Results 36,601-36,620 of 50,909 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Patronage (11 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: To ask the Minister for Health the names of the hospitals in the greater Dublin area that are under the direct managerial control of the Health Service Executive; the managerial structures that are in place in other Dublin hospitals; the Dublin hospitals that are under the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church, Church of Ireland and any other Christian denomination; and if he will make a...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: They have not. The Taoiseach took his severance pay. I waived mine.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: That is true. I apologise.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The only image that is embedded in the minds of students is the Minister for Education and Skills on the steps of Trinity College, Dublin, swearing blind and signing on the dotted line that he would reverse the student contribution charge and not increase it. Yesterday, we discovered the student charge will now be over €1,000. That is what students are saying about the Minister. The...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The increase in the charge is regressive. We need to encourage people to get through education.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Minister is talking about the past 14 years. The most important statistic to come out in the past three weeks about Irish education is that we now have a 90% completion rate in second level. That is because of the strategic decisions we took about second level completion and investment.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Our second level participation rates have moved from 78% to 90% in a decade. We want to do the same with third level. We have one of the highest participation rates of second level students going into third level of any European Union country. This is because of a sustained and agreed approach to third level education. It cannot be thrown away now because it will undermine a key strategic...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Yesterday, there was a bit of delegation going on with the budget. The Higher Education Authority was given a €25 million cut but it was claimed no services would be impacted, which is simply not credible. Again, the Minister will be at one remove when these cuts are introduced.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The same goes for the unspecified cut of €13 million for the vocational education committees.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: When it happens on the ground, it will not be the Minister who will be blamed but some anonymous group.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: We did. The Minister is wrong. That is a spurious political claim. We costed our budget proposals and tabled parliamentary questions to get more information.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: I hope the Minister of State is not suggesting parliamentary replies are untrue or inaccurate. Is that what he is suggesting?

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: We look at the replies in good faith that they are accurate and tell us the truth. Maybe they do not.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: I will acknowledge we have had to use freedom of information requests much more frequently because of the reluctance of the Government to give information to the House. This year's shambolic introduction of a household charge proved there is no public acceptance of a family home charge. As the troika has repeatedly said, it is up to the Government to decide how to raise its money. No one...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Before the election, Fine Gael said such a tax is unfair and would not be introduced. Labour said nothing should be done before 2014 and that it must, under no circumstances, be a flat tax.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The Government's proposal is for an unjust tax which is weighted against urban areas. It does not have and will not earn public support because of its unfairness and it could cause much wider problems. It is even more unfair to introduce such a tax before the rising social and economic impact of mortgage and household debt in the economy is tackled where one in five mortgages are actually...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: What the final budget decisions reveal is a Government that holds many meetings with outside groups but rarely ever listens to what is being said. How else could one explain all the meetings with children’s organisations which were followed by the targeting in this budget of families with children? Yesterday’s announcement that 100 Garda stations will be closed will rightly...

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: -----is justifying cuts which are dramatically more severe and targeted against the most vulnerable. When challenged about cutting basic support for clothing and footwear, her callous response is to tell people “there is a lot of good value in shops”.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: The mounting evidence that the Department of Health is out of control is clear to everyone in the country but the Taoiseach.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Financial Resolution No. 15: General (Resumed) (6 Dec 2012)

Micheál Martin: Even other Cabinet Ministers are saying that the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, is turning tough conditions into a crisis. In this budget we see more about the truth of a regressive and cynical health policy. The move by the Government to restrict the over-70s medical card is especially shameless given its past campaigning on this issue.