Results 46,641-46,660 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, I do not eulogise capitalism. The Deputy says she is for a different system but she probably should be a bit more transparent. She believes in a 100% socialist economic model, which I do not think would have created the full employment that we have in this country today. I point to her approach to multinational companies. Yesterday, she said we should boycott Hewlett-Packard, and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: We need to do more.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, the Deputy is not the only one who goes to the various shops she mentions. She should not create the impression that she is the only person in this House who goes to Tesco. I have been in Tesco. I have been in SuperValu.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: Through the Chair, the Deputy made a snide comment. She does not have a monopoly on these things. That is the only point I make. I go to a local market. I mentioned local markets because I thought she would be agreeable that we should look after local producers.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I have no problem buying eggs from the local person who produces them in Ballycotton. That is supporting local people in our communities who are doing an extra bit of work like that and keeping the local economy working as best we can.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I have acknowledged the increase in food prices, as well as the cost of energy. That is why we did some unprecedented stuff in respect of giving people money back to try to deal with the undoubted increase in the cost of living. That is why the €400 lump-sum, once-off working family payments were made to 45,000 families with 97,000 children. A total of 409,000 households got a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should acknowledge that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: First, we have a very extensive tenant in situ programme. It has been very effective.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, introduced it approximately two years ago. It has been very successful and effective in preventing evictions by giving the option of going to the seller and saying the council will buy the house, thereby enabling the person living there to continue as a tenant of the council. It has been very effective, with up to 1,800 approvals so far. I will get the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I do not think the commission is recommending no-fault evictions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: That is not what it says in the report. One of its recommendations is: Regulate market rents fairly and effectively by reforming the current system of rent regulation and establishing a system of ‘Reference Rents’. This reform should be informed by evidence-based reviews on the impact of regulated market rents on rented housing supply, accessibility and affordability. Such...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: Yes, and I have gone through the recommendations for the rental sector. I do not see any reference to a ban on no-fault evictions. It seems that the commission wants a significant reform of the existing rental market regulation. That will take significant work. Meanwhile, the Government is absolutely committed to the tenantin situscheme, as we have demonstrated by buying houses where...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy knows, the ESRI report is based on children born in 2008 and assesses them over a nine-year period. Without question, quality of housing impacts on the well-being of children and families. That is why we are building more social housing this year and the past three years. This Government has, notwithstanding Covid-19 lockdowns, substantially changed the dial in respect of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should acknowledge that two of the stronger MEPs on the Palestine question over the last four years have been Barry Andrews and Billy Kelleher. They have been robust, they have visited the area and they have been strong in respect of upholding the right of Palestinians to their homeland and state and having a fair resolution of the conflict. It is shocking that Israel has...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for Health can engage on that more specific issue but the more fundamental point I would make is-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I think I have to take the first four questions.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I can give the Deputy Whitmore the answer. She asked two or three questions. The first was the-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: We are not in a position to determine that right now. I have long enough around to know that in the health sector situations evolve and facilities rarely close. They are either redeployed or used for something else, or they are kept on as they are. Obviously the whole idea of the national children's hospital is to have the best and most appropriate care for children with particular...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: Employers' PRSI has been increased. The Social Insurance Fund is extremely important for the future. Overall, Government has significantly reduced taxes on workers and, through national wage agreements and so on, with the rate of inflation coming right down this year, net incomes will increase overall. Tax has come down every year since this Government came into office, including income...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 May 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I visited the area and met with many residents. It is quite shocking what the residents in this area have gone through. It is an awful pity that the pipeline, which was 60% completed, was not enabled to go the full distance because a human disaster continues to unfold for the residents of that area. It was heart-rending to see. Even as we...