Results 40,461-40,480 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is imperative we get this through-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: -----as we collectively committed to. Remember, this amendment is not being rushed. It is the outcome of a considered analysis by the expert group in 2020.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising what is an important issue. It has always been my view that, historically, Ireland has been slow in respect of the early years sector. So rapid is the development of a child, human beings learn more from birth to the age of three than they will in the rest of their lives. From birth to six years of age, we need to provide the best of education and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: We are committed. The important thing about the Donogh O'Malley-Fianna Fáil Government was that school transport was a key implementer of the free secondary education initiative. It was radical at the time but-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: Sorry?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: As a former Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the Deputy will understand why he did not tell his colleagues. They may not have been forthcoming.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have to be sensitive to my Green Party colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. He put meat on the table. We need to have the vision but we also need to put flesh on the bone. We need to follow through with resources. I also take the Deputy's point on the organisation of childcare. We need universal access to childcare and we need to make sure...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is a very serious issue for young Michael and his parents, Jean and Teddy. The objective is, and should be, that this young child gets the very best of treatment for that young child that guarantees the best outcome and enables him to live a reasonable quality of life. From what the Deputy has said, that has not materialised from the health...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is truly awful for parents to get that phone call when everything has been prepared to make the journey to Crumlin. Many of us as Deputies encounter families where are significant health issues and I always recommend that a child would go to Crumlin because I would always be concerned that there may not be sufficient local expertise to deal with a rare condition. The issue is they should...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Capacity in the construction industry and the economy more generally has expanded significantly in the past year. Some 416,000 more people are working in the economy now than in 2020, so the bounceback from Covid was significant. Many people lost jobs as a result of Covid but it is still an extraordinary figure. We set a target of 2.5 million...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue. He might feed through some of the individual examples to the Minister, Deputy McGrath, or me. That is one aspect of it. On the second aspect, we will give this further consideration in the form of a review of the existing Act and the regulations that govern this area of payment of subcontractors, to see if we can get the balance right.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is unfair and incorrect to say the first response of the Minister is around career breaks. It is not, and no decision has been made on that. A whole range of initiatives have been taken in respect of teacher supply. The limits on substitute work applying to teachers on career breaks have also been temporarily suspended. The Teaching Council made regulations allowing for the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: I have a point of difference with the Deputy on that. I appreciate the motivation but we need to allow flexibility to each local authority. We very often criticise the centralisation of a whole range of decision-making and then every now and again, we pay lip service to the idea of devolution of authority to local councils. There is a balance to be struck here and a balance within the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: The focus has to be on additional supply in the first instance, getting local authorities to commission new housing programmes, and also to work with approved social housing bodies and using the tenant in situscheme, which the local authorities are developing with some degree of flexibility. I am not clear how legislating with the RTB would fast-track anything.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: There might be a better way of doing it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: On the prepay situation, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications is working on it and will come forward with proposals. Those involve the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, in particular and there is engagement with the Minister for Social Protection on that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: We will see if we can do something on that as well, although it is a bit more challenging. We are working on it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: The regulator is very conscious of the need to expand the number of taxi drivers. An average increase in taxi fares of 12% was approved from September last. A driver recruitment campaign ran on national radio and digital platforms in July to encourage interested parties into the industry. Current analysis carried out by the NTA indicates this campaign has been successful, with a 24%...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: The number of licensed vehicles is at 19,212. What the Deputy is suggesting flies in the face of existing frameworks for licences and so on.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Dec 2022)

Micheál Martin: It is not as simple as the Deputy has presented and he knows it.