Results 50,121-50,140 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for the interesting point he has raised. I was the one to introduce the threshold of six for a special class with two SNAs and a teacher back in 1998 when we took a very significant decision in a Government memorandum. It is fair to make that point about a model for rural schools and schools whose numbers are quite low. I will talk to the Minister for Education, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Would that report come from the HSE?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: We will let the HSE know that the Deputy has raised the issue and ask that a serious incident report be completed. I do not know the background of the case. I extend my sympathies to the family of Jimmy Loughlin on what transpired here. I do not know if it was referred to the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, which could be one way of-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Well, it depends. It may be for the Mental Health Commission in respect of mental health issues but there may be broader issues. That should be the direction of travel rather than a full public inquiry, which could take a very long period of time. It is a serious issue the Deputy has raised and I will follow up on it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Over the last number of years, the Government has allocated significant investment to pubs. The investment during the Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented and enabled many rural pubs to develop good outdoor facilities and so on. That is a good thing and very positive. I do take the Deputy's point about socialisation being good for you. Professor Luke O'Neill has written in his Sunday...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I am just saying what the reality is.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: We are all familiar with it. We have all enjoyed a pint in a pub.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Will I engage in having a pint?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: We always engage with the VFI.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Part of the reason could be the expansion of medical card eligibility. More than 1.5 million people now have a medical card. There has been exponential growth in that number. The previous Minister took significant steps in successive budgets to expand coverage. I am surmising but I will ask the HSE and the Minister to get some background information or statistics for the Deputy. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: Just hear me out. Some people who might not have been entitled because of income ineligibility are now entitled-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: -----so they move from discretionary to automatic entitlement.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: It is difficult to believe that ten years have passed since that momentous referendum and the huge endorsement of marriage equality by the Irish people. We have come a long way in respect of LGBTQ rights. We still have some distance to go. It is extremely important in public discourse, particularly in relation to trans rights as I said here yesterday, that we acknowledge every person's...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: On Deputy Conway-Walsh's question, I too welcome the students from Coláiste Pobail Acla. Cuirim fáilte faoi leith rompu chuig Teach Laighean. On the facilities for young people, working with the LEADER programme, county councils and the State, we can provide good quality youth centres. I have been in different parts of the country where some have done it better than others. I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Records (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Consenting Officer in the Department of Taoiseach receives applications in the form of certificates from Certifying Officers in Departments/Offices of State for the withholding of records, in accordance with the National Archives Act. The number of certificates approved by the Consenting Officer in each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 is provided in the table below. ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (14 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Government does not support the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) approach, although individuals and organisations have the right to make their own decisions. The Department of the Taoiseach engages with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on matters pertaining to procurement and is committed to complying with requirements under national and EU procurement law. The Department...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (13 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: The Government has established Cabinet Committees across a range of policy areas: •Economy, Trade and Competitiveness, •Housing, •Infrastructure, •Climate Action and Energy, •Disability, •Health, •EU and International Affairs, •Justice, Migration and Social Affairs, •Water Quality, •Northern Ireland, and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cross-Border Co-operation (13 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 to 75, inclusive, together. On 10 April, I announced the new phase of the Government’s Shared Island Initiative in a keynote address to the 4th Shared Island Forum. Our Programme for Government sets out an ambitious agenda for building a shared island, backed by a further €1 billion commitment to the Shared Island Fund out to 2035. On...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: My attendance at the Munich Security Conference provided an important opportunity to discuss our many shared challenges and to set out our perspective on how best to manage them. I attended events with world leaders at the conference and had a number of bilateral meetings including with Maia Sandu, President of Moldova and Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Urban Development (13 May 2025)

Micheál Martin: As agreed by Government, the Department of the Taoiseach has convened an Interdepartmental Group (IDG) to examine the recommendations made by the Dublin City Taskforce. The IDG is currently preparing a Report which will be considered by Government in due course. In terms of criteria and mechanism of specific urban communities’ initiatives, any such policy will form part of...