Results 41,221-41,240 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: That is no surprise-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is no surprise in respect of Israel and its general view. I have experience of very learned international judicial figures having produced reports in the past, and the degree to which they were personally undermined subsequently was quite shocking. That is going back over a decade. The International Criminal Court is investigating the situation in Palestine, as well as Ukraine and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should join the bilateral talks on the Estimates and statements.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: Come on. I have used different language for the whole day.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: You are forever partisan and politicising the Palestine issue. “Who is better than the next person on Palestine?” seems to be the competition and it needs to stop.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: On Deputy Berry’s points on the support we are giving through the training of Ukrainian soldiers in respect of key areas like de-mining, combat medical aid and so on, which, again, people have endeavoured to portray in a wrong way, I think it is the very least we can do for a nation that has come under the most appalling attacks, the destruction of civilian populations, the targeting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: Senator Ó Donnghaile also made comments about what I said. It is a trend, and a pattern. It is not just Senator Ó Donnghaile.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am giving Senator Ó Donnghaile my answer. He might not like my answer, but I am telling him. I have no intention of getting into a competition.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I think the best solution is the two-state solution. I will make my call as to the language I use, and when I use it. I wish Senator Ó Donnghaile would do the same when he meets his American interlocutors. I rarely hear Senator Ó Donnghaile or members of his party ever coming back from a delegation to the United States saying that they have raised Palestine with Senators or the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is a fair point, and I am putting it back to the Senator. I think the Senator should be consistent-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have answered the question on accountability, and I will answer it again. However, I am making a point. Senator Ó Donnghaile attacked me about language I used-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Senator did, and he had a criticism, which he is entitled to make, by the way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am entitled to respond also and say that I think Senator Ó Donnghaile is playing a double game here. When he goes to the United States and engages with United States Senators and Congress people, I rarely hear, in any press release afterwards, any commentary whatsoever about Palestine. The Senator's party tends to reserve it for the Irish Government all of the time, or certain...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: What I can do, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, and what we can do as a Government and as a country, is strengthen the capacity of bodies like the International Criminal Court, the UN more generally, and the European Court of Human Rights. We can strengthen their capacities by supporting them with funding, resources and personnel. It is a source of great pride that we have an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do not believe that specific legislation would have any impact on accountability, in real terms. Its practical application has always been questionable. As a symbol, it had merit in getting a message to Israel but in terms of its practical working out, Senator Ó Donnghaile would have to acknowledge that in terms of realities on the ground, there will always be difficulties with it....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Priorities for 2023: Minister for Foreign Affairs (28 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I accept fully what Senator Wilson said. He is correct in terms of the territory, and it is about 10% of the population. That does not matter; parts of it are occupied. I would like to say, in response to the point Senator O'Reilly made, that I am in favour of enlargement. I fully accept what he is saying. He is correct in terms of the territory and 10% of the population. That does not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. We were all shocked at the potential impact of such a disastrous fire in one of our major acute hospitals. If you stand back and think about what the implications could have been, it is clear we owe an extraordinary debt of gratitude to all of the essential services involved, especially the fire service and Civil Defence personnel who got there...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: First, I take the points that the Deputy has made in good faith, of course. On the earlier point the Deputy made, it is worth reflecting that the Health Service Executive, which comes in for criticism from time to time, in the context of Covid, the cyberattack and now this, has responded in a coherent, effective way to real emergencies. These have been three that we can identify. That...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: In terms of this opportunity, by which I mean we are building now anew and fresh, we should examine how we deal with the future needs of the hospital in Wexford. That is my view. Obviously, the Cabinet will discuss this. There are opportunities. Also, it is an emergency. We have to look at the planning situation and see what we can do to expedite the return of permanent facilities here....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Mar 2023)

Micheál Martin: Hopefully, yes, but we might discuss that. We want to give those at the coalface the opportunity to get the main work done first and, of course, to come back to us then.