Results 12,841-12,860 of 50,453 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Order of Business (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: I would like the Taoiseach to answer the direct charge. How can he put money into an Estimate when the legislation upon which it is based is not ready until the autumn?

Order of Business (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: I have asked that question repeatedly this morning, and all the Taoiseach can do is go back four years or five years. He cannot answer but he is responsible-----

Order of Business (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: Quite the opposite. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is obviously not convinced the Government will succeed.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: Last week the European Council and the euro group issued conclusions which gave us all some cause for hope. A new and more credible approach to addressing bank recapitalisation has been agreed in principle. A joint regulatory framework for the financial system will emerge at some point, although the scope of this is unknown. These are substantial moves forward. They mark a welcome...

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: No, I am not talking about the debt, I am talking about the economic and monetary union. The Taoiseach says that talks are coming up and that we will full play a full part. What is the Government's position on that?

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: We should not wait for President Van Rompuy.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: We should state how Ireland sees Europe evolving and what is in the best interest of Ireland. We must engage citizens. What is clear from the Taoiseach's speech, which he did not say last weekend, is that we will need treaty change in Ireland. There will be further referendums on this point and we should tell people that and explain to them why it is necessary and in the best interests of...

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: I am, but I am wondering if it is tied into the fiscal, monetary and political union issue. The political and economic issues on the agenda for the next six months are profound. For Ireland, the time has long since come when our Government should start articulating exactly where it stands on these reforms. They are even more important than debt issues in determining when the recovery will...

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: I raised the question of the European Stability Mechanism becoming involved in buying Italian bonds on the secondary market. A central dynamic of the crisis has been investor fear about the lack of a lender of last resort. In essence, the ESM will replace the European Central Bank in terms of buying bonds on the secondary market. The ECB did this for some time, but it did not work. I...

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: Does the Minister of State accept that the summit did not deal with the issue?

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: Not necessarily.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: The ECB is-----

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: It has not. The crisis almost became a catastrophe last weekend because of successive failures to intervene decisively as the lender of last resort. There is opposition to the ECB becoming that lender-----

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: -----but we are replacing it with the ESM which does not have the firepower to fight a run on the bond market. Spain and Italy combined have a bond stock valued at €3 trillion. They must be kept in the market-----

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: -----or else everything will collapse. I accept the Minister of State's acknowledgement that the summit did not deal with the central driver of the crisis. I will ask a brief question before handing over to other Deputies. Does the Minister of State agree that allocating 1% of the overall European budget to the growth agenda is inadequate and that the tortuous mechanisms being devised via...

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: Did I say that?

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: No. That is what the Government has been suggesting for the past 12 months.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Minister of State should avoid her partisan nonsense and answer the questions asked.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: A growth pact.

European Council: Statements (4 Jul 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Minister of State should read the Taoiseach's comments in The Irish Times last Wednesday. He stated he wanted to get project bonds up and running.