Results 29,221-29,240 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Civil Service Management (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: 1. To ask the Taoiseach the way he and his Department formalised the role of the management board in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15214/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Civil Service Management (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: 2. To ask the Taoiseach the position regarding the Civil Service Management Board; the number of times it has met; if minutes will be made publicly available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15216/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Civil Service Management (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: Unlike many others, I have never agreed with the idea that Ireland is held back by its civil servants. I believe the opposite is the reality. Ireland's civil servants rank highly in international terms and, generally speaking, they show great dedication and commitment to public service and to their country. There is a need for ongoing reform but the programme announced last year by the...

Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach did not answer the specific question I asked about the establishment of a British-Irish joint agency to deal with the widespread racketeering, organised crime and smuggling that has been going on for far too long. The report is very clear that members of these paramilitary groups - the UVF, UDA, Provisional IRA and others - continue to engage in violent activity directed by...

Leaders' Questions (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: I will ask the Taoiseach about the report drafted by the PSNI and MI5 for the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and which has been released to the British Parliament. The Secretary of State has spoken to the British Parliament about the report which deals with the structure, roles and purpose of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Its conclusions are of concern. It concludes that...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Industrial Production (20 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: 156. To ask the Taoiseach the position regarding the Central Statistics Office figures that show manufacturing production fell in August 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35262/15]

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The House should also remember that two years ago, the Taoiseach told us he was taking personal charge of ensuring that health stayed within budget and that there would be no more supplementaries.  Some €1.2 billion later, he has some explaining to do. There is little or no chance that the GP card extension will be in place next year and the first phase was delayed by nearly...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: Instead of ignoring Irish Water, it should be abolished. The other massive and regressive tax introduced by this Government, the local property tax, was mentioned in the budget speeches, but only in order to say that nothing will be done for the next three years. During this Government’s term in office, there were many difficult choices to make, but it chose to be more unfair than...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The €3 pension increase is a case of doing something in order to claim the Government cares, rather than to acknowledge the real issue. The Taoiseach should go out and speak to the pensioners. They will be insulted and angry at this. The reason is the €1,200 that was taken from them in the last two to three years and the flat taxes and charges that were levied, including...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: Then it decided to give them a GP card.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach is fond of meeting people. I met a woman the other day who told me that her biggest problem was the cost of medicine.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: It was not the card or going to the GP. She told me she could manage one or two visits to the GP, but not the cost of her prescribed respiratory drugs. That is the type of spin and media management the Taoiseach continually engages in. He took 16,000 medical cards from people over 70 years of age-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: -----and he increased the prescription charge by 400%. What about the Taoiseach's and Tánaiste's anti-women initiative?

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: In 2012, the Government changed-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: -----the eligibility criteria for women for their pensions. The Taoiseach got a letter yesterday-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: -----from a woman who is a former employee of Aer Lingus. The Taoiseach does not like to hear the truth. I did not interrupt him.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste changed eligibility and it has cost many women who had to spend time at home after having worked up to 30 or so years. It has cost them an entitlement to a pension. They changed that sneakily in 2012, along with 100 other sneaky, underhand cuts.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach got a letter yesterday which he should read.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: It is from a woman who is retired. She had to leave the workforce to look after her elderly mother and aunt for a number of years. In previous years she would have been eligible for a pension as her contributions would have been up to the criterion. However, she could not believe it when she discovered that she was no longer entitled, because of the sneaky change introduced by the Labour...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (14 Oct 2015)

Micheál Martin: In fact, in every year under Fianna Fáil the funding and output of social housing was higher than in any year of this Government's term. This year, with a housing and homelessness emergency under way, the allocation is less than one third of the allocation in 2010. The Government is the sole author of the housing emergency. The Tánaiste instituted cuts and denied any change to the...