Results 1-20 of 1,558 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Catherine Martin

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Apr 2016)

Catherine Martin: Toisc gurb í seo an chéad uair dom labhairt sa Dáil, ba mhaith liom i dtús báire mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le muintir Bhaile Átha Cliath - Ráth an Dúin as an onóir seo a thabhairt dom agus as a gcuid muiníne ioman a léiriú chun ionadaíocht a dheánamh ar a son sa Dara Dáil is Tríocha. As this is my first...

Mental Health Services: Statements (26 Apr 2016)

Catherine Martin: Ireland's mental health policy, A vision for Change, was launched in 2006. This document was heralded as innovative, exciting, progressive and inspirational. By positioning the service user at the heart of his or her own recovery journey, it promised a new and modern approach for citizens with mental health difficulties. It offered pathways through which our mental health services could be...

Central Bank (Variable Rate Mortgages) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 May 2016)

Catherine Martin: The banks are deliberately overcharging homeowners unlucky enough to be stuck with variable rate mortgages. The banks do this because they can. A family with an average mortgage in the State can now lose up to €400 per month or up to €100,000 over the lifetime of a mortgage. This is money unjustifiably taken from ordinary families and stolen from the real economy. The irony...

Central Bank (Variable Rate Mortgages) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 May 2016)

Catherine Martin: It is crucial that we get this right from the start. We propose that the Bill in its current form be withdrawn and presented again as soon as possible. Not in six months' time as in the Minister's proposed amendment, as six months is too long and does not acknowledge the urgency of this matter, but as soon as possible once the Bill is capable of passing the basic tests of constitutionality.

An Teanga Gaeilge: Statements (18 May 2016)

Catherine Martin: De réir saineolaithe idirnáisiúnta, tá an Ghaeilge sa Ghaeltacht ag cúlu go tapaidh mar theanga laethúil an phobail. Go bunúsach, tá todhchaí na Gaeltachta i mbaol. Cad is Gaeltacht ann? An áit fisiciúil nó meon aigne í? Nó an bhfuil an dá rud fite fuaite lena chéile? Caithfear an cheist a chur ar gach...

Estimates for Public Services 2016 (15 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: I wish the Minister well in his new role. He has assumed a responsibility which carries the hopes of many of the various and numerous stakeholders in education. Guím gach beannacht ar an Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna ar bhonn proifisiúnta agus go pearsanta sa Dáil seo. I echo the words of other elected Members and express my frustration that Deputies were not afforded the...

The Arts: Motion [Private Members] (22 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: I commend Deputy Niamh Smyth on bringing this motion to the House. I and my Green Party colleague Deputy Eamon Ryan will be more than happy to support it. Without the necessary governmental support the arts cannot flourish, and we need them to flourish for the very sake of our heritage. We need the arts to be strong and independent. Yet Ireland is currently ranked at the bottom of the...

Animal Protection (in relation to hares) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (23 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: I commend Deputy O'Sullivan for bringing this Bill to the House and look forward to a time when these barbaric practices are outlawed in Ireland. The Green Party has always been opposed to all blood sports and remains resolutely so. Needless to say the Green Party will be supporting this Bill. I ask Members tonight to consider the words of Abraham Lincoln, who said:I am in favour of animal...

United Kingdom Referendum on European Union Membership: Statements (27 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: While the referendum on the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union was decided by a myriad of forces and the reasons people voted the way they did must be assessed in the fullness of time in the cold light of day, we must, first and foremost, respect the democratic decision taken by our neighbours. On this momentous and challenging occasion, I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther...

Equal Status (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (28 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: Tógfaidh mé ceithre nóiméad. I welcome this Bill because I strongly believe we need to reform fundamentally the schools admission practices in all State-funded schools and ensure equality of access, participation and opportunity in our schools. While what is proposed in this Bill is preferable to the current system, it does not go far enough. What is required is quite...

Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: I welcome the Bill. The Green Party will be supporting it. My colleagues in our Technical Group, the Social Democrats, have asked me to express their support for the Bill but, owing to the change in speaking arrangements tonight, they did not get an opportunity to speak. Tonight, we have an opportunity, in small way, to ease the suffering of parents going on an horrific personal...

Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (30 Jun 2016)

Catherine Martin: Yes. I shall speak for just one more moment. We have not seen any detailed or definitive legal opinion published by the Attorney General. Most importantly, no legal opinion has been published by the Attorney General or shared with us, as legislators, to assist us. The reality is that there can be no categorical presumption of the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the proposed...

Ibrahim Halawa: Motion (7 Jul 2016)

Catherine Martin: I will take four minutes. I acknowledge and thank all the Members in the House for uniting behind what started as a motion tabled by myself and my Green Party colleague Deputy Eamon Ryan, but has evolved into a strong cross-party motion under which we, as members of this House, cast party politics aside and unite today in seeking justice for an Irish citizen, Ibrahim Halawa. We recognise...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Environmental Policy (7 Jul 2016)

Catherine Martin: 5. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht why she is proposing to de-designate 46 Natural Heritage Areas, which were designated as Natural Heritage Areas, in order to satisfy the ruling of the European Court of Justice against Ireland in Case C-392/96; and the alternative steps she will take to protect these valuable conservation areas from destruction by drainage and peat...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Environmental Policy (7 Jul 2016)

Catherine Martin: This question relates to the Minister's announcement last week that the drafting of legislation has been approved as a matter of priority for the de-designation of 46 raised bogs. I am appalled that this Minister of all Ministers as the one who is supposed to have a special responsibility to protect and promote our heritage would under her watch allow, permit, and actively facilitate the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Environmental Policy (7 Jul 2016)

Catherine Martin: In 2005 the then Government committed to designating these raised bogs as NHAs as part of the compliance with an ECJ judgment. An inevitable part of that designation was ending turf cutting on them. This Government is rowing back on that commitment and claiming that the fact that it is going to do less than it said it would is some sort of success story. Our raised bogs are among the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Environmental Policy (7 Jul 2016)

Catherine Martin: Are there management plans in place for those NHAs where turf cutting is due to end from 1 January 2017? If not, why is the Minister pressing ahead with de-designating 39 and partially de-designating seven in advance of arrangements being made to ensure that conservation objectives will be met on the reconfigured network of raised bog habitat recommended in the Review of Raised Bog Natural...

Mental Health Services: Motion [Private Members] (5 Oct 2016)

Catherine Martin: A Vision for Change was launched in 2006. That innovative document inspired hope and was a clear roadmap for a mental health service where our most vulnerable citizens would be placed at the heart of their personal journey to recovery. Ten years later the implementation of this excellent document has been appallingly slow. The tragic truth is our citizens with mental health difficulties...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Catherine Martin: Yesterday the Taoiseach said the budget had been based on prudent management. I agree, but only to the extent that the prudent and, no doubt, clever management relates primarily to the internal workings and machinations of government which only serves the Government, not the people and the real issues they face in their day-to-day lives. With super self-serving dexterity, the Government...

Leaders' Questions (13 Oct 2016)

Catherine Martin: I have just left the meeting of the Joint Committee on Education and Skills where we had quite the discussion on an issue relevant to the Minister and to many junior cycle students and their parents as we near the end of the first term of the school year, which is the worry and uncertainty about the distinct possibility that because of the Government's ongoing dispute with the ASTI, thousands...