Results 38,501-38,520 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The situation facing women in Afghanistan is truly appalling. The vista ahead of them is an appalling one. Notwithstanding criticism from some in the House about western engagement with Afghanistan over the past 20 years or so, one of the benefits that arose was the liberation of women to a certain extent particularly with access to education and schools. The Taliban is back in charge with...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The legislation is at heads of Bill stage.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I take the point the Deputy has raised. There are issues. There have been some adjustments in respect of some members of the Defence Forces. The Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces was established by the Government to undertake a comprehensive examination of all issues relating to our Defence Forces. That independent commission has reported. It was established within the first...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There is no doubt but that there are significant pressures at UHL. Overall, despite all of the negativity around health services, the bottom line is that in the past 20 years, Ireland has moved from 16th to first in the European Union league table of life expectancy. That is due to a whole range of public health measures but it is also due to investments in our health services, including...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: However, we have real issues with emergency admission. Population growth has also played a role. The Deputy is correct. The problem is that the recruitment of senior clinicians tends to be in tertiary hospitals. All the various colleges, including anaesthesia, talk about the need for high-volume activity located in the tertiary hospitals. We have had this debate for 25 years.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There are two aspects to the expert group. One is to have an immediate impact in terms of systems and flow through the hospitals. I will come back to the Deputy with details of the report.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: That is a very fair point. I will talk to the Minister for Foreign Affairs about the point the Deputy has raised. There is validity in what the Deputy has said. I would like to hear the counterargument. The Deputy makes a very fair point.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has made an eloquent case for the retention of Piper's show wagon in Kinsale. I ask Cork County Council to have a heart. We will engage on the matter. We must have a community-based response and if 2,000 people have signed a petition relating to something that has stood in Kinsale for 90 years, it merits a warm-hearted response from the authorities.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: They absolutely are. Deputy Barry confirmed recently that he kissed the Blarney Stone. On the point raised by Deputy Carey, I hope the legislation will be forthcoming in the next number of weeks. I will double-check that with the Minister. We will reflect on the request for pre-legislative scrutiny. Everyone should be aware that pre-legislative scrutiny will delay the scheme for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: There will be primary legislation.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on accommodation and supports for Ukrainian refugees oversees the whole-of-Government humanitarian response to supporting people from Ukraine who have sought temporary protection here. The Cabinet committee had its first meeting on Thursday, 12 May, when it considered the latest position on the number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Bacik raised the issue of buildings in the medium term. We will have a look at the Jurys Hotel site and we have been examining any other sites that Deputy Bacik and others have flagged to us. The International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, has been notified of the availability for use of a range of buildings. Local authorities have identified in excess of 500 vacant...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The reconfiguration of buildings is important. The real issue here is to get scale and volume through existing buildings that are not being used, to get them refurbished, if necessary, and back into use. In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, I met the Prime Minister of Ukraine recently at Shannon Airport but he did not ask me for a declaration of support for debt relief. He indicated to me...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Often an aspect of the war that is missed is the number of Russian citizens who have raised concerns about this war and who have been jailed for, literally, voicing dissent against the Russian Federation Government. It is quite shocking in terms of the anti-democratic impulse now going through Russia. On Deputy Tóibín's question, first of all, action will be taken against...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I apologise.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Good Friday Agreement (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 16, inclusive, together. Through the Government's shared island initiative, we are engaging with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future and to deliver tangible benefits for the whole island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Government wants to see a new power-sharing Executive formed in Northern Ireland as...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Good Friday Agreement (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Durkan and a number of Deputies raised the issue of the British Government decision yesterday and announcement of an intention to bring in legislation to circumvent and undermine the protocol. That is unacceptable. I made it very clear that unilateral action is not the way to progress issues pertaining to the protocol. We have always accepted that legitimate issues have been raised...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Good Friday Agreement (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: The articles in the lease are not in any sense an imposition on the State, nor could they be described as such whatsoever.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Good Friday Agreement (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are where we are in terms of ownership, voluntary hospitals and so on, which is historical. The idea was to co-locate a maternity hospital with a neonatal centre of excellence, adjacent to a tertiary hospital. That is what gave rise to Holles Street teaming up with St. Vincent’s hospital into the future.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Good Friday Agreement (18 May 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are looking forward to, I hope, working with city deals and regional enterprise parks in the north west, between Derry and Donegal, to be funded through the shared island initiative. The all-island economy has done very well and is doing quite well under the protocol. The protocol has proved to be advantageous for Northern Ireland and we are very anxious to maintain that economic...