Results 13,821-13,840 of 50,453 for speaker:Micheál Martin

European Council Meeting: Statements (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: What is the Tánaiste's understanding of the June decision and the current position of the German Chancellor and others regarding legacy debt? Is it his understanding that the June summit committed European Heads of State and finance ministers to apply the decision to legacy debts in respect of the pillar banks? Nothing we have heard from any European leader or finance minister in...

European Council Meeting: Statements (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: It did not say that.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: I am somewhat disappointed at the nature and tenor of the debate so far. Members of the Government parties are falling back on the old routine of attacking Opposition members, blaming everybody and not dealing in a calm and insightful way with what we are currently experiencing. To hear Deputy Noel Harrington speak about the honourable Independent Deputy as "ranting and raving" sums up the...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: I actually heard the Deputy speak and thought he spoke very constructively. One might not agree with everything he said but he made some good suggestions. His contribution was described as a rant. I heard the Tánaiste earlier, still in election mode 21 months on, blaming Fianna Fáil for destroying the country. It was almost a repeat of the election debates, with him talking...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: If Deputies read Alistair Darling's account-----

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: I ask the Deputy to allow me to speak. I have only ten minutes. With the greatest of respect, please allow democracy to take its course and permit people to speak. If Deputies read Alistair Darling's account they will see that the very same thing was happening in Britain. He received a telephone call one afternoon informing him that Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, one of the largest banks...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: Anything to do with fiscal consolidation was opposed and yet now, one year on, hey presto - this Government has rescued everything. I wish to remind the Tánaiste that €21 billion of the €30 billion consolidation of the public finances was carried out by the previous Government and he opposed it tooth and nail.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: The European monetary system did not work. The euro did not work. This was never an Irish crisis on its own. We know that now and to suggest that it was is dishonest. I urge Deputies to read Kevin Rafter's book, which is good in terms of explaining the inner workings of the Fine Gael operation and how its members had to label things. The mantra was that this was a Fianna Fáil...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: One of the reasons I called for this debate was that the reports from the ESRI, the Central Bank and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council are all casting doubt on the capacity of the Government to see through the programme accurately. When my party put forward amendments to the Fiscal Responsibility Bill to require that the Government should at the very least respond to opinions from the fiscal...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: No; he said that.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: On the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, I am correct about the amendment that was tabled. The bottom line is that the Government does not have to respond.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Government does not have to make a response. Does the Minister of State accept that?

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: That is symptomatic of the Government's approach to the wider economic situation, and that situation is not healthy, irrespective of what figures one looks at. I expect that the next report from the troika will be somewhat more nuanced than the previous ones. Strictly numerically, we are on target, because of the work of the previous Government. The current Government has followed through...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: I read it. I give credit where credit is due on the document.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: People expected bondholders to be burned -----

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: ----- but, of course, they were not.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: What was worse is that unsecured bondholders were paid over and above any bank guarantee.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Government did it until the most recent of times. What is even more incredible is that it paid back those who bought the bonds at a significant discount. The Taoiseach's assessment was correct but that did not suit the message that had to be articulated during the election campaign.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: He can say that as he leaves the Élysée Palace but in this House he mutters that we panicked. He cannot have it both ways.

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (24 Oct 2012)

Micheál Martin: It is time he copped on.