand. Since the budget, we have allocated €2 billion to a whole range of measures to reduce VAT rates, for example, in addition to the decision to increase the free fuel allowance. Some €914 was paid to eligible...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have brought in a very comprehensive range of measures on the cost of living. The Deputy knows that.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We offset it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: In the first instance, the overall homeless figures remain significantly below the peak of October 2019, but the upward trend remains a serious issue of concern for the Government. A number of factors underpin that increase. It needs to be pointed out that the current level of family homelessness at 1,080 is 34% below the peak figure recorded in July 2018. The number of children under-18...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We have the strongest legal advice from the Attorney General in relation to these matters in terms of advising the Government on the legal guarantees that have been given. I am not privy to the HSE board meetings. It is a new departure that we now seem to be getting into a situation where there is public discussion of the individual contributions - whether they are accurate or not I do not...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: What I can say is that the new hospital will have clinical, operational and financial independence and that there are a number of legal instruments that guarantee that all the services that are legally permissible in this State will be provided to the women of Ireland now and well into the future and that is important.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I understand that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is aware of the allegations that have been made and he understands that those allegations are denied by the board member concerned. However, a senior counsel has been appointed to provide a report to inform his consideration of the matter. Terms of reference and timelines for this report are...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Health wrote to the HSE CEO on 26 April to request that an expert team be sent to UHL to ascertain urgently what additional resources might be deployed as well as any changes that could be made quickly to alleviate the current pressures being experienced in the emergency department. That expert team began its assessment at UHL last week. A key part of the solution for...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There are further plans for Limerick including the provision of a 96-bed ward block at UHL. The award of a works contract was approved by the HSE board on 25 March.