Results 45,001-45,020 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Ireland's position is well-recognised. When speaking with any Arab nation, they say they appreciate the Irish position on Palestine. On the question of recognition, it is not about waiting around. It is about deploying that in the most optimal way possible for the people of Palestine. What do I mean by that? The Arab states are currently very close to concluding a peace initiative on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----solution and recognition. There is no issue in Ireland regarding recognition but it does merit consideration at least. I put it to the Deputy that any sensible person watching would say that we must use it in the most optimal way possible for the benefit of the Palestinian people. That moment is not too far away.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, I take issue with some of what the Deputy said about my response from last week, because I did deal with the protection issue. The Government has brought in a raft of legislation and measures to protect tenants. There is also the rental tax credit, which was brought in in the budget before last and was increased in this budget. More fundamentally, the issue is the supply of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, we need to be honest with people. It is great in politics to say, "Oh, we have a target of 50,000." I think the Deputy said the Labour Party had a target of 1 million houses in ten years-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----with no inkling of a plan to do it. We are the only party in the House - sorry, the Government and the three parties together----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: That is music to Paul Murphy's ears because he believes in the one-party state, as we know.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: This is important. We know what is in the pipeline for next year. The Deputy knows the urgency. This is the number one issue facing the country. The Government has acknowledged it is the number one issue.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: We need to raise the level of building, not to be playing politics by saying "We have a bigger and better target than you", as happened at the last election.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Someone was doing 50,000, someone else was doing 100,000, so it was "Oh, we are going to do 150,000." You have got to get them built and stop objecting all over the place to housing. If it is the priority that it is, people need to stop objecting to housing developments as they are going up on the basis of whether they are social, affordable or whatever. That has happened too and it has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----in terms of the numbers of housing that have been completed.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: The number of young people who have been able to draw down mortgages in the last year or two is at a record level compared with the early 2000s. We are improving it but we have a lot more to do.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: I condemn without reservation the behaviour and activities of people at that location last week. It is not the first time that malicious and false rumours have been spread about people seeking international protection. We have all heard those rumours. They have been deliberately spread, falsely and wrongly. That stands to be condemned. The Garda is investigating aspects of that, I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: That is shocking stuff. You condemn racism and appalling behaviour but it is the Government's fault really. That is what you are saying, Deputy, and what you want thousands to say.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: You are now exploiting reprehensible behaviour as a political tool to create leverage against the Government parties. That is what the Deputy does with every issue. That is his modus operandi on every issue that comes before society. That is how he operates. It is reprehensible behaviour. The bottom line is that racists and people of the far right will look for any excuse to justify...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: No.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Let us not mix the messages. There is only one message here. It is "we condemn what you do". We condemn the racists, the undermining of human beings and the undermining of the dignity of every individual that comes to this country.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Let us not try to queer the pitch or muddy the waters, which the Deputy has tried to do.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Everyone knows we have had an unprecedented situation with the war in Ukraine that Russia visited upon Europe. It is the first time since the Second World War and I disagree with the Deputy's views on that. Russia has done that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: Some 100,000 people have arrived. We have had a fivefold increase in the number of people seeking asylum because of war and conflict all over the world. It is a huge pressure point all over Europe. It is not a policy choice at all, as the Deputy just sort of threw out there.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Feb 2024)

Micheál Martin: It is not.