Results 41,861-41,880 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We are in the busy season for passports, as citizens prepare for their upcoming summer travel plans. The passport service is successfully responding to the high demand, and has already issued 350,000 passports to date this year. All turnaround times are at their target level and there are no backlogs. The customer service hub is responding to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is no backlog at the moment; none. Phone calls are being dealt with very quickly; within two to three minutes. As I said earlier in my replies, the longest wait for a call to be returned last week was five minutes and 350,000 passports have been issued this year. What can we do to help first-time applicants, including helping them to complete their applications correctly? A...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for their comments. Some 350,000 passports have issued to date this year. All turnaround times are at their target levels and there are no backlogs. The customer service hub is responding to over 3,000 queries per day and it has handled over 200,000 queries to date in 2023. The Department of Foreign Affairs website includes a dedicated passport service section where...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Those issues have improved immeasurably.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Good Friday Agreement (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the motivation behind his question. The visit of President Biden in the month that we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was indicative of wider American support for peace on this island. Throughout his visit, President Biden spoke of the importance that the United States attaches to the agreement. The Taoiseach...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Good Friday Agreement (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with most of what the Deputy has said. It is also important to point out that President Biden has appointed Joe Kennedy III as an economic envoy to Northern Ireland. Joe Kennedy spent a lot of time in Northern Ireland both prior to the week of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and during that week. He has had a lot of engagement with industry,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Good Friday Agreement (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy. In all of my visits to Northern Ireland and in my engagements, I have always ensured there was a community dimension to my programme. I refer particularly to meeting communities on both sides of interface locations, for example. I had a very interesting visit to Creggan and surrounding areas last year. It was striking that residents on both sides of peace walls...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Intense fighting is continuing in eastern Ukraine, particularly around the city of Bakhmut. Russia is continuing its regular missile attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure across the country. Ireland remains unwavering in its support of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to defend itself against Russia's brutal...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Foreign Affairs Council met earlier this week, on Monday, and the foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, addressed that meeting by video conference. He is seeking a broad range of supports from the European Union, including the provision of weapons from those member states that are providing them in as timely a manner as possible and action to prevent the circumvention of sanctions. He gave...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: President Zelenskyy described his talks with President Xi Jinping as being meaningful and I believe they lasted well over an hour. As to the degree to which China can influence Russia, that level of engagement could have positive outcomes but we must wait and see. Any influence that can be exercised over Russia to withdraw and to cease the war is important. Russia started this war...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have had regular interactions with the British Government in respect of the legacy Bill, especially in the context of the Good Friday Agreement. As outlined earlier, I attended the Queen's University events and so forth. I met the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, in person at the Munich Security Conference in mid-February. We have made very clear, as I did in my speech in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil rátaí morgáiste ag ardú ó thosach na bliana agus níos luaithe. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil sé sin ag cur brú ar dhaoine agus ar theaghlaigh. Tá a fhios againn faoi sin. Mar aon leis sin, is léir go ndearna an Rialtas an-chuid sa bhliain seo caite ó thaobh an chostais mhaireachtála. Ó...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Over the past 12 months and before that, the Government has introduced unprecedented cost-of-living measures worth billions in order to put money back into the pockets of households----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----with a view to reducing the impact of cost-of-living increases. I remember Sinn Féin's response to the energy crisis. Thanks be to God we did not follow it, because the same proposal the party put forward was adopted by-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: -----the Liz Truss Cabinet, which caused a huge crisis in the UK. The bottom line is that we are very conscious of the pressures on people in respect of mortgage interest rate increases.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have intervened across the board on a whole range of fronts to reduce costs, in the first instance, for people availing of public services, be it with hospital inpatient charges or the free book scheme coming in at primary level from September. Mortgage holders will also benefit from the measures we have introduced. However, we are looking at a taxation measure. In the past, the Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: That has been a consensual view for quite some time, but I have no doubt Sinn Féin will always develop an ad hocpolicy in respect of topic of the day. We will have to deal-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: Sinn Féin will stand up for everybody.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As she said, my colleague, the Minster of State, Deputy Niall Collins, will make a statement to the Dáil later today. He has already clarified the sequence of events around this issue.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Apr 2023)

Micheál Martin: As he has pointed out, it was in September 2008 at a statutory meeting of Limerick County Council that the sale of a property in Patrickswell was approved and sold following a transparent and open sales process that was open to all and advertised in the local press, like any other land for sale. The Minister of State was not a member of the council in 2008 because he had been elected to this...