Results 6,461-6,480 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: This is how a party can announce it wants to cut the public service pay bill and then send its leader to a union conference during a general election to promise members more money and positions. This is also how we have the cynical game of Deputy Bruton posing as the champion of fiscal restraint while all around his colleagues demand extra spending. We have been hearing speeches about the...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: I was on a programme with Deputy Ruairí Quinn recently. Deputy Lucinda Creighton was speaking on it too, describing Fine Gael as a Christian Democratic right-of-centre party. I do not know how Deputies Liz McManus or Ruairí Quinn could be comfortable about that but that is only one example of the widening divergence-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: Now, when the issues which we must all confront-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Labour Party and Fine Gael have been trying to distance themselves from each other in recent weeks. They have taken very different approaches to fundamental economic and fiscal issues. Now, when the issues which we must all confront have never been more serious, the very people who are loudest in demanding a change in Government will not say what change their Government would implement....

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: -----to cast doubt on the Lisbon treaty-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: We should be far more positive. I had discussions with Deputy Costello two weeks ago. I thought I understood his position-----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: Concerning the forthcoming referendum, if we are for it we should go wholeheartedly and 100% for it. That should be the bottom line.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: We sought, and I believe we will have, a successful outcome to those discussions. At that point, it will be up to all parties that believe in active, positive and self-confident Irish participation at the heart of the European Union to take their case to the people. There will be a lengthy debate in the Oireachtas and we intend this to be held in a very constructive atmosphere. In...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: I am not obliged to provide it, but I will forward it to the Deputy in due course.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: I am entitled to speak and provide examples.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: The unprecedented measures which have been taken to tackle this unprecedented crisis are being recognised. Institutions and companies which matter to this country have seen decisive action being taken. They have seen the Government is willing to take the right choices, even if they are the toughest ones. The concern last year that the action required was simply too tough for the Government...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: When the people next go to the polls to elect the Members of this House and determine the make-up of a government, a major part of the debate will focus on what we all did when the crisis was at its worst. We will all have to say where we stood when the most important decisions were taken. We will have to say who took the path of empty populism and who took the path of responsible action,...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: I am genuinely pleased with the impact my speech is having on the Opposition. The Opposition should be aware that of all forms of human emotion, electoral euphoria -----

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Opposition should be aware that of all forms of human emotion, electoral euphoria is often the shortest lived. There are three years left in which every Member has the duty to fulfil his or her mandate. When we all seek a new mandate, I am confident that this side of the House will be able to show the people it took the right decisions when it mattered most.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: I take this opportunity to congratulate the winners of the by-elections and welcome them to the House. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan would have been a formidable candidate at any time, but the widespread sentiment and respect for Tony Gregory and her part on his team showed itself in what was an exceptional result. Deputy George Lee is our best known new Deputy in many years. Nobody could...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: This debate is founded on a view of politics as a never-ending campaign, where every decision and word is viewed solely through the lens of electoral calculation. The Fine Gael Party has not sought to outline the details of an alternative government, but merely to provide another opportunity for its partisan speeches. These are the same speeches which were delivered on the first day of this...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: On the national debt, the Government provided 1% of GNP each year and put it away towards the pension fund, which was a prudent move. I recall the Opposition criticising that move at the time.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: In the 2002 election Fine Gael and the Labour Party proposed we change the legislation so we could raid the fund. We are now being accused of having wasted and spent everything. We took 1% of GNP aside and put it away for a rainier day. Thanks be to God we did that. We also, through cash surpluses, reduced the national debt significantly over ten years. We reduced it to the low €20...

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: Much was done to reduce the national debt in the mid 1990s and much was done in terms of the physical transformation of the country and the putting away of the 1% pension fund.

Confidence in Government: Motion (9 Jun 2009)

Micheál Martin: Many other significant initiatives were taken right across the board. I do not fall into the category of people who seems to want to obliterate everything that happened over ten years and use particular descriptive terms to describe it as wasted opportunity and so on. The country advanced significantly. We are now in the middle of a deep international recession.