Results 23,761-23,780 of 50,683 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: There are many commitments in the programme for Government in respect of political reform. One of the disappointments has been the lack of progress for many Opposition Bills going through the House and the abuse of the money message. At the beginning of the lifetime of this Dáil, Members were told that a reasonable approach would be taken in using the money message with regard to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Various Governments brought that project through. I visited DIT recently and buildings have been constructed. It has the makings of a fine campus. It is being advertised, through the use of taxpayers' money, as though it was something completely new that Ireland will get in 2040. All the time, the project is rolling on. There is a very legitimate question to be asked. Why are civil...

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: We have been publishing policy papers on European reform for a long time - for years.

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: 1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the February 2018 informal EU leaders' meeting; the issues that were discussed; the contributions that he made on the multi-annual budget for the post-2020 period; his contributions on the EU Parliament; and if he held bilateral meetings at same. [9654/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: 2. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the discussions at the EU leaders' informal meeting regarding the budget after 2020; the contributions he made; and the consensus. [10147/18]

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Meetings (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I have said before that it is extraordinary and strange that there were no pre-EU Council statements prior to the EU informal summit held last month because, as the Taoiseach outlined, institutional and transnational issues were discussed, in addition to high-level EU appointments. With regard to the discussion on the number of seats, the departure of the United Kingdom from the Union...

Order of Business (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: It is the Government's job.

Order of Business (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: We were alerted this morning that the Business Committee may consider a Friday sitting at its meeting this afternoon. Our Front Bench agreed readily to a Friday sitting. I think it is important that the Supreme Court does its own work independently of the Oireachtas. In that context, there is no suggestion of the Oireachtas putting any pressure on the Supreme Court. It should be...

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I wish to put a key point to the Taoiseach. There was a party political dimension to the promotion of the plan. The strategic communications unit was about political promotion and not the provision of hard information.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Four marginal constituencies; Limerick City, Limerick West, Roscommon and Longford-Westmeath all just happen to have Fine Gael candidates emblazoned across advertisements that have been paid for by the taxpayers' money. The utilising of taxpayers' money for a political spin machine-----

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: -----orchestrated by your good self from beginning to end of the enterprise: that is what is over the top.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Under Standing Orders that remark should be withdrawn.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I would have just named the papers.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: I did not mention that at all.

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: There is nothing-----

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Will the Taoiseach ensure that the work of Behaviour & Attitudes in the context of research and insight be published forthwith?

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: There is nothing as grave or as fundamental as the independence of our Civil Service. That is something that will outlive any particular storm at any particular time. I will decide what I raise and when I raise it. I have plenty of opportunities to do so. There is nothing more fundamental in a parliamentary democracy. This is a parliamentary democracy system of Government, not a...

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: Last week, the Taoiseach was in full denial in regard to the activities of the strategic communications unit and the party-political nature of the advertisements related to the national development plan. I subsequently wrote to the Secretary General of the Taoiseach's Department outlining my concerns and complaints, and particularly what I believe to be a breach of the Civil Service code and...

Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)

Micheál Martin: My question for the Taoiseach is whether, given his recent comments, he now accepts that the strategic communications unit should be stood down and abolished. Will he ensure that the independence of the Civil Service is ring-fenced from party-political promotion given what has happened over recent weeks? Will he agree to release all information pertaining to the establishment of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Communications (28 Feb 2018)

Micheál Martin: The third parties in question are spending taxpayers' money on behalf of the State.