Results 46,861-46,880 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: The only effective intervention is the industrial relations machinery. That is key.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: In any assessment of our education system, particularly our primary school system, it is shown to be one of the best in Europe. This is repeatedly the case with PISA outcomes and results for literacy and numeracy. Our system is very high up there in terms of outcomes. That needs to be said because the Deputy’s narrative was one of unrelenting misery and almost of a system that was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: We will focus on capitation and assess the capitation issue, which is the basic income that goes into schools to manage and maintain them on an ongoing basis. We will continue to invest in teachers across the full spectrum of issues that affect teachers. We will invest in training, particularly around additional special needs. On special education more generally, through the National...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Is ceist an-tábhachtach í. Over the past 20 years, there has been significant professionalisation of the entire area of medical technicians and the entire ambulance service. Much of that was informed by international best practice, such as in the development of the standards of training for emergency medical technicians, which replaced a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: The report should be published. I will speak to the Minister for Health about the up-to-date position. I understand the report received significant media attention in one publication. If a report is commissioned by a service, it should be published openly by the HSE. As I said, the HSE's national service plan had various key performance indicators regarding purple calls, which are cardiac...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy acknowledged that the Department has intervened in terms of the cost of secretarial services, wages, salaries and so on, which was a long running issue in primary education. Looking at the broader picture, budget 2024 provided targeted funding for school communities with an increase in capitation-related funding of over €81 million. As part of the capitation package in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. School caretakers are essential and they play a vital role in the life of any school, as do the school secretaries. Whenever I go into a school, I always describe the school secretaries as the engine room of the school because they make things tick for the principal and everybody else. That is generally the situation. Caretakers also have a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: A diagnosis of cancer is a very difficult one for a person and for that person's family to receive. Every effort should be made to make the journey of care as stress-free as possible. The Government has significantly reduced healthcare costs in terms of hospital inpatient charges, extending GP card coverage and things like that. In terms of car parking charges, that is something we will...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: Well over 1,000 people seeking asylum have been accommodated since the Government's strategy was announced and published some weeks ago. The Deputy must also acknowledge the unprecedented increase in the number of people seeking asylum in this country in the last three to four years. We have moved from having about 3,500 people per annum seeking asylum in 2019 to a situation this year where...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: Absolutely not. The price of houses is a problem for those seeking to buy or rent houses at affordable prices. There is an issue, and we want prices to come down and to moderate. It is all about supply, though, and I respectfully suggest that the proposals put forward by the Deputy's party would dampen it. We need more supply. This Government has already, in the context of its policies,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: We want to increase this trend and through the help-to-buy scheme and other supports, we will continue to help people to buy houses at affordable rates.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am not familiar with the background to the case and so forth but I will certainly talk to the Minister for Education in relation to the issue the Deputy has raised. There are established industrial relations and conciliation frameworks to try to resolve these issues or progress various schemes. I will, however, certainly discuss this issue with the Minister for Education.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I imagine there are quite a number of complications in expanding such a scheme. I will talk to the Minister for Transport and seek to get the outcome of the evaluation of the pilot scheme, because I presume there was an evaluation. I will talk to the Minister in respect of it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: Okay, but it has implications for the Department of Transport too.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: Oh, it has.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I will talk to the Minister in respect of the situation in Clonmel. More generally, there has been a consistent increase in investment in water infrastructure and wastewater treatment across the country. That investment has been effective in many areas. There is a significant programme ahead that will demand considerable capital investment for years to come-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: -----and we are committed to that investment.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I will speak to the Minister about the issue – I understand the Deputy is referring to modular builds – and revert to him on it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Minister for arts and tourism, Deputy Catherine Martin, has reported to the Government on a healthy evaluation of the basic income for artists scheme. It was an initiative that the Minister took and the Government supported and it has had a beneficial impact. It has been evaluated and I have no doubt but that the matter will be progressed further. The Minister will revert on it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (20 Jun 2024)

Micheál Martin: I believe that capitation was restored to pre-2011 levels for the first time in this year's budget. At approximately €81 million, it is not at the same level. I addressed this matter earlier, so it is fresh in my mind. We will consider capitation in the context of the forthcoming Estimates and budget because it has to be acknowledged that there has been a cost-of-living increase....