Results 35,121-35,140 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: There is not.

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: And allow more repossessions.

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Thousands of them.

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Last night Ulster Bank confirmed that it would close 40 more branches and lay off additional staff. In that bank alone we are looking at the loss of employment of between 1,400 and 1,800 jobs, which is a staggering blow to those employees and their families. In a presentation to investors, the chief risk officer went further and said that the bank is anxious to break even by 2014 and to...

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: The Minister referred to expressing sympathy. People need more than that at this stage. I asked him a basic question, whether he shared the Ulster Bank’s view that up to 35% of those in arrears were due to strategic considerations. I do not share the view. That is an extraordinary figure. Anybody who has called to people’s houses or talked to those in arrears knows how much...

Leaders' Questions (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Since the Keane report, out of 144,000 people in mortgage arrears, we have only had 144 split mortgages. That is an indication of the lack of engagement to date by the banks with people on the basis of meaningful, sustainable ideas that were proposed two and a half years ago. Yet the Minister refers to adjusting to new realities. New Beginning asserts that there are up to 50 new...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Procurement Regulations (3 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: 19. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to change the procedures in place for stationery procurement in primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32272/13]

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Even today's edition of The Irish Times points out: "As yet there is scant progress on breaking the vicious circle between banks and sovereign states which so excited the Government last year."

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Some Ministers are claiming the effort to secure ESM funding retrospectively for Irish banks has been damaged. What they have not done is to explain what Ireland has been seeking. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, told a Dáil committee last year that he could not see the benefit from selling our bank stakes to the ESM. Has this position changed? During this Presidency, Ireland fulfilled...

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: I will do so. They did not try to push a move away from failed policies or towards badly-needed reforms of the Union.

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Nothing was done which gives any sense that Europe is actively working to help its 27 million citizens who are unemployed. Unfortunately, this was a lost opportunity.

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: The Taoiseach is good at firing this days.

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Whereas predecessors of different parties saw their role as having a substantial national role above party politics, the Taoiseach has completely rejected this. He has now added to this and become the first Taoiseach of any party to use a Presidency of the EU to play domestic political games. He started this earlier in the year when he travelled to London and delivered a series of partisan...

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: If we put aside the lengthy statements and interviews, including those given in the House, this claim of the Taoiseach is transparent, partisan nonsense. For two and a half years he and his Ministers have been in full control of Government. They have had absolute access to the many records of events, especially those contained in all of the documents retained in the Department of Finance....

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: In the Taoiseach's case, for an entire year he had at his side the most senior official present during that night.

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: Is the Taoiseach expecting us to believe that he never asked the official any questions about the meetings he attended? The next most senior official, who was in the room that night as well, worked closely with this Government for well over a year. He regularly attended the Economic Management Council with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the...

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: They have no wish to risk an inquiry that does not support their political agenda. Naturally, one thing the Taoiseach especially does not like referring to is that he voted for the same guarantee he says was the product of collusion. He sought outside advice and, in the cold light of day, supported it. He also went to his own private briefing at Anglo Irish Bank headquarters and seems to...

European Council in Brussels: Statements (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: The statement the Taoiseach has just delivered claims that the past six months has seen enormous progress. Even more than is usual for a government given to daily praising its own actions, he has presented a picture of Ministers having delivered Europe to a new frontier. The Union is, he claims, growing stronger because of this leadership. In the middle of this it is striking just how...

Order of Business (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: The health insurance industry is going through a crisis as we speak. There is significant concern and anxiety among many policyholders and members of various insurance companies across the board, including the VHI group, to such an extent that many seasoned analysts claim that the industry is in danger of entering a debt spiral against which the centre cannot hold. The programme for...

Order of Business (2 Jul 2013)

Micheál Martin: The hospital care purchase agency.