Results 43,901-43,920 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I presume the Minister will provide detailed replies to him. The objective of the Government and the NAS is in line with protocols to get ambulances to people as quickly as possible. Deputy Ó Murchú indicated that the service that was eventually provided was excellent. I ask Deputy Ó Murchú to give me the details of the case and perhaps forward them to the Minister for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Wynne. I also want to articulate my sympathies to the family of the late Tras Honan. She was an outstanding parliamentarian who was very proud of her roots and background. She was a force of nature in the Houses and her parliamentary party. Perhaps there will be an opportunity in the Seanad to pay a more meaningful and detailed tribute to her work at an appropriate time. ...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have made strong progress on offshore wind. A major Government policy to help deliver Ireland's ambitious climate energy targets is the auction-based renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, through which grid-scale renewable electricity generation projects compete to receive a guaranteed price for the electricity they generate. More than 1 GW and 1.8 GW of new wind and solar...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: This is an issue we have been committed to in terms of the continued support for the health, personal and social service needs of Irish thalidomide survivors. A confidential facilitation process on a range of issues relating to thalidomide commenced during my term as Taoiseach and has continued. Progress was being made on significant aspects in this regard, which we are currently...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: The aircraft noise competent authority, ANCA, is the noise regulator. It was established under the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019. Its statutory functions include monitoring the impact of aircraft noise, assessing proposals for development at Dublin Airport and regulating for the management of aircraft noise. In 2022, ANCA defined a noise abatement objective, NAO, for...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Question Nos. 144 and 146 together. I thank the Deputy for tabling these questions. I want to start by offering my condolences to the families of the three people who were killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem this morning. I unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism. I also want to offer my condolences to the families of the two children killed in Jenin yesterday...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I think the Deputy's presentation, frankly, is politically dishonest. He says the world and the global south are watching and accusing us of double standards. They do not accuse Ireland of double standards at all. I have met representatives of all the Arab states in the region and I have met those from African states. Whenever it comes to talking about the Middle East, they make an...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I want all the violence to end. That is why I went to Israel. It was not only to help to get Irish citizens out of Gaza, who at that stage had not left. It was also to speak directly with the Israeli Government and say we believe a humanitarian ceasefire is the only way and to put our point of view. We also went to other states and to Ramallah in the West Bank as well. Members of Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: You did. Not Deputy Carthy personally, but his party did. The Deputy should go through it - the party's councillors, TDs and everyone did. I was accused of complicity and whatever. Suffice it to say we both agree on the need for this war to end. As I said earlier, it would be unconscionable for the war to resume. Too many lives have been lost, including those of too many innocent...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: Ensuring the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wish to leave, and their accompanying dependants, is a priority of the Government. From the beginning of the crisis, I worked tirelessly to facilitate the necessary clearance from the relevant authorities for Irish citizens to exit Gaza, together with the family members accompanying them. Throughout October and November, I spoke...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Clearance to exit Gaza is decided by the relevant local authorities, essentially the Israeli and Egyptian authorities which facilitate and process it. These authorities have made it clear to all countries with citizens in Gaza that the focus for facilitating departures from Gaza is on foreign and dual nationals and immediate dependants accompanying...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I pay tribute to the embassy in Tel Aviv and our ambassadors in Israel, Egypt and Ramallah and the teams that work with them for the efforts they have made in challenging circumstances, and to the headquarters team in Dublin that coordinates all our efforts to get civilians out. They are in contact at least once a day with Irish citizens who wish to depart. The Department has facilitated...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Ireland remains committed to advancing a peaceful and secure future for Palestinians and Israelis based on a two-state solution in line with the agreed parameters and international law. Our central focus right now is on a durable humanitarian ceasefire. The international community must bring all of our collective weight to bear to secure that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: There is, and we are doing it. Israel did not attend the meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean Regional Forum, which is composed of EU member states and regional partners. The sole topic of discussion was the Middle East and the war in Gaza. With like-minded EU member states, we are pushing hard to get a credible pathway to peace, one that involves a two-state solution. That is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: We are. It is the entire focus of our diplomatic endeavours. In my work and the work of the Taoiseach and the rest of the Government, we have tried in the first instance to work with other EU member states to push towards a permanent cessation of the war. It cannot be said often enough how savage the Hamas atrocity at the outset of this war was. It had an impact on the Israeli psyche...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 151, 152, 195 and 238 together. Ensuring the safe exit from Gaza of all Irish citizens who wish to leave, and their accompanying dependants, has been a priority of the Government and my Department since the outbreak of the current crisis. For the past seven weeks, officials at Ireland's embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, our representative office in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for their comments. I will certainly convey their compliments to the ambassadors in Tel Aviv, Cairo and Ramallah, who are still working hard and have worked very hard, and also to our team in headquarters, who co-ordinated it all and have maintained almost daily contact with our citizens. As I said earlier regarding the release of Emily Hand as a hostage, I think it is a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: In response to Deputy Haughey, we are very much working with other like-minded European Union member states to push for a roadmap to a two-state solution. We can never again allow this to happen and we can never again go back to a situation where, essentially, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is put on the backburner. There has to be very proactive international diplomatic and political...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 153, 156, 157, 178, 184 and 215 together. I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I have been engaging intensively with EU, regional and international partners since the beginning of this crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. During all of these engagements, I have conveyed the same message: there is an urgent need for a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (30 Nov 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputies for their kind comments and appreciate their supportive comments. In response to Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, EU member states are supportive of a two-state solution. The issue is how we follow through on it and give heft and a sense of urgency to bringing it about. Part of that will be pressure on the Israeli Government to move on what is happening in the West...