Results 40,621-40,640 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The more fundamental part of the Government's strategy is the premiums and the large increase in that regard, which is a very significant incentive for farmers to use more of their land for afforestation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The size of the fund will be about €200 million. The fund aims ultimately to own a total of 12,000 ha of forest. This is what I have been informed. This equates to roughly 1.5% of our total existing forest estate. Of those 12,000 ha of forests, roughly 3,500 ha will be new forests, which the fund hopes to plant over the next five years. That is an average of 700 ha of new forests...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: My understanding is that the Minister has offered to come before the House at the earliest opportunity.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is no massive sale of land by Coillte.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Coillte is not selling land. The Deputy referred to a massive sell-off. That type of language creates polemics around this. There is no sell-off of Coillte land, and I said that in an earlier response. As I said earlier, it has entered into a partnership with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is an Irish State fund, with a view to purchasing land or existing forest. My...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy. The matter is very serious. There were further revelations this morning about Deputies in the House, in particular Deputy Cairns. This behaviour is becoming more frequent. The Ceann Comhairle has endeavoured to raise this issue in terms of a fund and so on. I will speak to my Government colleagues in respect of this in terms of wraparound supports. I understand...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----on a cross-party basis to work up a comprehensive approach to this issue. I am venturing this as an idea. I am as guilty as anyone else who has been here in that I have absorbed a lot, but things have reached a new level. Collectively, we need to come to grips with this issue in a comprehensive way.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy. What is going on is shocking and its impacts are very damaging. It should not be happening. We have to await the outcome of the High Court case, not least to inform the best direction of travel in terms of legislation and the policy that prohibits this.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I know. In my view, and I have spoken to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine about this, it is too long. It has gone on for a long time - too long, from our perspective. I will engage with the Minister to see if there is anything we can do in the interim, given the legal context.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The first point I would make is that 40 years ago the world of health was vastly different from today. We have had far more productivity in the health service in the intervening years, particularly in terms of the revolution in day-case activity, day-case procedures, length of stay in hospitals and so forth. All of this has radically changed the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: First of all, on the issues relating to the north east in particular, clinical protocols have already been adopted in terms of patients going to the right hospital location for the right outcome.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: That is the fundamental principle that governs how doctors respond to a particular emergency. There is an issue in terms of pressures on hospitals, and of that there is no doubt. The proper utilisation of Navan in the context of medical emergencies, or indeed the pressure in medical assessment units and so on, is critical. The utilisation of hospitals in the most effective way is the key...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the issue the Deputy raises. I understand the point he makes in terms of the value for residents of the centre being open seven days a week, on a continuous basis, so they would not be disrupted. I will ask the Minister for Health and the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities to engage with the HSE to resolve this issue, or at least to understand the background...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: In terms of the specific fund itself, Coillte has legally entered into an arrangement and had the powers to do so. The review I am talking about relates to broader policy, looking at the development of alternative models. We have to avoid a monocultural approach but there will be a need for commercial forestry to underpin the timber industry itself. In the future, both Coillte and the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: Not to this specific arrangement but the Ministers are meeting.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy and acknowledge that he has raised this before. I met with Pavee Point before Christmas as well and we discussed a particular pilot project. I will be taking this up again with the Minister to see if we can get the pilot project expanded. I am not clear why the limits are there at all, particularly as we go through a very harsh winter.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has made a very good point. We saw during Covid that the role of community pharmacies was quite effective and that is still the case in respect of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. That has worked well. I do not have an up-to-date position in terms of the outcome of the working group but I will speak to the Minister in that regard and seek to have further information provided...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have discussed the issue of the delays with the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. He is working proactively with the RSA in respect of the NCT. Progress has been made, with 33,500 tests having been conducted last week. That is a significant increase on the pre-Christmas period, when tests were averaging approximately 25,000 per week. The backlog is simply too long, however. As the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----the fulfilment of the charter. My understanding is there is now a commitment to fulfil the charter and the obligations within the charter in respect of those whose tests are delayed.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Jan 2023)

Micheál Martin: The National Car Testing Service, NCTS, has recruited 110 vehicle inspectors, including 44 testers, bringing the total number of vehicle inspectors to 595 by the end of last year.