Results 38,301-38,320 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have led from the front on this. I have asked the Minister for Health over the last year to get this issue resolved once and for all because it has been going on since 2013. The previous Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, brought in Kieran Mulvey, for example, to bring all the parties together. Let us not pretend there has not been detailed, exhaustive engagement between all parties to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Some are. What is the issue then if the Deputy is not arguing there is a conspiracy?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: At some stage, we have to take people at good faith in regard to this.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Otherwise, we will never get movement on it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There are a number of questions there. I take it is the Bord Pleanála issue because I could deal at length with the housing issue. As I said yesterday, and I thank Deputy Murphy for raising the issue, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is aware of the allegations that have been made. He understands those allegations are currently being...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Minister has acted quickly and promptly on this and has appointed a senior counsel to provide a report on the specific issue. The terms of reference are currently being finalised. I assure the Deputy there will not be any undue delay in respect of that because the independence of An Bord Pleanála, as defined in the Planning and Development Act, is important in itself. Also, it has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I fully accept the huge challenges and pressures on the health service. On the question on why we cannot measure the improvements in the service, I wish to make a general point. There have been dramatic improvements in health outcomes over the past 20 or 30 years. In 2000, we were 16th in the EU league table regarding life expectancy; this year,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is important to retain healthcare staff. Many current staff in our hospitals are senior and experienced, and have garnered experience and expertise overseas. There has always been that balance. There should be better retention in the early years of those who have gone through our medical schools. That considerable investment by the State should be retained in our hospital system to a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. We cannot make Covid, or its impacts, disappear. I am not suggesting the Deputy is saying that but we cannot do that. Unfortunately, Covid has had impacts across all aspects of activity and lives. That said, we had a record 8,607 apprentice registrations in 2021. We are well on the way to ensuring that our 2025 target of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is a fair point. I will speak to the Minister again to see what can be done in respect of the seven-year timeframe the Deputy is suggesting. It is a fair point.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is saying that at the moment people may have to go seven years, which would be too long. We did not close down medicine during Covid. I am not saying that facetiously. We did close down construction twice - in the first and second lockdowns - which had impacts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The students went online. I take the Deputy's point but the nature of apprenticeship is that the student is on the job-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: In the case of medical studies, many doctors were in hospitals and gained different types of experiences. We did not close that down. I take the Deputy's point. It is valid but there are specific-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is aware that I have been involved in apprenticeship as a Minister in different capacities. There are specific block periods of release that apprentices have to do, with specific facilities and all of that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Government, through the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs, has condemned, and I condemn, the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Media freedom and the safety of journalists must be protected. There is an extra obligation on state forces to ensure the protection of journalists. We express our deepest condolences to her family. We have...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I answered that question earlier, but the lease does give effective ownership to the State. In my view, there is no question about that. I have read the letters from Professor Deirdre Madden and Dr. Sarah McLoughlin. Again I make the point that it is not clear to me at all and no one has actually specifically explained from their perspective - from Deputy Bacik's perspective, for example -...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----saying this should go ahead.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: But the conditionality only relates-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----to the utilisation of the site, which is not an imposition on the maternity hospital, if you read the-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (11 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: First, it is important to give context to this. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has led much very important work in respect of illegal birth registrations and, in the context of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill and the amendments thereto which take on quite a number of the recommendations from the child rapporteur in respect of illegal birth registrations, the Government believed it was...